It was a good weekend for the field hockey team, who made a statement in its Ivy opener against Harvard and followed it up with an even more decisive victory over Sacred Heart the next day.
After three close losses in their first four games of the season, the Bulldogs (3-3) returned home in fine form, defeating Harvard (2-2) 5–1, and continuing the streak the following day with a dominant 9–1 victory over Sacred Heart (2-5) at Johnson Field.
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“It’s a great testament to all the work we’ve put in,” Mia Rosati ’12 said. “We’re really excited to go play the rest of this season and keep up the winning streak.”
Saturday’s game against Harvard inaugurated this year’s Ivy League season. The Bulldogs surged to an immediate lead, with Erica Borgo ’14 scoring the first goal, and Emily Schuckert ’14 following with two goals of her own, leaving the score going into the half at 3–0.
Yale continued its aggressive tactics in the second half; five minutes in, the Bulldogs’ Maddy Sharp ’13 scored again, quickly followed by goal by Rosati, putting Yale up 5–0. Harvard’s Carly Dickson managed to bury one goal in the last few minutes of the game, but it was too late; the Bulldogs had won an indisputable victory over their rivals, with goalie Emily Cain ’14 not having to make a save until the final three minutes of action, and goalie Heather Schlesier ’15 finishing her first game with two saves. Yale outshot the Crimson 36–7.
“One of our goals this year is to be Ivy League champions,” said Taylor Sankovich ’12. “It was important to use this game to show the league we are serious and we are out to win.”
The Elis continued to dominate the field the following day against Sacred Heart, with seven different players landing on the scoresheet.
“We just wanted to focus on playing our best and doing what we know we can do,” Ona McConnell ’13 said. “We had to make sure we played the full 70 minutes.”
Dinah Landshut ’12 seized an early lead for the Eli’s six minutes into the game. Though Sacred Heart stymied Bulldog action for the next fifteen minutes, the team regained momentum, with Rosati corralling Mary Beth Barhams’s ’13 blocked shot back into the net for Yale’s second point. Five minutes later, Kristen Krebs ’12 scored her first goal of the season, and Sankovich scored two goals off of penalty shots, one before, and one after halftime. It was 4–0 at halftime.
In the second half, Rosati scored her second goal of the game, immediately followed by one from Gabby Garcia ’14, her first career goal. Captain Erin Carter ’12 scored on a penalty shot, and Barham capped off the Bulldogs’ scoring, leaving the score 9–0 61:04 minutes into the game.
With less than three minutes remaining, Sacred Heart’s Leah Salindong scored, making the final score 9–1.
“It was definitely really good for us to know that we can just go out there and play our game and be successful with it,” Landshut said. “Once we trust ourselves and do what we know we are good at, we can be successful.”
The Bulldogs will next play an away game at Princeton on Saturday at noon.