PHILADELPHIA – A late goal by senior midfielder
Bridget Condie was not enough for the Yale field hockey team Sunday as the Bulldogs fell 2-1 to Drexel at Buckley Field. This was Yale's fourth one-goal loss in a row.
Yale (2-7, 0-2 Ivy League) was coming off a hard-fought 4-3 overtime loss at No. 12 Princeton Friday, while Drexel (3-7, 1-0 CAA) had won 1-0 at Hofstra in its CAA opener. The Dragons outshot Yale 6-1 in the first half, scoring in the second quarter to take a 1 -0 lead.
The score remained that way for nearly 35 minutes, as Yale had the lone shot of the third quarter but could not convert. Drexel eventually went up 2-0 on a goal at 7:53 of the fourth.
Condie snapped the scoreless streak for Yale with a great play, taking the ball into the circle herself and beating a Dragons defender before reaching out to slide the ball past Drexel keeper Megan Hadfield while falling to the turf at 4:05 of the fourth.
"Bridge and Liv [junior forward/midfielder
Olivia Levieux] had very good games," said
Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "Liv played well offensively and defensively in the midfield. Bridge made some nice tackles, breaking up the play in our defensive end, and helped create opportunities up front."
But as time ran down in the game the Bulldogs would get just one opportunity to tie the score, as a shot by Condie on a penalty corner in the final minute was blocked. Hadfield finished with one save while Yale junior goalkeeper
Sydney Terroso made three.
In addition to four one-goal losses, Sunday's game also capped a stretch in which the Bulldogs played six of seven games on the road. With three straight home games coming up, they are hoping that their efforts will start to show some results in the form of wins.
"I'm really proud of the team for the way that they handled this stretch of games, especially the way they competed against Harvard and Princeton," said Stuper. "That's draining -- especially Friday night, scoring on Princeton and pushing them to overtime. I told the team I'm proud of them because we've taken a step. It hurts because it doesn't show in our record, but we have to keep believing and have faith."
Yale returns to Ivy League play next, hosting Cornell at Johnson Field Saturday.
