YALE SOCCER SPRING 2017 / NEWS
2016 Golf Outing
From the Association Dear Friends and Alumni of Yale Soccer, It’s hard to believe another Fall season has come and gone! Thank you to everyone who came back to New Haven this past October for our Alumni Weekend & YSA Golf Outing. It was great to reconnect with fellow teammates, friends, and coaches, and we are hoping to have an even greater turnout this year. The Yale Soccer Association has much to celebrate and to be excited about. However, events are not our only roles and responsibilities. The key goal of the association is to support Yale Soccer and engage with alumni and friends of Yale Soccer and try to build meaningful relationships with the program. While the most obvious aspect of that goal is fundraising (more on that below) there are a number of other initiatives underway that help to strengthen the program. This year one of our goals is to formalize a mentoring committee, aimed at helping current players with things like job placement, interview and resume skills, and career advice. We also have committees on communications and events, and welcome new members who are interested in being engaged with Yale Soccer. If you have interest in joining a committee or get-
ting involved in any way, please e-mail Vanessa Resnick at Vanessa.resnick@gmail.com or samuelbpowers@gmail.com. The work of the Yale Soccer Association provides crucial support for Kylie, Rudy, and all of the student-athletes who comprise the excellent programs we have all come to know. The funds raised go to the most critical needs of our teams, namely travel for games and scrimmages; team equipment; and recruiting the next generation of All-Ivy and All-American players. We need your help. No gift is too small. Every dollar counts. There are multiple ways to show your support. Write a check payable to Yale University and mail it to Yale Soccer Association, P.O. Box 1844, New Haven, CT 06508-1844. Or, visit http:// giving.yale.edu to pay by credit card and be sure to select ‘Athletics’ and ‘Soccer’ from the drop down menus. And remember, all gifts to the YSA count towards your personal and class giving totals for your next reunion. Thank you for your continued support, Sam Powers ‘98 & Vanessa Resnick ‘05 Yale Soccer Association Presidents
Coaches Corner Rudy Meredith, Head Coach of Women’s Soccer
“The parity of the league this season was immense, with each one of our Ivy League games being decided by one goal. While we are pleased with the improvements we have made this season, we are hungry for more.”
Greetings Yale family! As our 2016 season draws to a close and we prepare for a busy off-season, we wanted to send a quick note to thank you for your ongoing support. This was the closest Ivy League season in recent history, with the final game between Harvard and Columbia deciding the eventual champion (Harvard claimed the title winning 2-1 in overtime). The parity of the league this season was immense, with each one of our Ivy League games being decided by one goal. While we are pleased with the improvements we have made this season, we are hungry for more. In post-season news, this week we have picked up some All-Ivy accolades. Aerial Chavarin (Fr) earned the Rookie of the Year award and was placed on the All-Ivy First team, after scoring 9 goals and assisting on another 5. Defender Carlin Hudson (Jr) was named Second Team All-Ivy. Congratulations to the both of them! Additional congratulations go out to our senior class (Lillian Bitner, Geny Decker, Karina Kovalcik, Colleen McCormack (Capt.), and Dani Temares) who capped off a great
college career with an overtime win against Columbia on Senior Day (October 29th). Their leadership has been exemplary and their impact on the teams goes beyond minutes played or stats accumulated. We wish them every success in their future endeavors. Our spring season is underway with the girls training hard in the weight room, on the track, and on the field! We have 3 games slated in April beginning on April 10th when we welcome Sacred Heart to Reese Stadium for a 7pm kickoff. Next up is Quinnipiac on Tuesday, April 18th (7pm kick-off ) and finally Fairfield on Thursday, April 20th (7pm kick-off ). We are also looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in NY when we bring the team down for an evening of career networking. More details to follow. We must now turn our attention to the (bright) future. Our 2017 schedule is soon to be finalized with some top-25 opponents on the slate. We open our 2017 campaign on the road to local powerhouse UConn, before returning to Reese Stadium for matches against Delaware State, Sacred Heart and the University of Miami. An away trip to Hofstra will conclude our five-game preparation for our challenging trip
2016 - 17 Women’s Soccer Team
out to California where we will face Pacific and the #2 team in the nation, Stanford University (we’re hoping to set-up an alumni event while out in CA). We will return home to play UMass and Colorado college before starting Ivy League play on September 23rd away at Princeton. Watch this space for our Fall Alumni Day details! We would like to officially welcome our six incoming freshman, adding depth to our talented returning squad: Sarah Jordan (NJ), Mia Grillo (CA), Reina Bonta (CA), Christine Oberhousen (CT), Ciara Ostrander (NY), and Lydia Shaw (CT). With nine returning starters and the addition of 6 quality freshman, our expectations for next season are high. As always we appreciate your support and will do everything we can to bring the Ivy League title back to Yale. Wishing you all a happy and healthy rest of the year. Go Bulldogs! Rudy
WOMEN’S SPRING SCHEDULE Mon. April 10th, 7pm Yale vs. Sacred Heart Tue. April 18th, 7pm Yale vs. Quinnipiac Thurs. April 20th, 7pm Yale vs. Fairfield
Ivy play opens on the road at Princeton on Sat. September 23rd
Coaches Corner Kylie Stannard 5K Corral Head Coach of Yale Men’s Soccer
“We earned our first Ivy win since 2013 and our first road win in the Ivy since 2011 with a 3-0 win at Cornell. With our improved record and a strong schedule, we improved our RPI standings by nearly 50 spots. ”
Dear Yale Soccer Association, As usual, the fall season flew by in the blink of an eye. Our goal on the field is always to compete for an Ivy League Championship, but our main focus this past season was getting better in training each day and focusing on one game at a time. While there is always an off day here and there, I was very pleased with the daily work and commitment from the team and really feel that we have made progress, not only in some results, but more importantly in our culture and mentality. We played a very strong schedule this year with six teams that were ranked in the Top 25 throughout the season. We competed extremely well in all of those games, including a draw on the road against Harvard. We also drew with an extremely talented Michigan team on the road. In Ivy play, we were the only team to get a result against Harvard and we also had our first result against Princeton since 2011. We earned our first Ivy win since 2013 and our first road win in the Ivy since 2011 with a 3-0 win at Cornell. With our improved record and a strong schedule, we improved our RPI standings by nearly 50 spots. We did all of this while being the youngest team in the conference and starting eight freshmen and sophomores nearly every game, as well as sustaining some key injuries. While small in numbers, I’m very proud of our seniors. They have done a good job to set a positive tone and lead this young group forward in a positive direction. We have a very strong nucleus of players returning next year along with another recruiting class that will again push the older players. I receive a lot of
positive feedback from coaches across the country that have seen firsthand the positive improvements and direction the program is moving. The future is bright for Yale Men’s Soccer! Off the field, our young men do an incredible job and have a cumulative team GPA of 3.6, which is quite amazing. Our seniors are finding incredible post-Yale jobs and endeavors and will be leaders in their respective fields. We have several players that do community outreach on their own as well as some team outreach that we do throughout the year, and especially during the off-season. Now that we are in our off-season, the guys have been working very hard for the past month. We have found a good rhythm to our off-season with a good combination of training with the ball as well as some intense strength and conditioning sessions. The time invested now and during the summer is key to our growth and preparation for the 2017 season. Our spring schedule gets especially busy after spring break with three double-header dates with games against Manhattan, New Haven, Quinnipiac, Bryant, Bridgeport, and the new local professional team, Elm City Express. We will also be playing a team from Canada. These kind of games help develop players and team identity, and with a good number of players this spring, I’m confident these will be great opportunities to grow and improve. As for the fall of 2017, we are challenging ourselves with another tough schedule, including one of the top trips in the country where we will play at perennial Top 25 program, Cal Berkely, and back-to-back national champions, Stanford. We will definitely
2016 - 17 Men’s Soccer Team
set up an alumni event during this trip to connect with our many West Coast Yale alumni. More details will follow this spring. We look forward to welcoming another freshmen class this fall that will really push for an immediate impact in several positions and continue to improve our depth in several positions. In short, we have three players that are ranked in the top 150 nationally. A detailed release will come out in April. We recently announced the great news about taking the team on an international trip in Spring 2018 and the guys are very excited about this experience! We are narrowing down the choices now and look forward to putting together a great all-around experience for our young men. Last but not least, we are adding a very special member to our Bulldog Soccer Family through a program called Team Impact. His name is Logan Kline and he is a 10 year old boy that lives in East Haven. Logan deals with a variety of physical ailments that no 10 year old should have to worry about but he has an incredibly positive outlook and will be a great addition to YMS! We look forward to updating you on Logan as we build this relationship. You have every reason to be a proud alum and we are excited for what the future holds for the program. This is an incredibly special place and we are privileged to be part of the history. Thank you to everyone for their loyalty and support of YMS and best wishes to you and your families in 2017! Go Bulldogs!! Kylie
MEN’S SPRING SCHEDULE Sun. April 2nd Yale/Manhattan/ New Haven Series Sun. April 9th Yale/Quinnipiac/ Elm City Express Series Sun. April 23rd Yale/ Bryant/ Bridgeport Series Ivy play opens with Harvard at home on Sat.September 30th
Captain’s Q & A Colleen McCormack ‘17 Henry Flugstad-Clarke ‘17
What does it mean to you to be a captain at Yale? Being captain of this team has been the greatest honor of my life and it’s something I will always look back on with pride. I’ve learned so much this season as captain and grown as a person. To be part of such a historic school and incredible program is truly humbling. Henry Flugstad-Clarke ‘17
Colleen McCormack ‘17
Henry Flugstad-Clarke ‘17
How would you describe this year’s team in one word? Resilient.
How would you describe this year’s team in one word? Family (or Resilient)... we had a really close team this year and it really did feel like a family.
What was your favorite moment from this past fall season? It has to be our win against Columbia. Coming back to tie the game with 10 seconds left was exciting in itself, but on top of that, Geny scoring that winning goal and having the fans rush the field is an experience I’ll never forget. What does it mean to you to be a captain at Yale? It’s been an honor and responsibility that I’ve taken seriously. Yale is an incredible institution that holds its students and athletes to a high standard, so it’s been an honor to be trusted to represent my team and Yale this season. What are your plans after graduating? I’m still figuring that out. I’m looking for opportunities in business and technology, and am still thinking about the possibility of graduate school.
What was your favorite moment from this past fall season? For myself personally, my favorite moment from this past fall season was scoring against Harvard to tie the game with only a few minutes left. What does it mean to you to be a captain at Yale? Being captain of this team has been the greatest honor of my life and it’s something I will always look back on with pride. I’ve learned so much this season as captain and grown as a person. To be part of such a historic school and incredible program is truly humbling. What are your plans after graduating? I am doing Investment Banking at UBS next year.
Yale Soccer Alumni/ae Weekend October 21-22, 2016
We were thrilled to welcome back Alumni from both the Men’s and Women’s teams for the Annual Yale Soccer Association Golf Outing and Alumni Day where we honored the 1956 and 1986 Ivy Championship teams, and Molly Woodroofe ’97. We saw a great turnout of alumni and hope to see many of you at our spring alumni games in April (details to follow).
Molly Woodroofe ‘97 Earlier this year, the Yale women’s soccer family was saddened to learn of the passing of Molly Woodroofe, Class of 1997, following a valiant battle with cancer. As a player at Yale, Molly was a three-year letter-winner and earned AllIvy recognition as a senior after helping the Bulldogs to a 13-win season. She was an inspiration to her teammates while at Yale and after she graduated. Molly Woodroofe ‘97
1956/1986 Ivy Championship Teams
‘86 Champions
Yale Men’s Soccer is proud to honor two of the most successful teams in school history. In 1956, just the second year of official Ivy League competition, the Bulldogs finished with a 5-0-1 record to win Yale’s first Ivy title. Under the direction of head coach Jack Marshall, Yale also posted an impressive 9-2-1 overall record that year. The 1986 team entered the season determined to rebound after finishing under .500 the previous year. Did they ever. The Bulldogs rolled to a 5-0-2 record in league play to win the second Ivy Championship in school history. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Harvard on penalty kicks in the first round. Under the direction of long-time head coach Steve Griggs, the Bulldogs won 11 games, which was the most in school history at the time.
1956 Team
1986 Team