New Hampshire Edges Yale 1-0

September 21, 2014

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale’s final game before the start of Ivy League play ended in frustration. The Bulldogs created a number of quality scoring opportunities but couldn’t capitalize and dropped a 1-0 decision to New Hampshire at Reese Stadium.

“We couldn’t finish a sentence,” said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. “Their goalie played well so give her credit.”

The only goal of the game came early in the second half. UNH’s Caroline Murray deflected a Yale clearing attempt to Meghan Ledwith, who broke in alone, deked the goalkeeper and slipped a shot into the empty net at 56:08.

The Bulldogs had a number of high-quality chances to get the equalizer. The best came on a two-on-one with just less than 20 minutes left. Sarah McCauley sent a perfect cross to Melissa Gavin, but New Hampshire goalkeeper Mimi Borkan slid over to rob Gavin.

A few minutes later, Borkan made another fine save, this time stopping a point-blank shot from Geneva Decker. Frannie Coxe also had two good opportunities, but both her shots went just wide.

Coming off a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Hofstra on Friday, Meredith was careful to manage the minutes of his players. Twenty-eight saw action and no one, except goalkeeper Rachel Ames, played more than 65 minutes.

“I think we were a little tired after Friday, but that’s no excuse,” Meredith said. “We just didn’t finish.”

New Hampshire (3-6) had a 13-12 edge in shots, but the Bulldogs had 11 corner kicks, including nine in the second half.

Ames played well in goal. She finished with six saves and made a couple of big stops to keep the deficit at one.

Borkan also stopped six shots for UNH.

Despite the loss, Meredith is pleased with where his team is at with Ivy play about to start. The Bulldogs are 5-2, including impressive victories over Western Kentucky and Hofstra.

“We’re in a much better place than we were last year,” he said. “We just have to keep working this week.”

Yale hosts Princeton on Saturday at 4 p.m.