Field hockey: Revenge-minded, Elis look to extend perfect streak

The Bulldogs, 3-0 (0-0 Ivy), open up Ivy League play this weekend with an important contest against Brown. The match is a chance for the Blue to build on the momentum from a thrilling weekend. Yale took two games from two of the stronger teams in the region, New Hampshire and Maine, and followed that with a dominating victory over Hofstra on Wed., Sept. 16.

In their first match of the season against New Hampshire on Fri., Sept. 11, the Elis came out a bit sluggish and went into the half down 2-1. But a flurry of second-half goals and solid play in goal from Courtney Lane, SY '00, propelled Yale to a 4-2 victory. Lane felt the game proved the Bulldogs have what it takes to put together a solid season. "We showed that we can both score a lot of goals and play really solid defense," she said. "To score four goals against a really strong UNH team says a lot."

In that game, played on Sun., Sept. 13, the Blue faced off against Maine, who came into New Haven with a perfect 4-0 record. Looking to extract a bit of revenge from a team that beat Yale 4-1 last season, the Elis held their opponents to only four shots, and a second-half penalty stroke off the stick of Liz Gardner, DC '01, gave the Blue a 2-1 victory.

The weekend sweep was enough to convince captain Lindsay Hobbs, PC '99, that this Bulldog team can weather the toughest of opponents. "The two victories gave us the confidence that we can win big games," she said. "Both games were physically demanding, and we proved that we can play with the top team in the region."

Coming off a 5-1 victory at Hofstra, which saw Amanda Walton, SY '02, score her third goal in as many games, the Blue is determined to avoid a letdown. The team is focused on its first Ivy opponent and would like to keep its "revenge" streak alive by beating a Brown squad that squeaked past the Elis with a 2-1 win last year. "We should have won that Brown game last year, so we have some extra motivation going in to face them this year," Lane said.

--Christopher Burke

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