TLC Lacrosse

TLC congratulates our alumnus, Adrienne Tarver on her election to Captain of the Yale Women's Lacrosse Team for 2013-2014!

Adrienne Tarver Elected Captain for 2013-14

Junior Defender Has Been a Three-year Starter

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women’s lacrosse team has elected junior defender Adrienne Tarver (Pikesville, Md.) captain for 2013-14. Tarver was selected by a team vote Wednesday afternoon during the team’s annual post-season luncheon in the Kiphuth Trophy Room at Payne Whitney Gym.

Tarver is one of nine juniors on the team, with attacker Jen DeVito (Wading River, N.Y.), defender Ashley McCormick (Paoli, Pa.), goalkeeper Erin McMullan (Wading River, N.Y.), midfielder Julie Mongan (Malvern, Pa.), attacker Meghan Murray (Chatham, N.J.), defender Kallie Parchman (Baltimore, Md.), midfielder Courteney Rutter (Summit, N.J.) and defender Katherine Sherrill (New York, N.Y.). She credited all three captains that her class has played for at Yale — senior attacker Devon Rhodes (E. Northport, N.Y.), Caroline Crow ’12 and Fielding Kidd ’11 — for helping her learn what it takes to lead the team.

“I feel extremely honored to have been elected captain for the 2013-2014 season,” said Tarver. “It means so much to me to know that my team supports me and trusts me to lead the team next year. As a team, we have huge expectations for next season and we're going to have to work harder than ever to achieve our goals. It's going to take the entire senior class to lead the team by example of dedication and commitment for us to reach our full potential. As a captain, I'm excited to build on the model of leadership exemplified by Devon, and by Caroline Crow and Fielding Kidd before her.”

Anne Phillips, Yale’s Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women’s Lacrosse, sees Tarver as a natural leader.

“I am very excited for our program and for Adrienne,” said Phillips. “Leadership was something I saw in her when I recruited her. Adrienne has a natural leadership style and I am confident that she will be a strong leader for our team and will help to take our program to the next level.”

Known for her intensity on the field and her boisterous laugh off the field, Tarver has led by example throughout her career. A starter since her freshman year, she was second on the team in caused turnovers (12) and ground balls (26) this past season. She was third in draw controls with 18, and was one of only two players on the team with double-digits in all three of those categories (the other was sophomore midfielder Christina Doherty (Bernardsville, N.J.)).

Tarver has missed just one game for her career, playing in 44 games over the past three years — including 43 starts. She tied her career high with 26 ground balls this past season, and has 69 for her career. Her 18 draw controls this season were a career high, and she has 39 draws for her career. She also had a career high in caused turnovers with 12, giving her 33 for her career.

Tarver had four draw controls in a game twice this season. She ended the year with a streak of four straight games in which she had at least one caused turnover, one draw control and one ground ball.

A midfielder when she first got to Yale, Tarver gradually developed into one of the team’s top defenders and has spent the past two years routinely being assigned to cover one of the opposing team’s top scoring threats. This year she helped the defense cut its shots allowed by 32 compared to the previous season. The Bulldogs also had their lowest goals-allowed total since 2010.

Next year’s defense figures to continue those positive trends. Led by Tarver, the Bulldogs return every defender who played in at least one game, along with both goalies. They also return every midfielder and all but one attacker.

The Bulldogs will look to use that depth to continue the strides the team as a whole made this year. Yale had its best win total in five years, and increased its goals scored over the previous season by 23 percent while decreasing its goals allowed by five percent. The Bulldogs also set the school record for draw controls with 205, a 23 percent increase over the previous season.

Tarver is an economics major in Trumbull College and is going to work at a law firm in Chicago this summer. She came to Yale from the Park School of Baltimore, where she was a U.S. Lacrosse All-American (twice) and Academic All-American (once). She captained the team to its second straight IAAM B Conference championship in 2010. She was also involved in a number of community service initiatives, including serving as a tutor and organizing a “Lax for Haiti” Tournament that raised nearly $5,000 for Haitian earthquake relief.

Tarver’s mother and father are both Ivy Leaguers as well, having graduated from Columbia. Her father played football for the Lions.

Tarver leads Yale into its 39th varsity season. She is the eighth Yale women’s lacrosse captain from Maryland.

Yale Women’s Lacrosse Captains from Maryland
1992: Cathy Sharkey (Baltimore, Md.)
1993: Eva Vishio (Baltimore, Md.)
1996: Sharon Langhoff (Timonium, Md.)
1997: Carmina Valle (Cockeysville, Md.)
2006: Sarah Scalia (Lutherville, Md.)
2009: Taylor Fragapane (Cockeysville, Md.)
2012: Caroline Crow (Davidsonville, Md.)
2014: Adrienne Tarver (Pikesville, Md.)