Yale Bulldogs women's soccer

The Yale Bulldogs women's soccer program represents Yale University in all NCAA Division I women's College soccer competitions. Founded in 1977,^[3] the Bulldogs compete in the Ivy League.

Yale Bulldogs women's soccer
Founded	1977; 48 years ago (1977) [1]
University	Yale University
Head coach	Sarah Martinez (5th season)
Conference	Ivy
Location	New Haven, Connecticut
Stadium	Reese Stadium (Capacity: 3,000)
Nickname	Bulldogs
Colors	Yale blue and white[2]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2005
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2002, 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances
2002, 2004, 2005
Conference Regular Season championships
1992, 2005

The Bulldogs are coached by Sarah Martinez, who was hired as the program's head coach on December 3, 2019.^[3] Yale plays their home matches at Reese Stadium, on the campus of Yale University.

History

Yale's first varsity season started in 1977, led by Roberto Taylor. Their first win came on October 5 with a 5–1 victory over Vassar. The first home goal was scored by Cynthia Hayden in a 2–2 overtime tie with Tufts on October 8.^[4]

In 1979, Elizabeth Traver set a school record with 18 goals while earning All-Ivy recognition. Traver ended her career with 39 goals and 99 points, both of which remain career records.^[4]

During the 1980 season, the Bulldogs achieved a 17–0 victory over Rhode Island College, setting an Ivy League record for the most goals in a game.^[4]

In the 1991 season, Laura Valade became Yale's first Ivy League Player of the Year.^[4]

In 1992, Yale earned its first Ivy League Championship, tying Brown with a 6–1 record. The Bulldogs finished 13–5 under captain Amy Predmore, and Jen Teti was named Ivy League Player of the Year.^[4]

The 2002 squad finished 12-5-2 and earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance. They won their first game on penalty kicks against Villanova before falling to Nebraska 1-0 in the second round.^[4]

The 2004 squad finished 13–5 and made their second NCAA Tournament appearance but lost in the first round to Villanova, 2-1.^[4]

In 2005, Yale reclaimed the Ivy League title with a 5-1-1 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. They won their first-round game 3–0 against Central Connecticut and upset No. 3 Duke 2-1 in the second round, with Crysi Howser scoring a goal with one second remaining. In the Sweet 16, they fell to the defending national champions, Notre Dame, 5-2.^[4]

Rudy Meredith College Admissions Bribery Scandal

Former coach Rudy Meredith was indicted as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, for allegedly accepting bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate the admission of students to Yale as soccer players recruited to the Yale women's soccer team, despite their never having played competitive soccer.^[5] He pled guilty.^[5] Because he is cooperating with prosecutors, he may avoid the maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines each of the charges carry, but he will have to forfeit the $850,000 in bribes he took in the scheme.^[5]

Rivalries

Further information: Harvard–Yale soccer rivalry

Harvard and Yale have met 47 times and Yale has a record of 9-36-2. Yale's last win was in 2017.

Players

Current roster

As of 8 Mar 2025^[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 00 GK  USA Kyla Holmes 1 GK  USA Anna Shamgochian 5 DF  USA Andie Miller 6 MF  USA Tina Teik 7 DF  USA Alex Chang 8 DF  USA Nana Yang 9 DF  USA Marz Akins 10 MF  USA Regan Lundstedt 11 FW  USA Vienna Lundstedt 12 FW  USA Meredith Phillips 13 DF  USA Annika Bryant 14 MF  USA Phebe Ryan 15 FW  ISL Anita Thorvaldsdottir 16 FW  USA Alanna Butcher 17 MF  NOR Karoline Hernes

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  USA Belle Golden 19 FW  USA Abigail Solomon 20 FW  USA Addison Bray 21 DF  USA Alice So 22 DF  USA Logan Jacobs 23 GK  USA Mikayla Morse 24 DF  USA Laila Booker 25 MF  USA Ellie Rappole 26 FM  USA Reagan Exley 27 MF  USA Tanner Cahalan 28 DF  USA Abby Moos 29 DF  HUN Rebeka Róth 30 FW  USA Penelop Hansen 32 DF  USA Amelia Warren 33 FW  USA Ashley Kirschner

Coaches

Coaching history

Yale University has had seven coaches in their program's existence.^[7]

As of March 4th, 2025

#	Years	Coach	W	L	T
1	1977	Roberto Taylor	5	5	2
2	1978–1980	Chico Chacurian	17	16	7
3	1981–1984	Margaret Dunlop	20	34	2
4	1985–1994	Felice Duffey	60	89	3
5	1995–2018	Rudy Meredith	224	157	35
6	2019	Brendan Faherty	11	4	1
7	2020–Present	Sarah Martinez	23	32	9

Honors

Conference championships

Title No.	Season	Organizer	Class	Coach
1	1992	Ivy League	Regular season	Felice Duffy
2	2005	Ivy League	Regular season	Rudy Meredith

All Americans

^[8]

Year	Player	Team
1992	Jen Teti	2nd Team
1993	Jen Teti	2nd Team
2005	Christina Huang	2nd Team
2005	Aerial Chavarin	2nd Team

Ivy League Player of the Year

Year	Player
1991	Laura Valade
1992	Jen Teti
1993	Jen Teti
2009	Becky Brown

Ivy League Awards

Year	Player	Award
1996	Lorelei Wall	Rookie of the Year
2005	Crysti Howser	Rookie of the Year
2009	Kristen Forster	Rookie of the Year
2011	Melissa Gavin	Rookie of the Year
2014	Elise Wilcox	Defensive Player of the Year
2016	Aerial Chavarin	Rookie of the Year
2017	Michelle Alozie	Offensive Player of the Year
2019	Aerial Chavarin	Defensive Player of the Year

Seasons

NCAA Tournament history

Yale has appeared in three NCAA Tournaments. Their most recent appearance came in 2005.

Year	Record	Region	Round	Opponent	Results
2002		1	First round	Villanova	0-0 (Yale wins PK)
			Second round	Nebraska	0–1
2004		1	First round	Villanova	0–1
2005		1	First round	Central Connecticut	3-0
			Second round	Duke	2-1
			Quarterfinals	Notre Dame	2–5

Professional Players

Years	Player	Position
1997–2000	Ciara McCormack	DF
2001–2005	Eleni Benson	DF
2011–2014	Meredith Speck	MF
2014–2017	Carlin Hudson	DF
2015–2018	Michelle Alozie	FW
2016–2019	Aerial Chavarin	MF
2017–2021	Reina Bonta	DF
2019–2022	Giovanna Dionicio	DF