The field hockey team (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) overpowered Quinnipiac University with a 4-2 win (1-3, 0-0 NEC) this past Sunday. The triumph marked Brown’s first victory of the 2026 season.
After stumbling to a 3-0 loss at the hands of No. 10 University of Connecticut in their season opener on Sept. 4, the Bears used slick ball movement and an onslaught of shots to rebound with a win against Quinnipiac. Bruno’s defense also came to play, holding the Bobcats to just 5 shots on goal compared to the Bears’ 22.
“It was a very exciting win against a good team,” Kate Siedem ’27 wrote. “We were able to bounce back and get it done.”
From the starting whistle, Brown dominated possession. The Bears consistently kept the ball in their attacking half and put near-constant pressure on the Bobcats’ defense.
Brown was awarded a penalty stroke less than five minutes into the first quarter. Siedem stepped up to the stroke mark with hopes of earning the Bears an early lead. But Siedem released the ball too late on her sweep, sending it veering just far enough off course that the ball clattered to the left of the goalpost.
Bruno managed two more shots over the next minute and a half, but both were saved by Quinnipiac goalkeeper Meike van Schoot. Those saves proved to settle the momentum of the match, as the Bears could not manage to take another shot for the next eight minutes.
But with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Brown regained their stride. From within the striking circle, Sadie Schultz ’28 intercepted a pass between Bobcats and earned a promising turnover. As she barreled downhill toward the Quinnipiac goal and prepared to shoot, she drew a penalty stroke from the defender.
Siedem took her place at the penalty mark once more. This time, firing the ball to the right side of the goal and past van Schoot. The ball found the backboard of the net, securing Brown’s first goal of the fall.
“I felt grateful to have a second opportunity and tried to remind myself that I had done this many times in practice,” Siedem wrote in an email to The Herald.
Bruno carried the momentum from Siedem’s goal into the second period, rattling off eight shots in just over eight minutes to lock down Bruno’s control.
In the ninth minute of the quarter, the Bears’ aggressive offense produced their second goal. Off a penalty corner, Juliette Meijaard ’27 flipped a shot towards the net from near the penalty mark. Standing just a few feet in front of van Schoot, Kiersten Smith ’28 tracked the ball through the air and directed it over the diving Quinnipiac goalie for a remarkable volley goal.
Refusing to silently crawl into halftime, the Bobcats showed their first signs of offensive life in the final minutes of the period. Quinnipiac earned a penalty corner just before the game’s 29th minute, and they executed a clever one-pass play to cut Brown’s lead in half.
Emerging from the locker rooms for the game’s second half, both teams recorded early shots and seemed determined to bend the contest their way. But in the quarter’s seventh minute, Brown took advantage of another penalty corner to regain a two-score advantage.
From just inside the 25-yard line, Siedem sent a ball screaming across the field toward the net. Halfway through the ball’s journey to the goal line, Mia Karine Myklebust ’27 angled her stick to alter the ball’s path. The 2025 First Team All-Ivy selection propelled the ball into the air, where it tumbled past helpless Bobcats and into the net.
The remainder of the third quarter passed without another change on the scoreboard. Brown continued to apply pressure on the Quinnipiac defense until the period’s final five minutes, during which the Bobcats did not allow a Brown shot and managed three shots of their own.
Quinnipiac continued undeterred as the fourth quarter began, refusing to allow Bruno a chance at their goal. With just under nine minutes remaining in the contest, Bobcat Ava Bleier scooped a loose ball up and sent it past Brown goalkeeper Ellie Parker ’29. Quinnipiac was back within one goal of the Bears.
But hope of a Quinnipiac comeback was lost when Bruno scored less than four minutes later. Alexandra Madrid ’28 forced a turnover in Brown’s defensive half, and Schultz dribbled the ball all the way into the shooting circle. Although Schultz’s shot attempt was blocked by Van Schoot, Frances Moriniere ’27 capitalized on the rebound, sealing the scoreboard at 4-2, where it stayed until the final whistle.
“We have a lot of potential this year,” Siedem wrote. “With more practice and competition, I believe we will continue to improve and see just how far we can go.”
The Bears will be back in action on Friday, when they host Boston University (2-2, 0-0 Patriot League).
Sajiv Mehta is a sports editor. He is from Scarsdale, New York and plans on concentrating in English and American Studies. In his free time, he can be found reading an encyclopedic novel or watching the Yankees.
