Tuesday night’s matchup against Fairfield was goalkeeper Elise Wilcox’s ’15 first full game. But that did not stop her from saving every single shot she faced.
Replacing starting keeper Adele Jackson-Gibson ’13 after she dislocated her shoulder during Saturday’s game against Dartmouth, Wilcox made her career start in net and finished with five saves. The Bulldogs (6-4-2, 2-1 Ivy) shut out Fairfield (3-6-3), 3-0, for its third shutout of the season.
“I was happy with the whole defense today,” coach Rudy Meredith said. “Elise had her first shutout, taking over for Adele.”
The Elis outshot the Stags by a slim 11-9 margin in the contest, but placed nine of those shots on goal. Midfielder Enma Mullo ’12 said the 81 percent shot on goal statistic was “a record high” for the team. Mullo said the team had heard the Stags’ goalkeeper had a solid reputation.
“Rudy told us that their goalie was good, so we had to take good shots and get them on goal,” she said.
Fairfield pressured the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the contest. The Stags shot three times and earned a corner kick within the first nine minutes of the game.
But the Elis only needed to shoot once before making it onto the scoreboard at 12:59. Forward Melissa Gavin ’15 sneaked a pass to Mullo through two Fairfield defenders. Goalkeeper Kelly Boudreau had barely touched the ball when Mullo one-timed it into the back of the net.
All five of the Bulldogs’ shots in the first half were on goal, and the team held Fairfield without any additional shots until the final nine seconds of the first half.
Coming off her assist to Mullo, Gavin pushed the team to a 2-0 lead just two minutes into the second half. Gavin earned a one-on-one with the Bondreau, who deflected the forward’s first attempt. But Gavin collected her own rebound and drilled the ball past Bondreau. The shot marked Gavin’s fifth goal of the year.
The Stags threatened with a shot from midfielder Lauren Reilly three minutes later, but Wilcox turned it aside. Wilcox made four more saves that half.
The Bulldogs earned another scoring opportunity in the 58th minute when Mullo delivered a corner kick into the box for Gavin, but Gavin’s shot went high over the net.
Fairfield pressured the Elis in the 68th minute with two consecutive corner kicks, but the defense was able to clear the ball from the penalty box each time.
With just 15 seconds left on the clock, forward Mary Kubiuk ’13 added a third goal from two yards in front of the goal off an assist from Anne Song ’13. The shot capped the score at 3-0 and marked the first time Fairfield had allowed more than two goals in a game this season.
“It was just me and the goalie, and I just tapped it into the corner,” Kubiuk said. “It was nice to get a win going into [the game against] Cornell this weekend.”
The team will be back in action starting at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday when Yale hosts Cornell (2-9-1, 0-2-1 Ivy) in another Ivy League matchup at Reese Stadium.
The Bulldogs head into this match having won three of their four past games.