Lukas Flippo, Photo Editor

The Yale women’s soccer team fell 4–3 to the University of Albany last Thursday, followed by a 4–0 loss to No. 25 Hofstra on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (0–6–0, 0–0–0 Ivy) played the Great Danes (1–4–1, 0–0–0 America East) at Casey Stadium in Albany, New York for Yale’s second away game of the season. The Bulldogs started off the game with two goals, but UAlbany picked up momentum and managed to come back with four of their own.

Then, the Bulldogs traveled to play Hofstra (7–1–0, 0–0 Colonial) in a noon game on Sunday at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, New York. Hofstra is currently ranked first in their conference and ninth in the country for women’s soccer, according to Top Drawer Soccer rankings for the week beginning Sept. 13.  In the latest NCAA United Soccer Coaches ranking through Sep. 5, the Pride is ranked 25th in Division I women’s soccer. Yale held the Pride to one goal in the first half, but Hofstra added three within a span of eight minutes early in the second to cement its win.

“Another tough weekend for us,” Yale head coach Sarah Martinez said. “We are slowly starting to figure some things out.”

The Bulldogs started off strong against the Great Danes on Thursday, scoring the first goal of the game. In the first minute, forward Emily Yin ’22 took the ball down the left flank and used a left-footed cross, deflected by forward Tina Teik ’25, to get the ball to midfielder Ellie Rappole ’25. Rappole then sent the ball to forward Alanna Butcher ’25, who got a quick touch and shot from the upper corner of the 18-yard box to the cross bar to sink Yale’s first goal. 

In the 39th minute, a Yale defender fell, allowing Albany forward Shannon Litchfield to take on goalkeeper Annie Welch ’25 and tie the Bulldogs at one.

After halftime, Teik overcame her defender with a drag and spin move on the right of the 18-yard box and made a chip shot in the 52nd minute. The Great Danes were able to score three more times in the second half, putting them up by two, until midfielder Reina Bonta ’22 converted a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Yale followed up its goal with three corner kicks with less than a minute left in the game but was unable to convert. 

“We are very happy with the result tonight,” Albany head coach Leigh Howard told UAlbany Athletics. “We knew going in that both we and Yale were looking for a win and, though it wasn’t always pretty, we were happy to come out on top.”

Over the course of the game, Welch made six saves, and Yale outshot Albany 14–11.

Yale had more difficulty creating chances at the net on Sunday at Hofstra. The Hofstra defense allowed the Bulldogs to take only two shots throughout the course of the game, both of which came in the first half: near the 15-minute mark, Teik and defender Giana Pitarro ’23 each attempted a shot, but neither found the back of the net. Meanwhile, the Pride attempted a total of 27 shots on Yale goalkeeper Maya Bellomo ’25, who made 10 saves while making her collegiate debut. Her fellow first-year Welch had previously played every minute in goal for the Bulldogs this season.

During the sixth minute, Hofstra’s fifth-year forward Lucy Shepherd — assisted by fifth-year midfielder Amanda Ebbesson — scored the Pride’s first goal of the day and later assisted the second goal scored by forward Miri Talor in the 59th minute. In the following 10 minutes, Hofstra was able to score two more times on shots from defender Anja Suttner and forward Miri Talor, who both assisted each others’ goals.

At the 20-minute mark, Hofstra had four corner kicks within the span of four minutes. There were followed by a series of Yale substitutions, putting midfielder Sarah Jordan ’22, forward Mia Grillo ’22, and defender Annika Bryant ’25 in for Teik, Yin and defender Giovanna Dionicio ’23 for the rest of the first half. 

Hofstra’s win over the Bulldogs on Sunday marked its third consecutive shutout and fourth consecutive win of the season, while the game was Yale’s sixth loss. 

“We have got to do a better job of putting ourselves in positions to be in games by not giving up goals,” Martinez wrote in an email to the News. “That’s the biggest thing we have to continue to address. We now have a quick turnaround to UMass on Wednesday but that provides another opportunity for us to grow and apply.”

Yale will travel to the University of Massachusetts this Wednesday for a 1 p.m. weekday game, their seventh of the season. 

AMELIA LOWER
Amelia Lower covers football, men's ice hockey and men's lacrosse. She is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College from Rye, New York, double-majoring in Spanish and the History of Science, Medicine and Public Health.