On Saturday afternoon, the women’s soccer team (8-2-2, 2-0-1 Ivy) hosted Yale (5-7, 0-3) at Stevenson-Pincince Field. Despite an early red card that forced them to play with only 10 players for almost the entire contest, Bruno emerged victorious 3-2 over the Bulldogs. Forward Jael-Marie Guy ’29 led Brown to success with two unassisted corner-kick goals.
The Bears came into the week off a draw against Penn and earned their fifth straight win over the Bulldogs, who came into Saturday’s game off two consecutive losses. Brown’s win kept them undefeated in the conference and pushed them to first place in the Ivy League.
Just over two minutes into the game, forward Corine Gregory ’27 collided with Yale defender Andie Miller, leaving Miller’s face bloody. Following a long review, the officials gave Gregory a red card, forcing her out of the game and suspending her for Brown’s next game.
The red card “was definitely scary and unexpected,” goalkeeper Addison Etter ’29 told The Herald in a post-game interview.
Brown’s defense held, though, led by midfielder Brooke Birtwistle ’28. With Brown down a player, Birtwistle took on a more defensive role, helping the Bears hold Yale without a shot until the 34th minute.
“Our whole back line has been tremendous this entire year, and Brooke’s really the leader,” Head Coach Kia McNeill told The Herald in a post-game interview.
McNeill maintained confidence in her team’s resilience. “We’ve talked a lot as a team about adversity and riding through those moments, and not making that moment bigger than what it is,” she said.
Strong defensive play kept the game deadlocked at 0-0 until the 29th minute, when Guy entered the game for a left-side corner kick. Guy’s shot cut through the air, across the middle of the field and into the top right corner of the goal, just past the outstretched arms of Yale goalie Isabel Willems.
“I came on knowing that I wanted to make an immediate impact,” Guy told The Herald in a post-game interview. “We had that red card, and we were down players, so I wanted to work 110% and play like everything was on the line.”
Brown maintained the 1-0 lead through to halftime. Throughout the first half, McNeill utilized substitutions to her advantage, playing seven off of the bench to Yale’s three.
As the second half began, rolling dark gray clouds started to fill the sky. As the sky darkened, just nine minutes after halftime, Yale defender Alex Chang scored a direct goal from the same corner that Guy had, curling the ball into the net’s bottom-right corner to tie the game at 1-1. After review, the goal stood. For a moment, it seemed that playing with 10 might finally be catching up to Brown.
But the Bears continued controlling the ball, pressuring Yale by pushing deep into Bulldog territory. On one such possession, forward Angelina Vargas ’27 managed two shots on goal that were saved and a third that veered just wide of the right goalpost.
“At halftime, we talked about (how) the game plan doesn’t necessarily change,” McNeill said. “We wanted to be a team that dominates possession. We wanted to pressure hard with Yale.”
The pressure soon paid off. Just around seven minutes after Chang’s goal, in minute 61, Guy took another corner kick. Even though Willems managed to get a hand on the ball, Guy’s shot once again curled into the goal to give Brown a 2-1 lead. Guy’s brace marked her second and third goals of the season.
“I was a little bit annoyed that (Yale) scored the same way that I scored,” Guy said after the game. “So I was like, I want to do it a second time.”
A third Bruno goal in the 76th minute padded the lead to 3-1. Vargas intercepted a Yale pass before leading standout midfielder Joy Okonye ’27 with a cross in front of the goal for an easy score.
Though Yale forward Anita Thorvaldsdottir scored just minutes after Okonye did, cutting Brown’s lead to 3-2, the Bears managed to hold off all subsequent threats. The final 10 minutes of the game proved especially difficult for the Bears’ noticeably tiring squad, but McNeill continued to take advantage of her strong bench.
“Our subs are just as good as our starters,” McNeill said. “We know that when we sub, the level’s not dropping.”
After a chaotic final two minutes that featured fouls, injuries and a Yale shot that missed just high, Brown finished off the win over the Bulldogs.
Though the early red card was a hindrance for the Bears, it gave them the opportunity to prove their mettle.
“Anytime you get a win through that type of adversity, it’s a confidence booster for this team,” McNeill explained. “It just makes us want to play that much harder for each other and play with that much more pride.”
The Bears will play next on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Dartmouth (8-2-2, 2-1 Ivy), who currently sits at No. 2 in the Ivy League.
