CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Freshman defender Carlin Hudson was handed one of the most important jobs in Saturday’s game at Harvard, marking reigning Ivy League player of the year Margaret Purce. Hudson responded quite well, holding Purce without a shot and without a point as Yale earned a scoreless tie with the Crimson, the defending Ivy League champions.

“She did an unbelievable job,” said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. “Carlin is the most disciplined one-on-one defender we have. I had confidence she could do the job.”

The tie ended a nine-game league winning streak for Harvard, which was a perfect 7-0 in Ivy play last fall.

The game was very evenly played. Both teams had 14 shots and Yale had a 10-6 edge in corner kicks.

“Our kids played well,” Meredith said. “We had our chances but I think [a tie] was the right result.”

Yale’s best opportunity came late in the second half when Muriel Battaglia’s header hit the post.

Goalkeeper Elise Wilcox made five saves to record the shutout for the Bulldogs (5-3-1, 0-1-1 Ivy).

For what he believes is the first time in his coaching career, Meredith did not make a substitution during play. Ten of the 11 starters played all 110 minutes. Shannon Conneely was the only player to see action off the bench, but she started the second half.

“It was really just the way [the game] was going,” Meredith said. “I didn’t want to make a change while the game was still tied.”

The Bulldogs responded well after dropping a 1-0 decision to Princeton last Saturday in their Ivy opener.

“I was concerned about a Princeton hangover, but fortunately it didn’t happen,” he said. “We had a great week of training and stayed focused.”

The result also was very important is Yale’s quest for the Ivy title. No team has ever won the league championship with two losses.

“This keeps us in the mix,” Meredith said. “It should also give us some confidence. We played really well against a really good team. It shows that we can compete with anybody.”

The Bulldogs are back in action next Saturday at Dartmouth. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m.

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