The field hockey team is looking for its sixth straight victory over Hofstra (3–1) this weekend.
Both the Pride and the Bulldogs (1–1) are coming into this matchup with very different wins. The Bulldogs won their home opener with just under five minutes left against Quinnipiac last Sunday, while the Pride won handily, scoring five unanswered goals against St. Joseph’s.
While the Bulldogs have edged over the Pride in each of the past five matchups by an average of 2.4 goals, each game has been a hard-fought win. With six graduating starters, fresh talent will have to jump immediately in alongside some of the more experienced players.
Yale will look for new scoring forces this year after four of six leading scorers graduated from last year’s Ivy League Championship team. Sophomore Jonel Boileau will lead the scoring charge for Hofstra after a hat trick last game and a season total of six goals.
While the Bulldogs have been enjoying scoring from several contributors, they have been working incessantly to improve team defense.
“In addition to working on our corner play regularly, we have really been focusing on team defense all over the field this week,” head coach Pam Stuper said.
The Bulldogs and the Pride look similar in goal with Yale’s Emily Cain ’14 making 21 of 27 saves on the season, and Hofstra’s Kaitlyn De Turo stopping 25 of 30 shots this year.
“We’ve enjoyed competing against Hofstra the last five years,” Stuper added. “They are always a strong team that is consistently in and out of the top 20.”
The Bulldogs are looking for another big victory at home before playing their next two games on the road.
In two weeks, Yale will return home to take on No. 4 Princeton.
The Bulldogs will take on Hofstra at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Johnson Field.