NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale field hockey team had plenty to celebrate before Sunday's game vs. Drexel at Johnson Field even began. All weekend long, the Bulldogs had been commemorating 50 years of varsity field hockey with a series of events for the dozens of alums and other supporters of the program who returned to New Haven. The 2022 edition of the Bulldogs then proceeded to put an exclamation mark on the festivities by delivering a thrilling 2-1 win vs. the Dragons.
Yale (3-1, 0-0 Ivy League) had started the weekend with a 1-0 win vs. Sacred Heart Friday in the home opener. The lone goal in that one came on a deflection by sophomore forward
Ellie Barlow off a penalty corner shot by senior midfielder
Alissa Wong – and that history repeated itself on Sunday, as Barlow and Wong struck again on a penalty corner at 7:08 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
At 18:44 first year forward
Poppy Beales extended the lead to 2-0 with her first career goal, dribbling into the top of the circle before turning around and firing a backhand shot past Drexel keeper Megan Hadfield.
Those goals provided crucial breathing room as the Bulldogs withstood an onslaught from the Drexel attack, including two quarters (the first and third) in which the Dragons registered nine shots. They outshot Yale 26-4 for the game.
While Labor Day earlier in the week marked the unofficial end of summer, the Bulldogs are still enjoying their own version of an ongoing Summer time – from junior goalkeeper
Luanna Summer. Returning from a season in which she earned honorable mention All-Ivy League honors, Summer has proven herself to be the type of goalie who can give her team a chance to win any game. On Sunday she made a career high 14 saves, including several acrobatic ones that showcased her athleticism. The only blemish for her the entire weekend was a penalty stroke goal by Drexel midfielder/forward Natali Foster at 44:46 Sunday.
Summer's biggest stop may have been the one on back Amanda Brouwer near the end of the first quarter. Brouwer was wide open when she received a pass in transition near the top of the circle, but Summer came out to challenge her. Brouwer attempted to deke her out of position, but Summer dove to deflect the shot away and keep Yale's lead – 1-0 at the time – intact.
Summer also proved to be the backbone of a Yale defensive corner unit that was tested all game long. Drexel (2-3, 0-0 CAA) drew 18 corners to Yale's two – but did not score on any of them. The biggest of those corners came in a series during the final three minutes of the game. With Yale holding a 2-1 lead, the Dragons had back-to-back corners and a chance to tie things up. On the first, Wong came charging out to block one attempt and senior midfielder
Théodora Dillman blocked another before the Dragons earned another corner. Summer came up huge on that one, getting her left leg out at full extension to turn aside a shot by midfielder Taylor Mason.
Yale then controlled the ball for most of the final two minutes, getting it deep into Drexel's zone. Senior back
Katie Pieterse's interception in the waning seconds snuffed out the Dragons' final chance.
"Drexel's a great opponent," said
Melissa Gonzalez, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "They had great energy, pressure and created many threatening counter attack opportunities. Our defensive corner unit was stellar and put us in the position to get a good result today. As we look ahead we will refine some tactical details to prepare for the upcoming weekend."
As they did at halftime Friday, the Bulldogs brought all the alums in attendance down to the field on Sunday to be recognized by the crowd. For many of them, this day marked the first chance to see the dramatic transformation the Yale field hockey complex has undergone – including new state-of-the-art turf and a video scoreboard named for Yale Field Hockey Association president
Lorraine Pratte Lewis '78. Those additions, combined with the addition of Carol McPhillips Roberts Field House in 2018, position Yale's facility among the best in the nation.
The Bulldogs now bring three straight wins into their second road trip of the season, starting with a game at Colgate Friday at 6:00 p.m.
