The Yale field hockey team snapped its six-game losing streak when the Elis defeated Bryant 1-0.
Yale (2–8, 0–3 Ivy) withstood a barrage of shots from Bryant (3–8, 0–0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), but goalkeeper Heather Schlesier ’15 came up big, recording seven saves and her second shutout of the season.
“We came out strong,” forward Jessie Accurso ’15 said. “And that really helped us gain momentum that we were able to carry through to the second half.”
Midfielder Carol Middough ’18 scored the only goal of the game at the 35:00 mark, just before the first half ended, with an assist from back Megan Kirkham ’15. The goal was set up off a penalty corner by captain Nicole Wells ’16. The Blue and White notched its first goal off of a penalty corner all season when Middough found the back of the net.
The score is Middough’s third goal of the season. She is responsible for 30 percent of all Elis goals this year.
Perhaps more impressive, however, is the fact that Bryant has a reputation as a defensive power. Bryant is second in the MAAC in goals allowed per game.
“Winning always feels great, like all our hard work is paying off,” Kirkham said. “In the second half, we needed to come out and continue to play like we knew we [could] and not give Bryant a chance to get back into the game.”
Schlesier remains at the top of Ivy League goalkeepers with 84 total saves, 20 more than any other goalie in the Ancient Eight.
This match-up marked just the second mid-week game for the Elis. Despite that scheduling challenge, however, head coach Pam Stuper said that she was proud of the team’s efforts.
“[There was] very good play from everyone to help us come up with a win tonight,” Stuper said. “Being in the midst of midterms and having a Wednesday night game, I think we really came out focused and stuck to the game plan. [We] produced a goal and a shutout in one night, enough to come up with a great win for us here in mid-week.”
Accurso agreed, saying it was great to get the win that the team has been working hard towards.
After coming off several losing weekends, including defeats against Ivy foes Harvard, Princeton and Cornell, this win will greatly affect the team as it moves forward, according to Kirkham.
“This weekend was important for us to figure out what we need[ed] to change,” forward Alyssa Weiss ’17 said before the game against Bryant. “We’re looking forward to tak[ing] that moving forward to get the results we want.”
With only one game this weekend, the team will get to focus solely on its match against Maine. Before taking on Bryant, team members stated that being able to really focus on a single team is a huge positive overall.
The team will be traveling to face the Maine Black Bears on Saturday. The game starts at 4:00 p.m.