Yale Athletics

The No. 12 ranked Yale field hockey team (9–2, 2–2 Ivy) swept their weekend campaign, defeating the Columbia Lions 4-1 (5–5, 1–3) on Friday before beating the University of Connecticut Huskies (6–6, 3–1 Big East) 1–0 in a historic shootout win.

On Friday afternoon in New York City, the Bulldogs got on the board early when Victoria Collee ’28 gathered a pass from Chiara Picciafuoco ’28 and fired a backhand shot past the Lions’ goalkeeper to give Yale an early 1–0 lead. The Bulldogs held Columbia without a penalty corner until the tail end of the second quarter, when the Lions were able to convert their lone opportunity to tie the game 1–1 heading into halftime. 

The Elis nearly regained the lead midway through the third quarter when a shot by Hettie Whittington ’27 sailed just wide of the cage. On a corner just over nine minutes into the third quarter, Lauren Venter ’26 capitalized on a rebound to put the Elis up 2–1. 

The Bulldogs continued to press offensively in the fourth. Captain Poppy Beales ’26 added an insurance goal off a feed from Ella Ou ’29, and Collee sealed the win with her second goal of the day — finishing a setup from Ymre Massée ’28 to seal the final at 4–1.

Yale outshot Columbia 6–1 in the first half and 12–1 in the second half, holding the Lions to a season-low two shots through the entire game. This was Collee’s second multi-goal game of the year and her goal total for the season now sits at seven, one behind Beales for most on the squad. 

Two days later, the Bulldogs made the trip to Storrs to face off against the Huskies — a team that Yale field hockey has never beaten in program history. The series started in 1975 and prior to Sunday, the Huskies had won all 35 meetings between the programs.  

Yale appeared to jump out to an early lead just over a minute into the game, but the goal was overturned after an official review. The Bulldogs maintained momentum and dominated the opening quarter, outshooting the Huskies 5–0. 

The Huskies registered their first shot on goal early in the second quarter on a penalty corner, but Yale goalkeeper Amelie Schwarzkopf ’29 came up with a kick save to keep the game scoreless. The Huskies outshot Yale 3–1 in the second quarter, but Schwarzkopf made two more crucial stops to keep the score even. The Elis’ offense were held without a shot in that frame. 

Neither team could break through in the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.

Yale generated consistent pressure in the two extra periods, outshooting the Huskies 4–1 in each, but could not find the back of the cage. Both sides earned three penalty corners across the two overtimes. The Huskies’ final corner came with just over a minute remaining, but Whittington was able to get her stick in front of the shot, earning a defensive save and sending the game into a shootout. 

In the shootout, five players from each team took alternating one-on-one shots from the 23-meter line. Kaitlyn Chang ’28 tallied the first goal for the Bulldogs, calmly slipping a low shot past the Huskies’ goalkeeper. The Huskies did not score on their first attempt, and both teams went scoreless in the second and third rounds of the shootout. 

Whittington took Yale’s fourth attempt, patiently dribbling to draw the goalkeeper off balance before slotting in a composed finish to give the Bulldogs a 2–0 lead. Schwarzkopf then denied both the initial and rebound attempt from the Huskie’s fourth shooter, clinching a historic 1–0 victory for Yale. 

Schwarzkopf finished with five saves in regulation and overtime, not including her stops in the shootout, as the Bulldogs became just the third team this season to hold the Huskies scoreless, joining Ivy rivals Harvard and Princeton. The Bulldogs’ 16 shots were the most by any team against the University of Connecticut this year.

The Bulldogs will continue their Ivy League campaign this Friday, Oct. 17, when they host Dartmouth (2–8, 0–4) at Johnson Field for Senior Night.