If Monday night’s game is any indication, the women’s soccer team’s scoring problems are behind them.
Despite only one day of rest between games, the Bulldogs (6-5-1, 0-2-1 Ivy) showed no signs of fatigue. Yale registered 21 shots, 10 more than their season average, en route to a 3-2 victory over Colgate (8-6-0) at the Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium.
Laurel Karnes ’06 registered the game-winning goal and added an assist to give the Elis the come-from-behind victory.
At 77:45, midfielder Jessica Berggren ’06, who had just substituted into the game, crossed the ball into the box, where Karnes headed it past Raider goalkeeper Luisa Miller.
“[Berggren] just did the right thing and totally beat the defender she was going against,” Karnes said. “That’s what she did and I saw it and her ball just came to where I was. It was all her.”
The goal was Karnes’ sixth of the season and her 15th point. Both of these statistics are team highs.
In the game’s final minutes, Yale goalkeeper Sarah Walker ’05 withstood a barrage of Colgate shots to protect the one-goal lead, making several saves in the process.
“It was a really hard fought game,” Raiders head coach Kathy Brawn said. “Yale came up with one super opportunity and put it away to grab that game winner. That was really the difference.”
But despite the final result, it was Colgate that set the tone for the match early, taking a 1-0 lead at the one-minute mark.
A corner kick by Colgate midfielder Amanda Barrett, the Raiders’ sixth all-time leading scorer, came out of Walker’s hands, hit the ground, and came to defender Carolyn Warhaftig. Warhaftig tapped in the loose ball to give Colgate the early lead.
The early goal woke up the Elis.
“It picked up our intensity, which generated all of the offense,” Karnes said.
It did not take long for Yale to strike back. Forward Jamie Ortega ’06 kicked in a rebound off a Karnes shot to knot the game at one at 3:04.
“You can always count on Jamie to give 110 percent,” Karnes said. “She does amazing things with the ball.”
Colgate regained the lead on a Barrett goal at 16:01.
Down 2-1 in the final minute of the first half, Yale midfielder Lindsey Weening ’06 made the first of a series of three consecutive passes that ended at the feet of captain Lee Anne Jasper ’04 in the box. With a step on her defender, Jasper ripped a left-footed shot to the near post past Miller, tying the game heading into the intermission.
“[The play showcased] stuff that we’ve been talking about — combination play [and] trying to connect passes together so we can create chances to score — and we did that,” head coach Rudy Meredith said.
The Bulldogs showed no signs of slowing down in the second half.
Ortega continued to cause problems for the Raiders defense, setting up Karnes once and Jasper twice at point blank range. But Miller made three of her 12 saves to keep the game tied.
“I thought this was one of [Ortega’s] best games of the season,” Meredith said. “She was very involved in the attack and creating chances for us and herself.”
Colgate nearly took the lead in the 65th minute when Barrett blasted a shot from outside the box past Walker. But the shot glanced off of the left post.
The offensive display was a big improvement for the Elis, who, despite some offensive chemistry, generated only four shots in a 1-0 overtime loss to Dartmouth (5-5-1, 3-0-0 Ivy) on Oct. 11.
“Saturday, things were starting to click, so I didn’t change anything [Monday night],” said Meredith, who has juggled the lineup all season in search of a winning combination. “[Against Colgate], our emphasis was [on] not just scoring goals but creating chances. That happened.”
The Bulldogs, currently tied with Columbia University (3-6-2, 0-2-1) in the Ancient Eight basement, will host Cornell (6-2-2, 1-1-1 Ivy) this Saturday at the Soccer-Lacrosse stadium.
Cornell tied Harvard 1-1 on Oct. 11. Saturday’s game is crucial to any Eli hopes of returning to the postseason.
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