NEW YORK – The Yale field hockey team has had some epic battles with Columbia in recent years, with eight of 15 games between 2004 and 2018 decided by one goal. Friday night's edition of the rivalry wound up being a memorable addition to that tradition. The Bulldogs fell behind twice in regulation before forcing overtime with the score tied 3-3. They then earned a penalty stroke early in the extra session, and junior forward/midfielder
Olivia Levieux delivered the game-winner for a 4-3 victory in New York.
Yale trailed 2-1 and 3-2 and fought off 13 Columbia corners -- including seven in the first quarter alone -- allowing just one corner goal. Buoyed by a spectacular diving stop from junior goalkeeper
Sydney Terroso in the final seconds of regulation the Bulldogs eventually prevailed 2:09 into the extra session.
"It's always a hard-fought game with Columbia," said
Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "We believed we could score. After all those corners and all the shots Columbia had, the team gained confidence from shutting them down. We found ways to score when we had our chances."
Following an early penalty corner goal by senior midfielder
Bridget Condie (assisted by sophomore back
Katie Pieterse), Columbia (7-8, 3-3 Ivy League) rallied for a 2-1 lead with a pair of first-quarter goals.
Yale (5-10, 2-4 Ivy League) tied the game when Condie found first year forward
Lena Ansari for a goal at 18:02, sending the teams into halftime tied 2-2.
Columbia went back ahead three minutes into the second half, but Yale's corner unit then delivered a critical goal when Pieterse -- who vexed the Lions in last year's game with the game-winning goal in a shootout -- got a piece of a penalty corner shot by Levieux to deflect it past Columbia keeper Alex Conomikes (12 saves).
Terroso's acrobatic denial of a wide-open midfielder Maartje Mulder in the final seconds was nearly for naught when the Lions were awarded a penalty corner immediately after it, but the Bulldogs forced Columbia into a wide shot on that corner to send the game to overtime.
Yale controlled play for much of OT, and when the Lions were whistled for an infraction in the goal circle two minutes in Levieux took care of the rest. After her teammates mobbed her, they then headed down the field to congratulate Terroso.
All told, four different players had goals and three had assists to help Yale finally put away the Lions.
"The team battled," said Stuper. "They had to battle for the win. Liv had a phenomenal game. Lena's finding her way, and our captain
Bridget Condie rose to the occasion."
Yale hosts Merrimack Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
