A week after receiving votes in the national poll, the Yale field hockey team demonstrated again that they are among the elite teams ofthe Ivy League, making the most of two goals from Georgia Holland ’14 to take down Cornell —a team that also received votes in this week’s national poll —3–2 in Ithaca. The win was just the second for the Bulldogs (6–3, 2–1 Ivy) at Cornell since 1985.
“Georgia played out of her mind,” head coach Pam Stuper said in a press release. “When Georgia has opportunities around the net, she does a really good job of scoring. She doesn’t necessarily need someone setting her up.”
Holland wasn’t the only Yale freshman to make her presence felt Saturday, as goalie Emily Cain ’14 came in for the second half and made three saves to improve to 3–0 in her collegiate career. Cain and Holland proved a crucial tandem for the Bulldog defense, which withstood 12 corners from the Big Red, relinquishing goals on just two of them.
Another freshman, Erica Borgo ’14, who has done a spectacular job inserting the ball on the Bulldogs’ penalty corner attack this season, sent another good ball in at 59:45. Midfielder Dinah Landshut ’12 stopped to set up classmate Erin Carter ’12 for a Yale insurance goal, Landshut’s ninth assist in nine games this season.
Midfielder Chelsey Locarno ’12 also played a major role in the Bulldogs’ win, moving from forward to midfielder andshowing versatility by contributing on both the Yale attack and defense.
“We played well against Cornell,” Carter said. “They are probably one of our bigger rivals in the Ivies — always a tough game. I hate to complain about the officials, but there was a questionable call that made the score closer than it should have been. Overall, I think we played a real good game.”
Because of their 7–0 loss to No.4 Princeton, the Bulldogs trail the Tigers in the race for the Ivy League title. If the Tigers remain unscathed, a strong finish for Yale may earn them an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament —something that they narrowly missed out on last season.
“It was great to come out with a win in Ivy play this weekend, but we know there are a few parts of our game we have to clean up before the UConn game,” Locarno said. “They are a very respectable opponent, and we can’t wait for a challenge to prove ourselves against a top five team.”
That matchup comes Wednesday when the Bulldogstravel to Storrs, Conn., for a midweek game with the No.5 UConn Huskies. That will be followed by a Sunday trip to No.12 Boston College. A strong showing in both games could be the edge Yale needs heading into the postseason.