NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In the season opener on Friday night at Johnson Field the Yale field hockey team showed it could win in dominant fashion, beating LIU 8-2. On Sunday afternoon at Johnson Field against UMass Lowell, the Bulldogs faced a much different game situation: they trailed 2-1 late in the fourth quarter. They went ahead and delivered a comeback win, as junior back/midfielder
Hettie Whittington scored the game-tying goal on a penalty stroke at 52:08 and the game-winning goal on a penalty corner 4:32 into overtime.
Yale improves to 2-0 overall (0-0 in the Ivy League), while Lowell falls to 1-3 (0-0 America East).
Summary
- Yale outshot UMass Lowell 4-0 in the first quarter, but a pair of saves by River Hawks goalie Veerle Mous helped keep the game scoreless.
- Junior midfielder/forward Emma Ramsey dribbled through the UML defense along the baseline and snuck one in the five hole to put Yale up 1-0 at 22:07 in the second quarter.
- First-year goalkeeper Amelie Schwarzkopf got the blocker on her left hand up just far enough to deny a penalty stroke by UMass Lowell at 23:09 to keep Yale's lead intact.
- UML tied the game on a penalty corner goal by Rena Pistilli at 35:48.
- Sophomore forward/back/midfielder Ymre Massée, who scored three goals in Friday's win, narrowly missed one with 4:30 left in the third Sunday as her shot hit the cross bar and bounced out.
- UML went ahead 2-1 on a penalty corner goal by Pistilli at 41:04.
- With 7:52 left in regulation Yale earned a penalty stroke, and Whittington fired it past the blocker of goalkeeper Megan MacMiller – who had been brought in specifically to defend the stroke.
- The Bulldogs had several scoring chances early in overtime. A minute in, sophomore forward/midfielder Chiara Picciafuoco sent a shot wide. Less than a minute later, a deflection by senior forward/midfielder Lauren Venter went wide as well. Three minutes in, Picciafuoco had the ball on a breakaway but was tripped up by Mous before she could get a shot off.
- On a Yale penalty corner at 63:42, sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Chang inserted the ball to Whittington at the top of the circle and Whittington fired it past Mous' left leg for the game-winner.
Notes
- Yale finished with a 34-13 shot advantage and a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal.
- Mous made six saves, while Schwarzkopf finished with four.
- Whittington made her second defensive save of the weekend. She finished the weekend with three goals.
- The Bulldogs are now 7-1 in their last eight home games.
- This is the second straight season Yale has started with two wins. Prior to last year, the Bulldogs had not started a season 2-0 since 2018.
Up Next
- Yale hosts Hofstra Friday at 5:00 p.m. The Bulldogs have won three in a row and six of the last seven vs. the Pride.
