Yale Stun Princeton in a Shootout to Win Their First Ever Ivy Title

Forty-nine years. That’s how long Yale had waited to beat Princeton. They picked the perfect day to end it.

Sunday’s Ivy League final at Berylson Field in Cambridge looked done. Princeton led 2-0 with less than nine minutes left, and Yale hadn’t even managed a shot on goal. Then it all flipped.

Victoria Collee started it, driving through the Princeton defence in transition and scoring Yale’s first shot of the game at 51:32. Four minutes later, Issy Baileff swept home from a penalty corner routine to make it 2-2 with 4:03 left. Princeton had led since the third minute. Suddenly they were hanging on.

Pru Lindsey had put the Tigers ahead at 2:12 of the first, diving in to slide home a loose ball after goalkeeper Amelie Schwarzkopf had already made six saves. Molly Nye doubled it at 45:55, knocking in a rebound. Princeton had 10 shots before Yale had one. It should have been comfortable.

It wasn’t. Overtime solved nothing, though Schwarzkopf denied Princeton twice from corners and got her blocker on a last-second shot from Saylor Milone. Then the shootout. Schwarzkopf saved to start it, Kaitlyn Chang deked Olivia Caponiti to put Yale 1-0 up, Chiara Picciafuoco answered after Princeton levelled, and captain Hettie Whittington clinched it in the fourth round, spinning onto her backhand and firing home. Yale won the shootout 3-1. Game 3-2.

The numbers tell you how big this is. Yale’s first Ivy League Tournament title in school history. First win over Princeton since 1-0 on 15 October 1977. Princeton had won 42 straight in the fixture. Yale are the first No. 4 seed ever to win the Ivy tournament; the previous three No. 4 seeds had all been shut out in the first round, losing by a combined 7-0.

Schwarzkopf was named tournament Most Outstanding Player after 12 saves on Sunday, on top of five in Friday’s semifinal. Chang, Collee, Schwarzkopf and Whittington all made the All-Tournament Team.

And Friday matters here too. Yale reached this final by beating No. 4 Harvard 2-1, the top seed, in a semifinal delayed by lightning. They’ve now beaten the two best teams in the league in three days. That’s not a fluke. That’s a team peaking at exactly the right time.

Yale improve to 14-3, one win short of the school record 15 set in 1998. Princeton drop to 13-5, and their nine-game winning streak is gone. Both sides will be in the NCAA field when it’s announced on Sunday night. Princeton were ranked No. 5 in the RPI going in, Yale No. 6, so neither should be sweating. But only one of them goes in as Ivy champions, and it’s the one nobody picked.

For our money, Yale are now dangerous in the NCAA Tournament. A side that comes back from 2-0 down against Princeton, then wins a shootout with their captain scoring the clincher, doesn’t fear anyone.