Penalty Stroke Victory for Penn, 1-0
Bulldogs Fall After Scoreless Tie in Double Overtime
PHILADELPHIA ? With a history of closely played contests, the Yale-Penn field hockey series reached a new level on Saturday afternoon at Vagelos Field. After 70 minutes of regulation play and a pair of overtimes totaling 30 minutes, neither team had scored. The game was thus decided by penalty strokes, with the Quakers scoring twice and Yale scoring once, for a final score of 1-0 Penn.
That was the 17th time in the last 21 meetings between these two teams that the game was decided by one goal. This was Penn’s first experience with the penalty stroke system determining a game; Yale had played one such game, falling 3-2 at Quinnipiac two years ago.
Penn (11-3, 4-1 Ivy League) had a decided edge in corners in the first half, 6-2, but the Bulldogs still outshot the Quakers 6-4. The Yale shot advantage increased in the second half, 10-5, but still the Bulldogs could not get one past Penn keeper Carly Sokach. Sokach also made four saves in the first overtime and two in the second, and freshman forward Rhoni Gericke hit the post with a shot in the first overtime. Sokach finished with 15 saves, getting help from back/midfielder Helene Caniglia in the form of a defensive save in the second half.
Yale junior goalkeeper Heather Schlesier totaled six saves, and senior midfielder/back Georgia Holland added a defensive save -- her seventh defensive save in the last three games.
After the two scoreless 15-minute overtimes, a best-of-five stroke series determined the winner. Neither team scored in the first two rounds, but Penn went ahead 1-0 in the third on a goal by attacker Elizabeth Hitti. Yale senior midfielder Emily Schuckert shot one in high to tie the score 1-1 in the fourth round.
In the decisive fifth round, attacker Julie Tahan put Penn ahead 2-1. Sokach then denied a shot by Holland, who had been awarded a penalty stroke after being tripped by Sokach on the initial attempt.
Yale (6-8, 2-3 Ivy League) visits Columbia next Friday.
Wells Delivers Knockout Punch as Yale Beats Maine 4-3 in Overtime
Holland Makes Five Defensive Saves
NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? When the horn sounded with the score tied 3-3 at the end of regulation on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Field, the Yale field hockey team was ready to fight one more round. Just a day after an emotional last-second Ivy League win over Dartmouth, the Bulldogs knew they had to guard against any chance of a letdown and be ready for a battle with Maine. That was one of the points of focus in the pregame meeting, where Pam Stuper, Yale’s Caroline Ruth Thompson ’02 Head Coach of Field Hockey, chose to read a quotation from boxer James Corbett that included the line “When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round -- remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.”
No-one could have known then that the Bulldogs would, in fact, have to go to overtime to beat the Bears. Still, Stuper was confident in her team’s preparation.
“I could tell we were ready when we sat in the locker room and went through the game plan,” said Stuper. “They really took to heart what we needed to do.”
So when the game came down to a back-and-forth extra session that saw each team get multiple chances to deliver the knockout blow -- including one apparent game-winning goal by the Bulldogs that got disallowed -- Yale was ready.
Maine (9-7, 2-2 America East) had the first scoring chance of the extra session, but junior goalkeeper Heather Schlesier made a blocker save on a shot by forward Cassidy Svetek two minutes in. Right after that the Bulldogs had numbers in transition with senior forward/midfielder Erica Borgo and junior forward Jessie Accurso charging hard towards the net, but Maine midfielder Annabelle Hamilton and goalie Natasha Ford combined to deny a pair of shots. Ford then made another save on a Yale penalty corner right after that.
Three minutes and 30 seconds into overtime the Bulldogs had another golden chance, but Ford made a save on Accurso after a nice set up from senior midfielder/back Georgia Holland. The potential for frustration escalated to a new level for Yale at the 10:58 mark, when senior midfielder Emily Schuckert scored what appeared to be the game-winner after dribbling in the circle and firing in a shot. The Bulldogs celebrated and lined up for the post-game handshake, but while that was happening the officials conferred and eventually determined that the ball had hit Schuckert’s feet as she started to drive toward the goal. The goal was disallowed and Maine was awarded the ball.
“Our team handled it really well,” said Stuper. “We knew we had to remain calm and just get back out there.”
After another save by Ford on a Yale penalty corner, the Black Bears nearly caught the Bulldogs in transition. But sophomore back Danee Fitzgerald hustled back to disrupt the play, and Schlesier ended that threat with a kick save on a shot by forward Danielle Aviani.
In a game with plenty of heroes, the decisive play came from a familiar source: sophomore midfielder Nicole Wells, who had scored the game-winner with 25 seconds to play against Dartmouth the day before. While Saturday’s shot was a perfectly-placed deflection, Sunday’s came after Wells showcased her offensive moves with her back to the cage before turning around and whipping the ball in at 77:27. It was her third goal of the season.
“Nicole has really had a great year,” said Stuper. “Every day she steps on the field she does something better. Not only is she a strong defender, but she also can put the ball in the back of the net.”
That left Yale to celebrate victory a second time, this time for good. Like Saturday, the win came with a lineup that has been radically altered by injuries over the course of the season -- among many changes, this weekend saw freshman Emilie Katz switch from goalie to forward to help fill one of the holes created by injuries.
“I’m very proud of the team for the way they played this whole weekend,” said Stuper. “They showed grit, heart, fight and determination.”
For nearly 45 minutes at the start of the game, though, it looked like Yale (6-7, 2-2 Ivy League) would not need overtime to come away with the win. Freshman forward Rhoni Gericke put the Bulldogs ahead 1-0 at 25:46 of the first. On a penalty corner, Holland put the initial shot on goal but was denied. Wells helped keep the rebound alive, and Gericke knocked it in for the goal.
“Rhoni’s the person you want with the ball if there’s a scramble in front of the net,” said Stuper. “She has got a great stick.”
Holland, meanwhile, put on a show defensively. Over the course of the first half she made five defensive saves, a number that probably looks like a misprint to most people reading the box score. The NCAA does not keep records of that sort, but that total is clearly uncommon. In her more than two decades around the game of field hockey, Stuper could not recall anyone with a similar performance.
“Never,” said Stuper. “Usually, even if you have two or three defensive saves in a game it’s unbelievable.”
The Black Bears had eight penalty corners in the first, and on many of them they tried rifling a shot just to the goalie’s blocker side. But that was where Holland was stationed, and she sticked aside everything that came her way.
Gericke extended the lead to 2-0 at 29:20 of the second. Accurso settled down a long pass in transition, and Gericke fired it in.
Maine got a penalty corner at the end of the first half but Schlesier made a kick save on midfielder Annabelle Hamilton, then denied Hamilton’s follow-up attempt to keep the Yale lead at two goals.
A green card on Holland with 28:06 to play provided the first big test for the Bulldogs. With the team captain sidelined, Stuper had to pick a player to fill the center back spot -- and called upon Borgo for a rare appearance in the backfield.
“Georgia’s leadership in the backfield has been phenomenal,” said Stuper. “She’s been one of the best we have had here with her on-field play, her communication and her ability to organize the backfield. With her out of the game temporarily, I knew we needed a vocal leader. I knew Borgo would keep us organized and steady until Georgia got back.”
That plan worked to stem the tide until Holland returned to the game, but Maine started its comeback with a goal from a tough angle by forward Holly Stewart at 25:16. Shortly after that a Black Bear corner set up the game-tying goal. Stewart redirected a perfectly placed pass from Hamilton in front of the cage.
“To Maine’s credit, they are a really good team,” said Stuper. “After giving them so many opportunities [the Black Bears finished with 32 shots], we were bound to see one or two of them fall sooner or later.”
Schlesier kept the game 2-2 with a nice save on a tip in front of the cage by midfielder/back Marissa Shaw with 16 minutes to play. Schlesier also made a kick save on a shot by Hamilton on a penalty corner with 10:20 left.
After doing yeoman’s work defensively, Holland got the chance to contribute a big goal when the Bulldogs earned a corner with less than eight minutes to play. Off the insertion by Borgo and the stick stop by Schuckert, Holland drilled in her seventh goal of the season to put Yale ahead 3-2 with 7:21 to play.
Maine answered with a penalty corner goal of its own, as Hamilton scored again to tie the score 3-3 with 3:40 left in regulation. That set the stage for the dramatic overtime victory.
Yale plays again next Saturday at Penn.
Wells’ Game-Winner with 25 Seconds Left Lifts Yale Past Dartmouth 4-3
Schuckert Adds a Goal and Two Assists
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - All’s well that Wells ends. Shakespeare himself could not have scripted a more dramatic ending to Saturday’s game for the Yale field hockey team, as sophomore midfielder Nicole Wells’ highlight-reel goal with 25 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 win over Dartmouth and capped a memorable battle between these two Ivy League rivals.
The game-winning goal was set up by senior midfielder Emily Schuckert, who tried the field hockey equivalent of a Hail Mary pass and made it work -- with help from Wells. As the final seconds started ticking off the clock, Schuckert carried the ball up the right side of the field and sent a pass from just past midfield towards the circle. Wells, just inside the circle and closely defended, managed to get her stick on the ball to deflect it high in the air.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting as the ball arced high above the field. When it finally came down, it found the sweet spot just above the reach of Dartmouth goalkeeper Ellen Meyer and just below the cross bar.
“It was the type of goal that, even after you saw it go in, you couldn’t believe it went in,” said Pam Stuper, Yale’s Caroline Ruth Thompson ’02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. “It was beautiful. That ending was all about persistence, willing ourselves to win and doing it together.”
The win was all the more remarkable considering that -- with injuries mounting over the course of the season -- Yale (5-7, 2-2 Ivy League) fielded a patchwork lineup on Saturday. The Bulldogs took an early lead at 6:38 on a broken penalty corner, as Schuckert picked up a loose ball and sent it across the goal mouth, where senior forward/midfielder Erica Borgo put it in.
Then, a contribution from a new source gave Yale a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Danee Fitzgerald, one of the players the Bulldogs just shuffled around (from her usual role as a back) to compensate for their injury losses on attack, scored her first goal of the season at 29:47. Wells had the assist.
“We’re a little banged up, so we put Danee in a new role,” said Stuper. “She did a great job. I couldn’t be more proud of her ability to impact the game.”
Another Bulldog who found a new way to contribute on Saturday was freshman goalkeeper Emilie Katz -- who suited up with a different uniform number in order to play forward.
Still, it took 10 saves in the half by junior goalkeeper Heather Schlesier -- and a defensive save by senior midfielder/back Georgia Holland -- to keep Dartmouth (4-8, 1-3 Ivy League) off the scoreboard in the first. The Big Green answered quickly in the second, scoring three times in the first 7:26 (two by forward Ali Savage, one by forward Sam Anderson). A defensive save by junior back Megan Kirkham in the midst of that span kept the damage from being worse.
The Bulldogs suddenly found themselves trailing 3-2, but they did not let that situation last long. Schuckert tied the game with a goal at 48:28. By the end of the day, her season totals for goals, assists and points all represented career highs (4-8-16).
There were scoring opportunities for both teams in the waning moments, including a missed penalty stroke by the Bulldogs with four minutes to play. Senior Emily Cain came on to handle the final 14:22 in goal and made one save, denying Savage. That helped set the stage for Wells’ heroics.
“These Dartmouth-Yale games are always closely contested,” said Stuper (five of the last 11 meetings have been decided by one goal). “They are a very strong team. We really had to battle to come up with a win. The best part of that is that we had to play the way Yale Field Hockey has played through the years -- we had to fight, persevere, and stay together until the end.”
Yale hosts Maine on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Cain, Schlesier Blank Cornell 3-0
Schuckert, Holland and Accurso Score
NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? The Yale field hockey team continues to make its two-goalie platoon work. On Saturday afternoon vs. Cornell at Johnson Field the Bulldogs got their second combined shutout of the season, beating the Big Red 3-0 as senior goalkeeper Emily Cain and junior goalkeeper Heather Schlesier tag-teamed for the whitewash.
Cain got the start and made one save in the first half, as Yale opened up a 2-0 lead by outshooting Cornell 10-2. Senior midfielder Emily Schuckert scored off an assist by junior forward Jessie Accurso at the 6:15 mark, and senior midfielder/back Georgia Holland extended the lead with an unassisted goal eight minutes later.
Cornell (3-5, 1-2 Ivy League) tested Schlesier in the second half, getting six penalty corners and putting a total of seven shots on goal. But Schlesier stopped them all, finishing off the shutout. She has now allowed just one goal in her last three appearances, stopping 10 shots in that span. Accurso added an insurance goal at 54:14, assisted by senior forward Erica Borgo. Cornell's Elizabeth Scheffler finished with eight saves, and Cornell also had a pair of defensive saves.
Cain and Schlesier have split duties in seven of Yale's eight games. They have combined for a .764 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average.
This was the annual "Get a Grip" game for Yale (3-5, 1-2 Ivy League), a fundraiser for the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation in honor of goalkeeper Ona McConnell '13, who has the disease. The Bulldogs visit Quinnipiac Sunday afternoon.
This post was edited on 10/20 1:35 AM by dawrestling
This post was edited on 10/21 12:07 AM by dawrestling
This post was edited on 10/27 12:53 AM by dawrestling
