Friday, 6:00 p.m. Sacred Heart
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. at No. 14 UConn
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale field hockey team faces a pair of state rivals this weekend. The Bulldogs host Sacred Heart Friday (6:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats) and then travel to No. 14 UConn Sunday (1:00 p.m.,
UConn+,
Live Stats). While Yale and SHU have met every year since 2001 (except 2020), this will be the first Yale-UConn game since 2016.
LAST WEEKEND
Yale split last weekend's games,
winning 1-0 at Fairfield Friday and then
falling to Brown in double overtime on Sunday, 2-1, to open Ivy League play.
CLOSE CALLS
Three of Yale's four games this season have been decided by a goal, including one that went to overtime and one that went to double overtime. That continues a trend from the end of last season – nine of Yale's final 10 games of the 2023 season were decided by one goal. Overall the Bulldogs were 6-5 in one-goal games last season (3-2 in overtime/penalty shot games) and they are 2-1 in one-goal games (1-1 in overtime games) this season.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Sophomore back/midfielder
Hettie Whittington (Guildford, Surrey, England) has been held without a goal or a point just once in her last six games, dating back to the final two games of last season. In that span she has four goals and an assist.
LINEUP STALWARTS
Ten players have started all four games for Yale this season. That includes senior back
Keely Comizio (New Vernon, N.J.), Yale's captain, who has the longest active streak of consecutive starts for any player on the team – 49 straight games, dating back to her first career start Sept. 25, 2021.
PITTS AMONG NATION'S BEST
Senior goalkeeper
Alexa Pitts (Lancaster, Pa.) enters the weekend 12th nationally in goals-against average (0.93), 13th nationally in save percentage (.778) and 16th nationally in won-lost percentage (.750).
NUTMEG STATE STRETCH
Yale is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays four Connecticut schools in six games. The Bulldogs won 1-0 at Fairfield Sept. 13. After playing Sacred Heart and visiting No. 14 UConn this weekend, they finish the stretch with a home game against Quinnipiac Sunday Sept. 29.
BULLDOGS WHO ARE ALSO HUSKIES
Melissa Gonzalez, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey, played for UConn. During her senior year in 2010, she was a first team All-American, Mideast Region Player of the Year, Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Honda Sports Award. For her career she was a three-time All-American, four-time All-Mideast Region selection, two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Big East honoree. Gonzalez helped the Huskies win two Big East Tournament Championships and make four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. UConn advanced to the national semifinals once and the national quarterfinals once. The Huskies had an overall record of 74-16 (.822) in her four seasons. Gonzalez graduated from UConn with a Bachelor of Science in coaching and administration in 2011. Yale assistant coach
Belle Bressler played for the Huskies last season while earning her master's degree in sports management. As an undergraduate Bressler played for Maryland.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
Sacred Heart (2-4, 1-0 NEC), which utilizes Johnson Field as its home field, has had four straight games decided by one goal. The Pioneers are 2-2 in those games. Yale has won eight straight in the series, including a
3-1 win last year at Johnson Field. The Bulldogs outshot the Pioneers 20-9 in that game.
SCOUTING No. 14 UCONN
UConn (5-1, 0-0 Big East), hosts Temple Friday afternoon in the Big East opener, is coming off a 3-2 loss to Yale's Ivy League rival, No. 8 Harvard, this past Sunday. The Huskies have beaten a pair of teams ranked in the top 20, including a 5-4 win against No. 10 Saint Joseph's and a 2-1 win against No. 13 Rutgers.
