Tough Night for Ivy League Women

Yale loses OT heartbreaker to UConn; Harvard, Brown both lose 3-0

September 6, 2008

Yale, Harvard and Brown all opened their season with a loss Friday night.

The Yale women’s soccer team was 1.1 seconds away from knocking off UConn, but the Huskies scored on a free kick to force overtime and then won it, 2-1, when Annie Yi scored with 2:05 left in the second overtime.

UConn (2-2) was awarded the tying free kick after a Yale player was issued a yellow card for what was ruled a deliberate hand ball. Cory Bildstein blasted it into the left corner from just outside the box.

“It was a very exciting game,” said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. “They had us under a lot of pressure and forced us into a mistake. It was a great free kick. There was nothing we could do.”

Yale keeper Ayana Sumiyasu, making her first career start, was outstanding for the Bulldogs, finishing with 14 saves.

“That was one of the best goalkeeping performances I've seen at Yale,” Meredith said. “I think Ayana is more comfortable this year. She trained hard in the offseason. Adelaide [Gay] has pushed her hard in practice. We are fortunate to have to have two talented keepers.”

The Bulldogs didn’t have many scoring opportunities in regulation, but they did take advantage of one of them. Becky Brown settled an Emma Whitfield header, raced down the right sideline and fired a low shot into the left corner to give Yale a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute.

The Bulldogs had a couple of chances to add an insurance goal. UConn keeper Stephanie Labbe dove to her left to snare a Natalia Mann shot from just outside the box with 16 minutes remaining, and a UConn defender headed away a Whitfield shot after Labbe was caught out of position.

After stopping six shots in the first half, Sumiyasu was even better in the second 45 minutes. She made a diving stop to rob Yi early in the half, leaped high to intercept a Melissa Busque cross and punched away a hard shot from Ashley O’Brien, who had gotten behind the Yale defense and was in on a breakaway.

UConn controlled play in the overtimes, outshooting Yale 7-1 and finishing with a 31-6 edge in shots. Yi’s game winner came when she took a long ball from Elise Fugowski and fired a shot from 25 yards out into the top right corner to spoil Yale’s season opener.

“As long as we learn from this, I’m okay with it,” Meredith said. “We have to make sure we finish off games. I was very pleased with our effort. We fought very hard.”

Things weren’t nearly as interesting for the other New England-based Ivy League schools Friday night.

For its season opener, Harvard traveled to Long Beach State, and the home team scored twice late in the first half and tacked on another in the second to earn a 3-0 non-conference victory.

Harvard had a quality scoring chance in the 18th minute when Crimson sophomore Katherine Sheeleigh’s shot was blocked by Long Beach keeper Liz Ramos. The ball deflected just outside the box to Harvard junior Christina Hagner, who managed a shot, but Ramos caught it to keep the contest scoreless.

The 49ers, which had three different goal scorers on the evening, got things going with an unassisted tally by Kristen Kiefer, her third of the season, in the 41st minute. Kiefer took the ball at midfield and dribbled all the way to the goal, taking a shot 10 yards out. Moments later, Dana Farquhar moved the ball from the right side of the net to Hayley Bolt, who scored at 43:56.

Lindsay Bullock made it a three-goal game and capped the scoring in the 53rd minute as Nicole Hubbard and Sarah Strohl earned assists on the play.

In net, Harvard junior keeper Lauren Mann made one save, while her counterpart, Ramos, stopped six Crimson shots to earn her third shutout of the young season. Hagner and Sheeleigh each managed two of those shots on goal for Harvard, while senior Erin Wylie and freshman Patricia Yau registered one apiece.

Long Beach State led in corners, 5-1, and in total shots, 11-7.

In Chestnut Hill, meanwhile, senior Caroline Walden had a goal and two assists in the Boston College women’s soccer team’s 3-0 victory over Brown.

Freshman Alaina Beyar scored the first goal of her college career, while junior Gina DiMartino closed the scoring in the 72nd minute.

Senior Caitlin Hiler, junior Kelly Henderson and sophomore Amy Caldwell all registered assists on the night for the Eagles (3-1).

This was the season opener for the visiting Bears, who saw BC unleash a barrage of shots on their net. Junior keeper Brenna Hogue did well to hold the Eagles to three goals, making 12 saves.

BC outshot Brown, 26-5.

Next up

Yale vs. St. Johns, Sunday, 3:30 p.m.

Harvard at Loyola-Marymount, Sunday, 4 p.m.

Brown vs. Albany, Sunday, 6 p.m.

Dartmouth vs. Monmouth, Sunday, noon