UMass Dominates Yale with 5-1 Victory

AMHERST, Mass. – UMass didn’t just beat Yale on Thursday night. The Minutewomen tore into them.

A ruthless five-goal display at Rudd Field powered Massachusetts to a 5-1 win, the program’s highest output of the season and its biggest haul since putting five past Davidson on September 24, 2023. The result pushes UMass to 5-1-0, while Yale drops to 3-4-0.

Lightning start sets the tone

Yale barely had time to settle before it was chasing shadows.

At 6:04, Annie McCaffrey struck first. Peyton Costello collected the ball on the left edge of the box, lifted a teasing ball into traffic, and McCaffrey rose to meet it, steering a high effort into the top right corner. One chance, one ruthless finish, 1-0.

UMass smelled blood.

Not even three minutes later, the lead doubled. From midfield, Nia Hislop picked out Caroline Dickson with a direct pass that split the lines. Dickson drove into the 18-yard box, kept her composure, and slid her shot past the Yale goalkeeper at 9:01. Two goals inside 10 minutes, and the Minutewomen were in full control.

The scoreline stayed at 2-0 through halftime, but the game never felt that close. UMass dictated tempo, Yale chased.

Curry and Dickson bury the game

Any hope of a Yale comeback vanished early in the second half.

In the 52nd minute, Monica Curry simply refused to lose a footrace. Sprinting alongside a Bulldog defender, she got there first, dragged the keeper out of the box, skipped around her, and rolled the ball into an empty net for 3-0. It was Curry’s fifth goal of the season, and it looked every bit like a striker in form.

Two minutes later, Dickson made sure the night would be remembered as hers as well.

Chasing down a loose ball, she weaved through defenders to the top of the box and unleashed a drive that ripped into the back of the net in the 54th minute. Her first brace of the season, UMass up 4-0, and Yale stunned.

Yale respond, but Terry has the final word

Yale finally found a lifeline in the 72nd minute, converting from the penalty spot at 71:29 to cut the deficit to 4-1. It was a deserved reward for a team that kept pushing, even as the scoreboard turned against them.

But the last say belonged to a first-time scorer.

With the clock ticking down, freshman defender Lexi Terry stepped into the spotlight. At 84:57, she pounced inside the box and fired a shot that bent around the goalkeeper and into the top left corner. Her first career goal sealed a 5-1 rout and capped a statement night for the UMass attack.

Stats tell a different story

On paper, the game looked tighter than the score suggests. UMass held only a slight edge in total shots, 13-12, and the teams were level with seven shots on target each. Yale even earned seven corner kicks to the Minutewomen’s two.

But UMass made their chances count.

Curry led all players with four shots. Dickson and Sophie Skabeikis added two apiece, while Libby Fisher, McCaffrey, Aline Traber, Amanda Schultz and Terry each recorded one. Dickson was perfect with both of her efforts on frame, and Fisher, Curry, McCaffrey, Traber and Terry each forced a save.

At the back, the Minutewomen shared the workload in goal. Junior keeper Leah Nisenfeld turned away four shots and kept a clean sheet across 62 minutes. Fellow junior Julia Rosenberg took over for the final 28 minutes, making two saves and conceding once from the spot.

For Yale, it was a long night for goalkeeper Isabel Willems. She went the full 90, making two saves but picking the ball out of her net five times.

Final tune-up ahead

Now comes the last non-conference test.

UMass heads to Boston on Sunday, September 13, to face Northeastern at 1 p.m., with the match streamed on FloCollege. With the attack firing and confidence surging after a five-goal performance, the question is simple: can the Minutewomen carry this ruthless edge into the heart of their season?