Bolling Makes Eight Saves
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale field hockey
team was 15 minutes away from knocking off UMass, a perennial NCAA
Tournament team, at Johnson Field Sunday afternoon. But the
Minutewomen scored on their sixth penalty corner of the second half
to get within one, then scored again on their eighth corner of the
half to tie the game with just over six minutes to play. Katie
Kelly then finished off the UMass comeback by scoring the
game-winner with 2:53 left in overtime, denying the Bulldogs a
chance at their 10th win in a row.
UMass (3-3) was coming off a 1-0 upset of No. 4 UConn, but it
was the Bulldogs who controlled the game early. Shortly after being
stopped by a kick save by goalkeeper Alesha Widdall, sophomore
forward Maddy Sharp redirected a long pass from
freshman midfielder/back Georgia Holland inside
the left post for a 1-0 lead at the 24:41 mark.
Yale (3-1) went up 2-0 five minutes into the second half on a
goal by sophomore forward/midfielder Mary Beth Barham, assisted by junior forward Mia Rosati.
The Bulldogs seemingly had UMass, with 21 NCAA Tournament
appearances and 11 Atlantic-10 Championships on its resume, on the
ropes.
"The way we came out was great," said Pam Stuper,
Yale's head coach. "We didn't sit back and wait
for them. We took advantage of some early opportunities."
Shortly after that the corners started adding up for UMass,
though. There were five in a span of eight minutes midway through
the period, but the Minutewomen still went scoreless. They finally
broke through when Kelly deflected in a shot by Makaela Potts at
the 54:51 mark.
"UMass is regularly in the top 20, and they have
experience in being in difficult situations," Stuper said.
"We knew, even when they were trailing, UMass wouldn't
let down for a minute."
Widdall then smothered a shot by Sharp, but that gave Yale its
lone corner of the second half. Widdall responded with a diving
stop of a blast from junior midfielder/back Taylor Sankovich. Shortly after that she kept freshman forward
Erica Borgo off the scoreboard with a kick
save.
A diving tackle by senior back Marissa Waldemore right outside the goal stopped a UMass scoring
chance with just under 11 minutes to play, but the Minutewomen then
got a pair of corners in a one-minute span. They converted the
second one into the game-tying goal by Lindsay Bowman, as she
knocked in the rebound after Kelly's shot hit the post and
bounced right to her.
UMass also had another corner -- its ninth of the second half --
with regulation time expired, but senior goalkeeper Katie Bolling made a blocker save on Potts to send the game into
overtime.
Yale had its share of scoring chances in the overtime period,
but Widdall came up big. She made a kick save on Borgo after Rosati
set her up by intercepting a pass. Widdall also stopped a pair of
penalty corners shots by junior back Erin Carter.
Bolling made a big stop on Kelly with 7:30 left in overtime after a
Yale turnover, but with time winding down Kelly got the ball on a
breakaway and drove in all alone for the game-winner.
Bolling finished with eight saves, while Widdall had 10.
The Bulldogs must now turn their attention to Ivy League play,
which starts next Saturday at Harvard. Sunday's loss was
Yale's first defeat in 11 months.
"We come out of this game knowing that we can play with
some of the best teams in the country," Stuper said.
"Now, we just have to get out there and do it."
Every goal Yale scores this season brings the world closer
to a cure for myotonic dystrophy. Sophomore goalkeeper Ona
McConnell(London,
England) has been diagnosed with the disease, the
most common form of muscular dystrophy. The Bulldogs are taking
pledges for a season-long "Goal-a-thon" as part of their "Get a
Grip" campaign to raise awareness and funds for the Myotonic
Dystrophy Foundation. For more information, visit http://www.yalebulldogs.com/getagrip
