The class of 2011 came into Saturday’s contest having been a part of 36 wins in their careers, but it took some overtime heroics from next year’s seniors — juniors Mia Rosati ’12 and Dinah Landshut ’12 — to seal number 37.
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On a day when the Bulldogs honored its four seniors — captain and goalie Katie Bolling ’11, forward Johna Paolino ’11, and backs Erica Cullum ’11 and Marissa Waldemore ’11 — the Elis (11–5, 5–1 Ivy) defeated Columbia (9–7, 2–4) 3–2 with a last-minute overtime goal in their last game at Johnson Field.
For the first 20 minutes, the Bulldogs and Lions went back and forth without success. But at 20:43, Kirsten Krebs ’12 put the Bulldogs on the board first on a feed from Mary Beth Barham ’13. Columbia was quick to respond and tied things up with a goal just eight minutes later. The Lions then shocked the Bulldogs just three minutes later when a penalty corner shot from Julia Garrison found the back of Bolling’s net and gave Columbia a 2-1 lead.
Columbia held that lead until over 17 minutes into the second half when forward Maddy Sharp ’13 scored the game-tying goal on a penalty corner. The goal came after a barrage of Yale pressure in a second half that saw the Elis outshoot Columbia 13–6.
Despite a 7–3 penalty corner advantage in the second frame, Yale could not find the game-winner in regulation, and were forced to play overtime to decide the fate of its seniors’ last game at home.
“The seniors were definitely a big motivating factor for us,” said forward and midfielder Chelsey Locarno ’12. “Especially once we went into overtime. We all wanted their last game on our own field to be memorable, and I think that was really apparent when the team took care of business in overtime so quickly.”
Luckily, for the class of 2011 — and the future of the Yale field hockey program — the class of 2012 came through in the clutch as they have all season. Midfielder Dinah Landshut ’12 sent a feed through the circle to Mia Rosati ’12, who was able to get a stick on it and hand her seniors the win.
“Our seniors have helped to shape our program into what it is today,” Kirsten Krebs ’12 said. “It was so important for our team to show them how much we appreciate all they’ve done to make our program successful.”
Rosati’s tally also marked the 50th goal the Bulldogs have scored this season, a number they have now reached in back-to-back years for the first time in history. The single season team record is 55 goals, and Yale has one more game — next Saturday’s contest at Brown — to bring that mark down.
With the Ivy League win, the Bulldogs pulled themselves within just one win of the school’s record for Ivy League wins, and Landshuts’s assist on the game-winner gives her 15 this season, only one short of Katie Cantore’s ’10 school record set last year.
In their final game in New Haven, Bolling had four saves in helping the Elis to the win, while Johna Paolino, who is enjoying her best collegiate season with four goals and two assists, got the start at forward for Yale. Waldemore and Cullum, who have been frustrated by injuries this season, finally got to play in the backfield together coming off the bench in the win.
While the Elis pulled out the win, Cornell dropped a tough 3–2 loss to No. 5 Princeton, and with it, Yale’s chances of bringing home the Ivy League title all but evaporated. Yale ends its season at Brown on Nov. 6. The game is slated to start at 1 p.m.