The Game is finally upon us, or at least the American football version. While many will consider this the most important and anticipated game of the year for both schools, this is just one installment of the many matchups between the two rivals thus far. From the track to the ice and beyond, our Harvard Crimson teams have been battling it out with the Bulldogs from New Haven all semester long. From recent victories to upcoming matchups, here’s a quick roundup of the latest updates in the Harvard-Yale rivalry as we anticipate this Saturday’s epic clash.
Soccer
If the European version of football is anything to go by, this weekend will be one to celebrate, as both our men’s and women’s teams dominated the Dogs in New Haven and Cambridge, respectively.
Women’s soccer had a season to be proud of, including ties against ranked teams No. 20 Pepperdine and No. 10 Santa Clara. Their 3-1 home victory against Yale was one of the season’s standout moments, as they sent the Bulldogs back to New Haven with their tails between their legs. Coming back from 1-0 down early in the match, goals from Lauren Muniz ’28, Josefine Hasbo ’25, and Aslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir ’25 secured a massive win in the final regular season game of the year, clinching the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament.
As for the men’s side, our Norwegian number nine Nicholas Nyquist ’26, was the sole scorer in a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Yale. A fixture that saw goalkeeper Lucian Wood ’26 get his first clean sheet of the season as a brave defensive effort topped by Nyquist’s second career goal was enough to send the Crimson back to Cambridge with three points towards the Ivy League table.
Field Hockey
Ivy League champions and the currently ranked No. 10 team in the nation, women’s field hockey put Ivy League conference contenders Yale in their place with a dominating 3-1 victory back in early October. A comfortable first half led by Associate Sports Editor Kate Oliver ’26 was followed by a flurry of second-half scores by Lara Beekhuis ’27 and Lucy Leel ’25. The Bulldogs scraped one back in garbage time, but it was simply not enough to take down the best field hockey team in the Ivy League. Interestingly, every scorer of the day ended up receiving All-Ivy League status at the end of the season. Our big game players showed up when we needed it, and because of them, the team was able to reach the elite eight of the NCAA tournament and were just one win away from matching the program’s single-season win record.
Ice Hockey
Clearly, being all the way south down in Connecticut isn’t helping Yale on the ice. Their football team will be hoping for a closer game than when the No. 14 ranked Yale women’s team arrived in Cambridge and were rolled 5-1 in quite a dramatic fashion. Five goals from five different Harvard skaters during the game will hopefully bolster a solid second half of the season for our Crimson team. With lots still to play for, including the Beanpot in mid-January, the destruction of Yale will help ease the growing pains of the slightly rocky start to the season.
On the men’s side, it looks like more of the same will likely ensue. The team had a strong start to their season, getting positive results against their two ranked opponents thus far, beating No. 15 Quinnipiac and impressively tying no. 3 BU. The men are currently ranked No. 20 in the country, while the Yale team is absent. After what was undoubtedly a disappointing season last year, there now appears to be a genuine sense of belief within the team. Breakthrough recruits in the Class of 2028 and tactical changes to the already star-studded roster have drastically transformed the team for the better. We’ll be looking forward to another 5-1 routing of Yale at Bright-Landry come Jan. 11.
Golf
The Yale men’s golf team has had the unfortunate honor of losing every single course against the Crimson this year. With our men’s team placing above the Bulldogs in 3/3 tournaments so far, punctuated by a first-place finish in the recent Glen Arbor Invite, there is no question about who has the upper hand on the green. First-year William Ma ’28, a blue-chip recruit from San Diego, has largely propelled the team since his arrival and is one of the reasons the Bulldogs have only been able to catch a glimpse of the backside of the Crimson this semester. Ma has consistently been among the top 3 Harvard scorers, with his best performance claiming second place in the field with three under par at Glen Arbor.
It’s been more of the same for the women’s team. Harvard claimed second place at the Nittany Lion Invitational, narrowly losing out to Princeton overall. Yale pathetically finished 5th. We can only assume the Bulldogs were terrified after this loss and have refused to participate in any other courses against the Crimson since then.
We have dominated the dogs on all surfaces, and this weekend should be no different. While the game is always a fantastic display of Crimson pride, to truly compete at the next level as an athletic university, every Harvard-Yale matchup in every sport should be a sold-out spectacle as our teams need our support to succeed. If you take anything away from this article, just remember that this year, like every year, is a great time to not live in New Haven. We’ve already beaten Yale so many times and in so many ways. What’s one more game?
Vincent Honrubia ’27 (vincenthonrubia@college.harvard.edu) writes Sports for the Independent.