Box Score Bulldogs Triumphant in Front of Alumnae Weekend Crowd
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A large crowd on hand at Johnson Field for Alumnae Weekend festivities got treated to a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory by the Yale field hockey team on Saturday afternoon. Junior Danee Fitzgerald's goal at 7:56 of the extra session capped a memorable back-and-forth battle between Yale and Quinnipiac, giving the Bulldogs their first victory of the young season.
For nearly 78 minutes this game was a scoreless duel between the two goalies, Yale senior Heather Schlesier and Quinnipiac's Megan Conaboy. And while Schlesier was spectacular, delivering nine saves, two of the biggest defensive plays of the game were made in the first three minutes by senior back Megan Kirkham. She sticked aside not one, but two, shots by Quinnipiac during penalty corners for defensive saves that kept the game scoreless in the early going.
"Megan has been very steady for us in the backfield, and those two defensive saves were crucial," said Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "They kept us in the game. And Heather was obviously fantastic. She shut them down and did her job."
Schlesier was particularly busy in the first half, when Quinnipiac (1-3, 0-0 MAAC) outshot Yale 9-1 and had a 5-0 advantage on penalty corners.
The Bobcats also got the first two corners of the second half but came up empty, and Yale's attack then started to produce. The Bulldogs got five penalty corners in a span of less than eight minutes, but Conaboy turned aside a pair of shots by sophomore midfielder Kelsey Nolan and one by freshman back Kiwi Comizio.
Conaboy then made one of her best saves of the day with 16:30 to play, reacting quickly to deny a redirection from senior forward Grace McInerney. Five minutes later, Schlesier came up big to keep the Bobcats off the board, getting her left leg out to kick away a shot by forward Danielle Allan despite being screened by heavy traffic in front of the goal on a penalty corner.
Quinnipiac had the last two good chances of regulation on a penalty corner with 3:30 to play, but Schlesier stopped a shot by midfielder Meghan McCullough and then kicked away a shot by forward Savanna Reilly.
With the teams playing overtime 7-on-7, Yale (1-2, 0-0 Ivy League) eventually took control. With less than nine minutes to play, junior forward Nicole Wells drew a penalty corner. Allan made a defensive save on Kirkham and Conaboy then denied Wells, but the Bulldogs kept up their attack. Eventually, Kirkham sent the ball back towards the goal. The ball got blocked, but Conaboy was out of position as it rolled past her towards the left post. Fitzgerald pushed it in to finish off the win.
"The last goal was a product of the adjustments we made at halftime to have sustained attack," said Stuper. "We defended well the whole game, but only had one shot in the first half. In the second half and the overtime we stepped up our attack."
Schlesier has now gone 103:42 without allowing a goal, and her .839 save percentage is second in the Ivy League. Conaboy finished with six saves.
This marked the sixth straight game between Yale and Quinnipiac that was decided by one goal. In a closely matched series vs. a local rival, the Bulldogs were happy to have the extra support from the Alumnae Weekend crowd on Saturday.
"The 12th woman definitely helped us, giving us energy," said Stuper. "We had nearly 40 people come back. Some of the alums have been here since yesterday, coming to practice and our pregame meeting. There was a fantastic atmosphere here today, with President Salovey among the fans and the National Anthem sung by Whim 'n Rhythm. It was a good day for Yale supporters."
Yale hosts Cal on Sunday at Noon.
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
