Yale Athletics

This week, the Yale men’s soccer team (6–3–2, 1–0–2 Ivy) picked up wins against Dartmouth (4–5–1, 2–1–0 Ivy) and Boston College (3–5–4, 0–3–2 ACC). 

The 2–0 win against Dartmouth brought them to second place in the Ivy standings. The 1–0 victory over Boston College extended their undefeated streak to seven games. 

The Bulldogs faced off against Dartmouth at Reese Stadium on Saturday night hoping to get their first conference win of the season. The game started out favorably for Yale as BC defender Orrett Maine was sent off with a red card in the 25th minute, leaving the Bulldogs a man up for the rest of the game. With six minutes left in the first half, Max Rogers ’25 scored a beautiful free kick from the right side of the box. The curved shot into the upper left corner gave the Bulldogs a 1–0 lead. 

Rogers told the News that the goal was no coincidence. 

“Believe it or not, I was practicing that exact freekick from the same angle during the week leading up to Dartmouth,” Rogers said. “Guess it helped!” 

The Bulldogs defense proved stifling throughout the 90 minutes as Dartmouth only managed to register two shots — neither one on target. A goal in the 74th minute by Yasin Aly ’25 made it 2–0 and assured Yale would pick up a crucial Ancient 8 win. 

With the win being Dartmouth’s first Ivy League loss, the Bulldogs are now within one point of first place. Coach Kylie Stannard said that the team’s success against Dartmouth could partially be attributed to the pressure and motivation associated with the game.

“We were disappointed that we hadn’t put together a full 90 minute performance in our Ivy games to that point so we talked a lot about that,” Stannard said. “Additionally, we felt we let one get away from us last year at Dartmouth and we were further motivated to avenge that performance.”

The team looked to improve their away record with their game against Boston College on Tuesday. The Bulldogs had another strong first half showing. In the 23rd minute, TJ Presthus ’24 converted a penalty won by Eric Lagos ’24 to give them a 1–0 lead. Just five minutes later, Diego Zaffanella ’26 was denied by the post as his shot was inches from doubling Yale’s lead. 

The second half went by without any additional goals, and Yale secured a 1–0 win away from home. Stannard told the News before the game that it was one of the team’s objectives to improve their performances on the road. Not only did they accomplish that, they also extended their recent good form. The team is undefeated over the last month, picking up five wins and four clean sheets over seven games. Captain and defender Jake Schaffer ’24 said that the team takes pride in earning clean sheets. 

“It took us a few games to gel as a team, and now we’ve figured out our identity,” Schaffer said. “It isn’t just the defenders, but all 11 guys have worked incredibly hard defensively over the past seven games.”

The team picked up momentum at the right time, as they face Harvard (2–3–6, 1–0–2 Ivy) this Saturday for one of the season’s most anticipated games. The teams have the same Ivy record, meaning that the rivalry game will be important for the conference standings. 

It will be the first Yale–Harvard game played in Cambridge since 2018, which seems to be bringing out the team’s competitive nature. 

“We’re especially excited to play at Harvard,” Schaffer said. “We’ve done well at home this season, but we’re looking to prove that we can dominate on the road. We’re all looking forward to playing in front of the hostile crowd and taking the game to them.”

Harvard is 0–1–6 at home this season.