NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A decisive shot advantage (22-12) and a pair of late goals were not enough for the Yale field hockey team to overcome Bucknell Monday night at Johnson Field. The Bison scored twice in span of just over two minutes in the third quarter to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 lead, then hung on for the win despite a late push by Yale that included the first career goal by first year forward
Lena Ansari.
This was the sixth straight one-goal loss for Yale (2-9, 0-3 Ivy League), each frustrating in its own way. After an early tally by Bucknell (7-5, 2-1 Patriot League) Monday's game remained close into the second half. Even after Bison goals at 37:42 and 39:59 quickly made the score 3-0, the Bulldogs kept battling.
"After Saturday's game [a 2-1 loss to then-No. 24 Cornell], we focused on creating more scoring opportunities," said
Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "We clearly created those tonight. We really started to do it in the second half, but we ran out of time. And their keeper made some nice saves."
Senior midfielder
Bridget Condie slotted home a pass from junior forward/midfielder
Imogen Davies, who drove in from the right side, to get the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with just over a minute left in the third.
Yale then went on to outshoot Bucknell 8-3 in the final quarter, and Ansari's goal at 51:40 provided a further spark.
"In the last quarter we tried to be more aggressive in our structure," said Stuper. "She made the most of the opportunity. She is very talented in the circle."
But behind 14 saves by Bison goalie Olivia Harris, Bucknell hung on for its fifth win in the last seven games.
This game also marked Yale's first test this season in terms of dealing with health issues. After an injury-free first half of the season the Bulldogs started Monday's game without junior back
Alex MacKay, and senior forward
Camille Scheyer left early after getting hit in the head by an opposing player's stick.
"This is the first game where we dealt with not having a player, with a key defender out for us," said Stuper. "Then losing one of our top forwards made us have to dig a little deeper. It's a tribute to the team that they continued to fight. We had to move some people around, and I'm very pleased with how we pulled that together."
Yale hosts Dartmouth Saturday at noon.
