Courtesy of Sam Rubin
The Yale field hockey team concluded its 2018 season on Saturday with a 3–2 victory over Brown, marking its first 10-win record since the 2011 Ivy League Championship year.
The Bulldogs (10–7, 4–3 Ivy) headed into Saturday’s game on a two-win streak — they defeated Lehigh two weekends ago and triumphed against conference foe Columbia in an overtime shootout just last Saturday. This weekend, the contest against Brown (7–10, 1–6) saw two evenly matched teams grapple to convert offensive opportunities. The teams were tied until the final two minutes of the game, when with 1:25 remaining, forward Camille Scheyer ’20 notched her second tally and fifth point of the day, seizing the win for Yale. This marks the third straight season that the Elis have improved their record from the previous year.
“[Saturday’s game] was an accumulation of all our hard work,” midfielder Imogen Davies ’21 said. “We had confidence going into the game but no arrogance. We respected [Brown’s] ability and were ready for a fight. We really worked on finishing this week in practice and the three goals showed that paid off.”
The weather in Providence was warm when Scheyer lit up the field in only the fifth minute. Receiving a long pass from back Alex MacKay ’20, she fired a shot into the back of the net. The Illinois native’s first goal was equalized by Brown at 12:42 when back Rachel Lanouette scored straight off a corner.
Not to be outdone, Yale regained its one-shot lead less than three minutes later when back Holly Jackson ’20 deflected the ball into the goal off a penalty corner shot by Scheyer. The Bulldogs controlled the field in the first half with an 8–5 lead in shots and a 4–1 lead in penalty corners. The second half, however, saw the Bears dominate in offensive opportunities, claiming six more shots and two more penalty corners than Yale.
At 56:38, more than 40 minutes after its previous goal, Brown finally tied the game. Coming off a rebound, forward Lexi King fired a shot from center field past Eli goalie Sydney Terroso ’21 into the right corner of the net. But though the tied contest added suspense and stress to the game, it was a perfect setup for Scheyer’s brilliant game-winning goal. With just over a minute left on the clock, back Katie Pieterse ’22 passed the ball to Scheyer just outside the circle. Seeing an opening, Scheyer drove down the right side, drew Brown goalie Katie Hammaker out to challenge her and ripped the ball into the far post of the goal for the game-deciding tally.
“It was an awesome team effort.” Scheyer said. “I got on the end of what were great strings of passes out of the defense and through the midfield. I knew I needed to capitalize on the hard work my teammates had put in to get the ball up the field. [We knew] one of our key players [midfielder Bridget Condie ’20] wouldn’t be able to play, so everyone really stepped up and filled in roles they might not normally fill.”
The win was particularly impressive given that Condie — the team’s top scorer and leader in points with 17 — was out on injury. Despite Condie’s absence, however, Yale was not without its other talented players.
This past week, after tying her season with 11 saves in last week’s game against Columbia, Terroso earned the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honor for the third time this season. On offense, midfielder Imogen Davies ’21 and rookie midfielder Théodora Dillman ’22 both tied Condie in goals this fall.
“This season was an amazing experience,” Terroso said. “We battled from the first game to the last. I’m so excited that Cam got the goals she has been working on all season. We played our best passing game yet.”
Yale ended its 2018 season on a high note, emerging victorious in five of its last six games. The graduating class of 2019 — goalkeeper Chaney Kalinich ’19, back and captain Jackie Kisa ’19, midfielder Marissa Medici ’19, and forward Brooke Reese ’19 — all saw the team improve from three wins in their rookie season to 10 wins this year, an incredible improvement some attributed to a more cohesive team dynamic.
“What made us successful is how we expect the best from each other at practice and on game day,” forward Anissa Abboud ’21 said. “We don’t let anyone slack. Our team culture is the best it’s ever been in the past 4-5 years, and the upperclassmen have a lot to do with that. They brought us in to a really good team culture last year and they continued to make sure it stayed that way this year too for our first years.”
Next year, the Bulldogs will return a squad that comprises 97 percent of this season’s scoring.
Lucy Liu | l.liu@yale.edu .