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Etzel ’19 records shutout in 1-0 win over Yale

Gould '17 nets game-winning goal in final contest, Bears secure second-place Ivy finish

With only one game left in the season and a second-place finish in the Ancient Eight on the line, the women’s soccer team took to its home turf Saturday against Yale hoping to secure one final win. And the Bears (9-2-5, 4-1-2 Ivy) delivered with a hard-found 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs (6-7-3, 2-4-1) to cap a successful season for new Head Coach Kia McNeill  and a memorable Senior Day.


“Heading into the game, we were focused on getting a win so that we could secure second place in the Ivy League,” said striker and team co-captain Carly Gould ’17. “It was also really important to us seniors to be able to walk off of Stevenson-Pincince for our last time with a win.”


From the starting whistle, both the senior class and the team as a whole channeled these emotions to their benefit.  In the first 15 minutes of the game, Brown’s offense surged, with multiple Bears contributing to this effort.


Celia Story ’19 and Abby Carchio ’20 each fired shots on goal, which forced multiple difficult saves by Yale’s goalkeeper. Brown also secured two corner kick opportunities    each taken by Sarah Cobb ’18 — which the Bulldog defense successfully cleared.


In the 34th minute, Bruno capitalized. Ella Warshauer ’17 started the scoring play when the veteran found an open Mikela Waldman ’18 on the wing. Then after collecting the ball and seeing Gould streaking into the box, Waldman sent a cross toward the goal. Gould connected with the ball, heading it with force into the back of Yale’s net. The tally was the 15th of Gould’s career goal and her fourth of the season.


“Getting a goal on senior night was special,” Gould said. “My teammates really set me up well, and to have all of the seniors together on the field and involved in the play when the goal happened was really fun.”


Bruno headed into halftime with the 1-0 lead, but there remained lot of soccer left to play. The game was also Yale’s season finale, and the Bulldogs rallied hard in the second half to try and find an equalizer.


“We generated a lot of great opportunities on offense, especially in the first half,” Gould said. “It was a tough last 20 minutes with a lot of defensive play, but our defense remained solid.”


Yale certainly put the pressure on the Bears in the second half, taking four shots — including a difficult header saved by impressive netminder Christine Etzel ’19 just seven minutes into the second half — and a staggering five corner kicks.


But Brown’s defense held steady, and the team managed to hold its one-goal lead through the duration of the second period. When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard still read 1-0 to the elation of Bruno players, fans and coaches alike.


“I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a memorable senior season and been a part of such a successful team,” Gould said. “Finishing second in the Ivy League is a great accomplishment, and I can’t wait to see where in the league Brown women’s soccer finishes in the years to come.”


In the contest, Etzel  gave another dominant performance, with four saves in the team’s shutout victory. The clean sheet was Etzel’s 10th of the season, putting her at second all-time on Brown’s single-season shutout list.


“We’ve really had many important players throughout the season,” Gould said. “I think that shows in our stats, as numerous girls scored goals and saw minutes. We had a really great team dynamic that every single player was an important part of.”


As Gould suggested, the Bears had one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. With its second-place conference standing, the team finished in the top half of the table in back-to-back years for the first time since 1993.  Moreover, the team earned points in 14 of its 16 matches and notched its highest winning percentage overall at 0.719 and in Ivy League play at 0.714 since 2000.


“I really can’t believe yet that it’s over, but I’m really proud to have been a Brown women’s soccer player for four years,” Gould said. “Thank you to the fans, parents and community for supporting and making the program possible, and thank you to my teammates for giving me the best part of my college experience.”

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