Musco Sports

This weekend, Yale’s field hockey (5–3, 1–0 Ivy) team kicked off an exciting Ivy League opener on Friday at Brown (6–2, 0–1 Ivy), winning 3–2 in overtime, followed by a game at Fairfield (3–6, 0–0 MAAC) on Sunday.

Midfielder Théodora Dillman ’23 scored the first goal for the Bulldogs, assisted by Maddy Wong ’24 off a penalty corner, tying the game versus Brown on Friday 25 minutes into the game. Forward Ellie Barlow ’25 scored the Blue and White’s second goal to tie the game with less than two minutes left in regulation and another goal in overtime by Dillman won the game for the Bulldogs. On Sunday, the Bulldogs took on Fairfield, rallying late in the game and heading into overtime for the second game in a row.

“It was great to see the group celebrate after the Brown victory but equally impressive to see the group come together after our Fairfield loss,” Gonzalez said. “The team is great with learning and growing together and [that] was the highlight of the weekend.”  

The game on Friday against Brown is the first Ivy League win for head coach Melissa Gonzalez who came into the position in January of 2022. Goalkeeper Luanna Summer ’24 completed four saves with a save percentage of 66.7 percent.

“The overtime win at Brown on Friday [happened] within the first minute of overtime and showed how much everyone wanted it,” Barlow said. 

The Bulldogs attempted seven shots against Brown with a shot percentage of 42.9 percent. Six of the shots were on goal.

On Sunday, the Bulldogs played a double-overtime game and lost in a tight shoot-out to Fairfield.

“This weekend we demonstrated that we’re resilient,” Gonzalez said. “It’s such an important skill to be able to not give up after conceding a goal and we proved to ourselves that as a group we can work to come back and position ourselves to win games.”

Fairfield scored the only goal in the first half, but forward Poppy Beales ’26 was able to tie it in the third quarter. In the fourth, Dillman tied the game 2–2 with less than two and a half minutes to play. While the Bulldogs fought hard, after two rounds of shootouts, Fairfield took the victory, winning 3–2. 

Looking forward, the Bulldogs will continue their Ivy play against Princeton this Friday.

“Before our game this [coming] Friday, we will be working on a lot of our tactical and technical basics and really focusing on refining our style of play.” Laine Garber ’23 said. “We’ve talked a lot about mentality, so this week the focus will be performing every drill at game-intensity.”

The Bulldogs will also host Quinnipiac University on Sunday. 

Betsy Good | betsy.good@yale.edu