Senior day is usually a tear-jerker for the women's soccer team. But the Yale Bulldogs made Saturday's season finale a 4-2 heartbreaker. Brown squandered a two-goal lead and surrendered four unanswered goals, likely ending its postseason hopes and leaving the Bears third in the Ivy League with a 3-2-2 record.
There were some expected changes to Brown's starting lineup. Co-captain Kathleen Waddell '07 and forward Mica Bayard '07, who have seen sparse minutes this season, joined teammates Jill Mansfield '07 and co-captain Kathryn Moos '07 for what in all likelihood was their last game at Stevenson Field.
"We've always had a tradition that we start the seniors on the last home game," said Head Coach Phil Pincince. "I thought they were up for the challenge and they did a great job."
Bayard almost scored her third goal of the season early in the contest. Moos took a pass into the box and flicked it over the defense, allowing Bayard to spring loose. Yale goalkeeper Susan Starr blocked the initial attempt, but midfielder Melissa Kim '10 was following the play and scored on the rebound.
"Mica was going after the ball really hard and I was hoping she was going to get it," Kim said. Bayard received the assist on Kim's fourth goal of the season.
Kim almost scored again later in the half, but Starr managed to deflect a hard shot from the first-year midfielder that then grazed off the left post.
As the game crossed the 30-minute mark, Bayard garnered cheers from the crowd when she returned to the bench. Forward Lindsay Cunningham '09 came on the field and immediately made an impact. Cunningham fought her defender down the left side of the field and was finally dragged down to the grass in the box with the ball at her feet.
Moos nailed the ensuing penalty kick into the left side of the net to extend Brown's lead to 2-0 at 34:12. She finished the season as the Ivy League scoring champion with 15 goals.
Brown continued to dominate play and generate chances up until the closing seconds of the first half. Then things began falling apart for the team.
Yale midfielder Mary Kuder launched a rocket from 35 yards out on the left side of the field, and the ball just sailed over the fist of goalkeeper Brenna Hogue '10. The score came with only 6.2 seconds left in the half. "The girl hit a great ball and it found the back post," Pincince said.
The Bulldogs had momentum on their side after cutting their deficit to 2-1 just before halftime. Two minutes after the break, back Julia Shapira '08 tripped in the box and fell to the ground, leaving the Brown defense shorthanded. Bruno failed to clear the ball out of the 18-yard box with Shapira out of the play, and Yale forward Emma Whitfield took advantage, blasting a shot into the right side of the net from about 10 yards out to tie the game at 2-2.
The game remained tied for almost 30 minutes. At 76:49, however, Bulldogs midfielder Christina Huang found midfielder Crysti Howser open on the left side of the 18-yard box. Howser fired a shot into the right side of the net to put Yale ahead 3-2.
The Bulldogs benefited from another bounce that went their way in the 85th minute. A high-hopper eluded the head of centerback Kerrilynn Carney '08 and gave Yale midfielder Eliza Welper a shot from just inside the 18-yard box. She buried the it to give Yale an insurance goal and its eventual margin of victory.
The Bears tried to pull off a frantic comeback but fell short in the season's final four minutes. "We played hard," Mansfield said. "It didn't go our way, but it was still a great season."
Mansfield, always a fan favorite for her flip throw-in, did not disappoint the Stevenson Field faithful. "I definitely tried to do more flip throw-ins since it was my last game," she said.
Mansfield, Moos, Waddell and Bayard did not leave Stevenson Field with a win, but they did go back to the locker room with the admiration of their younger teammates. "It's really sad because we had such a good senior class," Kim said. "It was just great being able to play with them."
The Bears finished the regular season with a record of 9-4-4, a four-win improvement over last season. "They should all be proud." Pincince said. "Just like I told them at the end of the game, somebody's going to win, someone's going to lose."
