A young Yale squad surely caught the attention of the college soccer world on Tuesday night.
Paolo Carroll scored in the 87
th minute as the Bulldogs earned a 1-1 draw with New Hampshire, ranked third in the nation by College Soccer News and fourth by United Soccer Coaches, at Wildcat Stadium.
Perhaps more impressive, the Bulldogs had the better of the play for portions of the game, including overtime when they outshot UNH 4-3 and had by far the better scoring chances.
Gelber Lemus nearly won it for Yale in the first overtime, but his shot deflected off the crossbar, and
Quanah Brayboy was robbed by UNH goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat midway through the second OT.
The tie was the first blemish of the season for New Hampshire, which entered the night as one of just three unbeaten and untied teams in the nation. The Wildcats (12-0-1) hadn't even played a one-goal game in nearly a month
The Bulldogs (4-4-3) are now unbeaten in their last four games.
"This was a really gritty performance tonight against one of the top programs in the country," said
Kylie Stannard, the %K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "To compete toe to toe with a top-five team on the road says a lot about our group and how we have grown a lot already this season. Even missing a couple of normal starters, we had a lot of guys step up and they did a fantastic job. They continue to show great character and I'm very proud of how focused they are right now."
After a scoreless first half, Linus Fallberg scored at 54:00 to give UNH a 1-0 lead.
It looked like that might be enough for New Hampshire to escape with the victory, but Yale kept the pressure on, and Carroll answered with a late goal. It came after
Jules Oberg sent a ball into the box that deflected off a New Hampshire defender to Carroll, who deftly one-timed it into the back of the nat. It was Carroll's seventh goal of the season.
Goalkeeper
Chris Edwards made his first career start and finished with four saves for Yale.
"The first half was definitely in favor of UNH but we did a great job of getting to halftime and making some adjustments," Stannard said. "I think it was a very even game after that and really felt like we gained more and more momentum and confidence as the game went along and were unfortunate not to find the winner in OT."
The Bulldogs play another nationally ranked opponent when they host No. 19 Cornell on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Reese Stadium.
