Schwartz Scores First Career Goal For Bulldogs

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Yale nearly pulled off a big comeback Wednesday at Iona. After falling behind 2-0 early in the second half, the Bulldogs closed to within one on Avery Schwartz's first career goal and had a couple of opportunities in the final 10 minutes but couldn't get the equalizer. The result was a 2-1 loss to the Gaels on a beautiful late afternoon at Mazzella Field.

"Our fight to get back into the game was fantastic, and I'm very happy for Avery Schwarz to score his first career goal," said Kylie Stannard, the 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs.

Yale got off to a bit of a slow start. Iona (4-3-1) had the edge in play in the first half, and the Bulldogs were fortunate to reach the intermission with the game still scoreless. The Gaels outshot Yale 6-0 and had an 8-0 edge in corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes.

Iona finally broke through at 58:12 when Aristotle Seferlis chipped a shot over Yale goalkeeper Kees Schipper.

Seferlis struck again just 1:56 later to make it 2-0. This time he knocked in the rebound of his own shot.

Schwartz got the Bulldogs on the board at 75:20 with a spinning shot around a defender that found the back of the net. Cameron Riach was credited with an assist on the goal.

Riach and Ollie Iselin both had shots in the final 10 minutes. Iona goalkeeper Julian Petrello stopped Riach's effort, and Iselin's attempt missed wide.

"Up until this point, I think we have made some progress each game, but I'm not sure we can say the same tonight," Stannard said. "There were some positives, but we must stop allowing goals that are very preventable by executing the details of team tactics and individual assignments better.  We will make sure to improve from the mistakes tonight."

Schipper, a freshman, finished with six saves for Yale.

The road doesn't get any easier for the Bulldogs, who host Rhode Island on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Reese Stadium.

"We have another great home match against last year's A10 conference champions, Rhode Island," Stannard said. "With the first home football game that day, it should be a fun day for Yale athletics."

Report filed by Tim Bennett (timothy.bennett@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity