On Saturday afternoon, the field hockey team (2-3, 0-1 Ivy) dropped their first Ivy League matchup of the season 3-1 to No. 18 Yale (5-0, 1-0) in front of a robust home crowd. Just one day later, the team rebounded with a dominant 8-0 throttling of Stonehill College (1-6, 1-0 Northeast Conference).
Entering the weekend with a losing record of 1-2, Brown looked to make a statement against the nationally ranked Bulldogs.
“More than ever in my time at Brown, we’ve been focused on our results in addition to our development and performance,” Head Coach Britt Broady wrote in an email to The Herald. “This shift (in) focus speaks to our progress in the past four seasons and I am very proud of our program’s ability to grow so quickly.”
With both teams eager to set the tone in their first conference matchup of the season, the intensity and energy of play was high from the opening whistle. Just over one minute into the match, Lizzie Loftus ’27 almost found the back of the net when she ripped a shot from the top of the arc that narrowly missed.
But after the close call, Yale’s defense tightened for the rest of the first quarter, preventing Brown from getting any more shots off. On the other side of the field, Ellie Parker ’29 kept the net clean, delivering two pivotal saves to keep the Bulldogs scoreless.
After a quiet first period, both teams attacked the second quarter with a renewed sense of purpose. Just 57 seconds in, it was Brown that came out on top.
Standing at the top of the arc after a penalty corner, Lexi Pellegrino ’26 launched a missile toward the Bulldogs’ cage. The ball blurred through the air, rendered almost invisible as it zipped past the Bulldog defense and goalie. Even if you didn’t see the ball hit the net, you could hear Brown erupt into cheers, celebrating their first Ivy goal of the season.
The score marked Pellegrino’s 27th career goal and 59th career point, moving her to fifth in goals scored by a Brown field hockey player in program history and ninth in points.
Only up by one, Bruno kept up the pressure. Despite unleashing five total shots in the second quarter, the Bears couldn’t find the back of the net again. Fortunately for Brown, Yale didn’t fare any better: By the time the halftime whistle blew, Bruno was still ahead.
“Our first half performance against Yale was some of the best hockey I’ve seen from this team,” Broady wrote.
Unfortunately for the Bears, the second half was all Bulldogs. Not even a minute into the second half, Yale drew even, and once the fourth quarter hit, the Bulldogs blew the lead wide open. Yale ultimately outshot Brown 17-6 en route to a decisive 3-1 victory.
As disappointing as the second-half fallout was, Brown had no time to dwell on the loss. Less than 24 hours after the end of their match-up against Yale, the Bears were back on the field. And thankfully for Brown, Sunday only brought celebration as the Bears routed Stonehill from start to finish.
Bruno opened the scoring just six minutes in, as Alexandra Madrid ’28 crossed the ball from the right alley to Sadie Schultz ’28 in front of the net. Schultz smoothly tapped the ball in for her first career goal, which also marked the first of Madrid’s two assists that day.
The goal unleashed the fury of Brown’s offense, which continued to roll over the helpless Skyhawks. Seven minutes after Schultz’s goal, Pellegrino netted her first of the game, and Brown headed into the second quarter with a comfortable 2-0 lead after outshooting Stonehill 7-0.
With more left in the tank, Pellegrino scored twice more in the half for her 28th and 29th career goals. In program history, she ranks fourth in goals scored and eighth in points. Thanks in part to Pellegrino, Brown entered halftime up 4-0.
“I was proud of the team’s response to the tough loss as they played to our standards and identity on Sunday against Stonehill,” Broady wrote.
Through the second half, the Bruno scoring machine continued to mercilessly crush the opposition, scoring almost at will. Stonehill was left scrambling to prevent an overflow of Brown goals, but in finishing the game down 8-0, the Skyhawks were far from successful.
Sophia Clark ’29 kicked off the second half by scoring her first career goal, converting a stunning cross-body pass from Kiersten Smith ’28 to push Bruno’s advantage to 5-0. Less than four minutes later, Mia Karine Myklebust ’27 scored off a corner, and Juliette Meijaard ’27 quickly followed with a beautiful slapshot shot on the left alley to clinch her first goal of the season.
Brown’s final tally solidified in the concluding minutes of the game when Kate Siedem ’27 found the net to close out the 8-0 win.
The team will attempt to keep the momentum going in their next matchup this Friday in New York against Ivy foe Columbia.
“We have a tough schedule ahead and are confident in our ability to win,” Broady wrote.
