PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Goalkeeper Elise Wilcox earned a spot in the Yale record book in the final game of her career. Wilcox made eight saves and yielded just one goal as the Bulldogs ended the season with a 2-1 victory over Brown at Stevenson Field.

Wilcox finished the year with a sparkling 0.50 goals against average, the lowest in school history. It betters the mark of 0.71 set by Susan Starr in 2007.

“Elise deserves every accolade she receives,” said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. “She has a tremendous work ethic and has had an unbelievable season. I think she has been the best defensive player in the Ivy League.”

The Bulldogs were unbeaten in their final five games to finish with an 8-4-4 overall record, a significant improvement over last year’s 7-8-1 mark. Yale also was better in Ivy play, finishing at 2-1-4 after going 2-4-1 last fall.

“It was a giant step in the right direction,” Meredith said of the season. “We really stepped up defensively. We only allowed three goals in Ivy play.”

Friday’s season-ending win only adds to the encouragement moving forward. Freshman Sarah McCauley scored both goals and ended the season with a team-high five goals.

“It’s nice to know that we will have a goal scorer back,” Meredith said. “The future is looking bright.”

Instead of practicing on Thursday, Meredith took the team bowling to relieve the stress of the last game. The move seemed to pay dividends as the Bulldogs started the game with a little extra pep in their step.

“I think it put us in a better physical and mental state,” Meredith said.

McCauley got Yale on the board first at 22:55. Ally Grossman sent a ball into the box and McCauley was able to get her head on it in traffic to knock it past Brown goalkeeper Mallory Yant.

McCauley struck again less than three minutes later. Seniors Meredith Speck and Melissa Gavin assisted on that goal.

Brown (6-8-3, 1-4-2 Ivy) pulled within one on Mikela Waldman’s goal early in the second half, but Yale’s defense stymied the Bears the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs finished with an 18-13 edge in shots and a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

In addition to Wilcox, Gavin and Speck, Muriel Battaglia, Frannie Coxe, Annie Hull and Georgiana Wagemann were also playing the final game of their careers.

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