Box Score Final Home Game For Yale's Four Seniors
Related Links
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Saturday's game with Brown will be special
for the four seniors on the Yale women's soccer team regardless of
the outcome. The four, who will be playing their final home game,
will be honored prior to kickoff. There is a chance, however, that
it could be an even more memorable night. If the Bulldogs beat
Brown and Columbia knocks off Harvard, Caitlin Collins, Sophia
Merrifield, Leslie Perez and Hannah Smith will walk off the Reese
Stadium field for the final time as Ivy League champions. Kickoff
is slated for 7 p.m. and free audio is available from wybc.com.
Yale (9-6, 4-2 Ivy) enters the game three points behind Harvard,
but with a Bulldog victory coupled with a Crimson loss, the two
teams would share the Ivy crown. Harvard, which plays at Columbia
on Saturday at 7 p.m., would earn the Ivy's automatic bid to
the NCAA Tournament by virtue of its 3-2 win over Yale on Oct. 20.
Yale's Class of 2010 has played a key role in this year's
success. Combined, the four have started 195 games and helped the
Bulldogs to nearly 40 victories.
Collins has played a key role on a Yale defense that has posted
13 shutouts in the last two years. This season she has started all
15 games and was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-District I second team. As a junior she earned honorable
mention All-Ivy recognition after starting a career-high 16 games.
In her sophomore year, she tied for the team lead with four assists
and scored in Yale's victory over Harvard. Her first career goal
came in her rookie year and was the game-winner in the Bulldogs'
victory over Hartford.
Perez has been one of Yale's most dynamic offensive players
during her career. This fall, she has career highs in games
started, assists and points and scored the game-winning goal in
Yale's victory over Sacred Heart. As a junior she tied for fifth on
the team in points and had the game-winning goal against Delaware.
In her sophomore year she tied for third on the team in goals and
was fourth in points. All of her goals that season came in Yale
victories. In her rookie year, she was limited to nine games
because of an injury but still assisted on the winning goal against
Montana.
Smith has appeared in every game since arriving at Yale. This
fall, she has helped anchor a Yale defense that has been one of the
stingiest in the Ivy League. In her junior year, she helped the
Bulldogs post seven shutouts and scored a goal against Fairfield.
In her sophomore season, she started 16 of 17 games and scored her
first career goal in a 3-1 victory over Brown. As a rookie, she
made her first career start in the season opener against Duke and
was one of only six players to appear in all 17 games.
Merrifield, the team captain, has been a starting defender for
the Bulldogs since the day she stepped on campus and has earned
All-Ivy recognition in each of her first three years. She was
selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS
Award prior to the start of the season and was recently named to
the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I third team. As a
junior she was a first team All-New England and second team All-Ivy
selection after helping to anchor a Yale defense that posted seven
shutouts. In her sophomore year she earned first team All-Ivy
recognition and was named to SoccerBuzz All-Northeast Region second
team. In her rookie year she was a second team All-Ivy selection
and scored her first career goal against Cornell.
The Bears (5-8-1, 2-4 Ivy) are led by Joyce Chun, who has a
team-high four goals. Steffi Yellin (1.44 GAA) and Brenna Hogue
(1.48 GAA) have split time in goal. Brown edged the Bulldogs 2-1 in
Providence last year. Sylvia Stone scored her second goal of the
game with 2:43 left in the second overtime to win it.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity
