ITHACA, N.Y. – The Yale field hockey team battled No. 25 Cornell nearly to a stalemate Saturday afternoon in the season finale at Dodson Field. Ultimately, a goal by Big Red forward Grace Leahy on a deflection at 41:20 proved to be the game's only goal, giving Cornell a 1-0 win.
Yale (9-8, 3-4 Ivy League) came out firing in the first quarter, earning five penalty corners and outshooting Cornell 4-2. But Big Red goalie Aerin Park made the only save she needed to make, keeping the game scoreless heading into the second.
Cornell (10-7, 4-3 Ivy League) outshot Yale 9-2 in the second and third quarters, though Leahy's shot was the only one that eluded Yale junior goalkeeper
Luanna Summer (four saves). Park, for her part, made a spectacular diving save on a shot by sophomore forward
Julia Freedman on a rebound attempt after Park made the initial stop on a shot by junior forward/midfielder
Ashley Kim.
Yale turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter, earning four penalty corners, but Park and the Cornell defense held firm in finishing off her fourth shutout of the season. Yale's final chance came on a corner with 2:26 to play, but the Bulldogs could not get a shot off.
Yale finished with a 10-4 advantage in corners, making this just the third time in the last 12 games an opponent has earned that many corners against Cornell.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Yale. This was the final game for five seniors – midfielder
Théodora Dillman, back
Laine Garber, midfielder
April Kim, back
Katie Pieterse and midfielder
Alissa Wong. It also marked the conclusion of Yale's first season with
Melissa Gonzalez as the team's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. Her nine wins as a first-year head coach at Yale rank second in team history, trailing only the 10 wins Richard Kentwell got in 1976.
