Yale Athletics

This past weekend, Yale’s field hockey team (7–9, 3–4 Ivy) battled Princeton University (7–8, 5–2 Ivy) at home at the Johnson Field in New Haven for the team’s senior night, and ultimately the last game of their 2023 season.  

Yale needed the win over the Tigers to send them to the Ivy League tournament. On Friday night, they looked to secure the victory. 

Team Captain Ashley Kim ’24 told the News the team had perseverance through this season.

“This season was a true testament to our resilience,” she said. “We played top-ten teams, top-twenty and didn’t always get the results we wanted, but we fought every second of the way with heart and belief.”

The Friday night game proved to be a battle from the moment it began. Poppy Beales ’26 had two shots in the first period, followed by a Lauren Venter ’26 shot in the second period which was saved by Princeton’s goalie. Though both teams took swings, neither could hit until 50:43, when Princeton’s Talia Schenck scored. 

In the blink of an eye, the Bulldogs did what they had done many times before this season: they rallied back. Less than two minutes after the Princeton goal, Hettie Whittington ’27 took a Keely Comizio ’25 assist straight to the net. As the fourth period ended and the game rolled into overtime, both teams had a shot at the Ivy League Tournament in sight.

The Tigers came out strong in overtime and dominated the ball. Despite saving a penalty corner shot at 60:40, the ball got past goalkeeper Luanna Summer ’24 at 60:51 and Princeton emerged victorious.

Comizio told the News that despite the tough end, she is hopeful for next season.

“My hopes for next season are to continue to build the program and level of play like we have been doing the past two years,” she said. “We didn’t end up where we wanted to be this year, but we are really proud of the growth and the commitment we made. We are looking forward to next season as we continue to build and hopefully get the results we want.”

Though not the way they hoped it would end, the Bulldogs had a successful season. In conference, they went 3–4 with 2 wins in overtime. They extended their overall win streak against Dartmouth (6–9, 2–5 Ivy) to seven, and extended both win streaks against Columbia (3–13, 0–7 Ivy) and Brown (6–10, 1–6 Ivy) to six.

Head coach Melissa Gonzalez told the News of her pride for her team and their commitment to hard work.

“I’m proud of this team’s growth mindset and commitment to the process,” she said. “Each person on the team put in the work to improve themselves and the team. Regardless of the opponent, result, weather or situation they continually showed up every day and worked to better their best. It takes a lot of character and I can’t say enough good things about this group as hockey players and more importantly as people.”

Yale field hockey will lose five seniors graduating after this season, including Summer and Kim. Summer played every game this season in goal, and Kim concluded her captaincy with the team having started 15 of 16 games. 

Kim told the News that although she will not be with the team any longer, her expectations are still high.

“[I hope] they continue this journey with Coach Melissa to rebuild the Yale Field Hockey legacy and come out on top with an Ivy League title!” she said. “I have very big expectations as they’ve worked so hard and proven that they are true competitors of the sport.”

Katie So ’24, Maddy Wong ’24 and Julia Fortier ’24 also exit with the season. So played in 15 games this season, while Fortier added on to over 350 career minutes played. Wong leaves having assisted two overtime wins at Dartmouth and Richmond (7–11, 2–5 A10) this season alone. 

Gonzales also said she is looking forward to the team’s growth next season.

“I’m looking forward to the continued growth and development of the team,” she said to the News. “This team has welcomed every challenge they’ve been given. Our goals are the same: to control the controllable and get 1 percent better every day.”

The Bulldogs will continue to train after some time off and look to continue their improvement for next season.