After last week’s upset victory over Dartmouth, the Bulldogs fell unexpectedly to their longtime Ivy rival, Harvard.
Yale (5-5, 1-2 Ivy) lost the game, 11-8, to Harvard (3-4, 1-0) at home on Johnson field in a Saturday game complicated by rainfall. The Elis were on a two-game winning streak going into the contest, having won against the Big Green and Fairfield the week before.
“Coming off the high of beating Dartmouth and Fairfield, we were very comfortable going into the game,” attack Marya Myers ’07 said. “I don’t think we were underestimating Harvard. But we needed to be ready to have anything thrown at us, and we weren’t ready for their speed.”
The Bulldogs lost for the first time to the Crimson since 1994, breaking their 11-game winning streak against Harvard.
“It was completely unexpected and out of character for us,” Myers said. “We didn’t play at all like us, we stooped down a level. We’re much better than this.”
The Elis had defeated Dartmouth, 6-5, in Hanover, N.H., and returned to Connecticut to defeat Fairfield at home by an even larger margin, 19-11.
“We very excited about our win against Dartmouth,” midfielder Sara Greenberg ’09 said. “We hope to play like that in all our games. So it was very upsetting that we weren’t able to carry the momentum in this game.”
Greenberg scored the final goal of the first half, nearly closing in on Harvard’s lead and bringing the score to 7-5. Greenberg said the Bulldogs played carelessly against the Crimson.
“We played sloppily, especially in our midfield,” Greenberg said. “[Harvard] beat us in our transition game and that was a big component of our loss.”
Several players said they were extremely disappointed with the loss, but they said there were definitely some areas they could improve on.
“We need to work on defence a little more,” Myers said. “We need to double team more and start picking up the girls coming in transition. We’re a good team; the game against Dartmouth was one of the best I’ve ever seen us play.”
The team did not perform to their full potential, several players said, and they added that they feel confident they can win future games.
“I don’t think it was any blatant mistake by anyone that lost the game against Harvard,” Myers said. “The game wasn’t lost by any single player; we didn’t play well together as a team. We made so many mistakes that were completely out of character. “
Yale next faces Holy Cross on Wednesday and Princeton on Saturday. Midfielder Lindsay Levin ’07 said the team intends to take its next games seriously.
“After playing Harvard, we saw how we struggled even against a team placed below us,” she said. “We can’t take Holy Cross lightly. We have to go out really hard and play well, and show people we are a good team.”
Levin said the team hopes to rebound from its loss to Harvard.
“This was a bump in the road,” Levin said. “Even though we struggled against Harvard, we can step up and pull ourselves together.”
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