NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Yale field hockey team has been building momentum lately, with four wins in its last five games. The Bulldogs now have a chance to end the 2021 season on a high note, hosting Cornell at Johnson Field Saturday (12:00 p.m.,
ESPN+) in the season finale.
SENIOR DAY
Yale will hold Senior Day ceremonies Saturday, honoring a unique group of five student-athletes. Here are the Bulldogs set to play their final game:
- Forward Anissa Abboud (Bethlehem, Pa.) had played in every game of her career, and started 28 games, before being sidelined by an injury earlier this season. She had a career high in goals in her junior year (2019). She is a student in the Yale School of Public Health and played this season thanks to a waiver by the Ivy League allowing members of the Class of 2021 to play at their schools as graduate students in 2021-22.
- Midfielder Iliana Cabral (Camarillo, Calif.) has appeared in 56 career games and made five starts. She has set or tied her career highs in goals, assists and points this season. In her junior year she earned the team's Amanda Walton Award for overcoming challenges. That same year she also earned Yale's F. Wilder Bellamy, Jr. Prize, awarded for qualities including personal integrity, loyalty to friends, and high-spiritedness in athletics, academics and social life. She is a two-time NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree.
- Midfielder Imogen Davies (Kilmacolm, Scotland), Yale's captain, is fifth on Yale's career assists list with 27. This year she is sixth in the Ivy League with eight assists. Davies has been one of the best midfielders in the league throughout her career, earning second team All-Ivy honors twice and honorable mention All-Ivy once. She has been in the team's top three in points every year. In her junior year she was 13th in the NCAA in assists per game. She is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree.
- Forward/midfielder Kelly Dolan (Hamden, Conn.) has enjoyed the best season of her career this year. She has started every game and established career highs in goals, assists and points. That includes two goals and two assists in the last five games, helping Yale to four wins in that span. She is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree.
- Midfielder Sarah King (Davidsonville, Md.) has started all 66 games she has played in her career. One of the top stick stoppers on the team's penalty corner unit, she has established a career high in assists this season. She is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree.
LAST GAME
Yale (8-8, 3-3 Ivy League) beat Dartmouth 4-0 in pouring rain at Johnson Field last Saturday. It was the Bulldogs' fifth straight win in the series, and they have scored at least four goals in each of those games. Four players had goals and four players had assists, while sophomore goalkeeper
Luanna Summer (St. Louis, Mo.) made six saves en route to the team's third shutout of the season.
THIRTYSOMETHING
Yale generated 30 shots in its last game, a 4-0 win vs. Dartmouth. That was the most shots in a game for the Bulldogs since the season opener Sept. 3, when they generated 30 shots in a 6-0 win vs. Merrimack. The Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in shots this season with 253, two more than second-place Harvard.
OFFENSE STAYS HOT
Yale has scored 19 goals in its last five games, an average of 3.8 per game. The Bulldogs are second in the Ivy League in goals (41).
HOME COOKING
Yale ends the season with four home games in a five-game span. The Bulldogs are 7-3 (.700) at home this season and are 19-10 (.655) at Johnson Field since Nov. 4, 2017.
DILLMAN IN IVY LEAGUE TOP FIVE
Junior midfielder
Théodora Dillman (Lancaster, Pa.) is fifth in the Ivy League in goals and points (9-5-23). She is a two-time All-Ivy League selection and since Sept. 19 has not gone more than two games without scoring a goal.
ANSARI MAKES BIG MOVE
Sophomore forward
Lena Ansari (Glenview, Ill.) has more than doubled her point total -- and has doubled her goal total -- from her first season. She totaled nine points (4-1-9) as a first year and has 21 this year (8-5-21). Ansari is tied for sixth in the league in goals and points.
SCOUTING CORNELL
Cornell (8-8, 3-3 Ivy League) has dropped four of its last five games after starting the season 7-4. The Big Red's three Ivy League losses have come by a total of four goals. Cornell features the leading goal scorer in the league in defender Caroline Ramsey (17 goals), cousin of Yale first year forward
Lily Ramsey (Oak Knoll, N.J.). Her brother,
Nicholas Ramsey, plays lacrosse for Yale.
