Bolling Makes 14 Saves

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Each of the past two Sundays the Yale field hockey team has shown that it can hang tough against some of the top teams in the country -- but the Bulldogs don't have any wins to show for either game. Jocelyn Mitchell drove along the baseline and scored 5:41 into overtime at Johnson Field Sunday to give Maine a 3-2 win.

Maine (6-2) was among the teams receiving votes in the national poll. Yale (4-2) was coming off a 1-0 win at Harvard. Having lost in overtime to UMass 3-2 last Sunday after having a 2-0 lead, the Bulldogs looked ready to avoid the same fate against the Black Bears by controlling the game in the early going. Yale had the first five penalty corners, and it was the third one that led to a goal. After a shot by freshman midfielder/back Georgia Holland was blocked, the rebound came out to junior midfielder Dinah Landshut. She spun around and got off a backhanded shot that junior forward/midfielder Chelsey Locarno deflected in at 19:05.

Senior goalkeeper Katie Bolling made a pad save on Maine's only corner of the first half, and followed up with a point-blank denial of Kelly Newton four minutes before halftime. Bolling would finish the game with 14 saves, the most she has had in a game since stopping 15 vs. North Carolina two years ago.

The Black Bears were limited to seven shots in the first half, but wound up with 17 in the second. Newton tied the game with a goal at 48:19. Junior midfielder/back Taylor Sankovich put Yale back ahead with a penalty corner goal at 57:08, assisted by Landshut and junior forward Mia Rosati, but Newton scored again three minutes later.

"We told the team that Maine has a great counter attack -- it's fast, and they cut well into space to create dangerous scoring opportunities," said Yale head coach Pam Stuper. "We knew that if we gave them too many chances we could get into trouble."

Maine had the only two scoring chances in overtime, and Mitchell capitalized to send the Bulldogs to another frustrating loss against a top opponent.

"It's a matter of us turning the corner," Stuper said. "We've played these teams very well, and had an early lead against both UMass and Maine. We need to figure out how to finish."

The win over Harvard gives Yale the necessary momentum in league play heading into Saturday's showdown with No. 4 Princeton at Johnson Field. The Tigers are 5-0, 1-0 in the Ivy League, and beat Syracuse 1-0 Sunday afternoon.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity