NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Behind 21 saves from junior goalkeeper Emilie Katz, the Yale field hockey team kept No. 2 Syracuse's potent attack at bay for much of the day Sunday at Johnson Field. After scoring twice early, the Orange scored only one more time during a span of more than 50 minutes from midway through the first half until late in the second. But after tacking on two late goals -- and limiting Yale to six shots -- Syracuse came away with a 5-0 victory to remain unbeaten.

Katz was busy right from the start, making one of her best saves of the day two minutes in to deny midfielder Jamie Martin when the Orange caught Yale in transition after a Bulldogs corner came up empty. But at 9:32, with Katz coming out of the goal to try to break up the play, forward Emma Lamison put the Orange up 1-0. Three minutes later Syracuse scored again (midfielder Roos Weers), this time on a corner.

That wound up being the only penalty corner goal of the game for Syracuse (7-0, 2-0 ACC), despite the fact that the Orange had 12 corners. Numbers like that gave Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey, some positives to take away from the game.

"I'm proud of the way we played," said Stuper. "Syracuse is obviously one of the top teams in the nation. Our goal was to play 70 minutes of strong, aggressive hockey. The players followed our game plan to a 'T'. We did everything we could."

Katz made a pair of saves just after the start of the second period, but at 36:17 forward Emma Russell dribbled past her and tucked in her sixth goal of the season -- one that made Russell Syracuse's all-time leading goal scorer (48).

Orange goalkeeper Jess Jecko made one of her four saves for the game on a penalty corner shot by sophomore back Kiwi Comizio with 12 minutes to play. Five minutes later, she stopped another penalty corner shot -- this one by senior back Noelle Villa -- to preserve the shutout.

After allowing a goal by midfielder Niki Neidhart at 66:05, Katz came through with a kick save to deny Russell with slightly more than a minute left. Katz' otherwise stellar performance then had an unfortunate ending when Syracuse was awarded a penalty stroke as time expired. Katz reacted quickly to get her blocker on the shot by midfielder Alyssa Manley, but she lost control of it at the last moment and the ball trickled over the goal line for the 5-0 final.

"Emilie played brilliantly," said Stuper. "Looking at the stats, with 36 shots and 12 corners, Syracuse could have had six or seven goals. Throughout each game this season Emilie has shown that she's capable of keeping us in games and giving us a chance to win. That was no different today, against the No. 2 team in the country. She's consistent, no matter who the opponent is, and that's a tribute to her mentality and how she trains."

It has been at least a decade since a Yale goalie made that many saves in a game; the next-best performance in that span was 18 saves by Elizabeth Friedlander '07 against Harvard in 2006. The Yale record for saves in a game is 50 by Sue Sabatino '90 vs. Cornell in 1987.

Several other Bulldogs also had impressive outings Sunday, even though the final score did not show it.

"[Freshman back] Marissa Medici had a terrific game," said Stuper. "[Senior midfielder] Nicole Wells played really strong on both sides of the ball. And [freshman back] Nikoletta Toffoloni was solid all weekend, making the first two starts of her career."

Eight of Yale's starters Sunday were either freshmen or sophomores. The experience they got against a national power like Syracuse should prove beneficial for the rest of the season.

"We should gain some confidence from the way we played this game," said Stuper. "Right from the first couple minutes, when we went down the field and drew a corner, we showed we were going to get after it."

Yale (2-3, 0-0 Ivy League) starts Ivy League play by hosting Harvard next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. as part of Alumnae Weekend.

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