NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The story of Yale’s first two games of the 2017 season was mostly the offense. The Bulldogs peppered their opponents with shots, including 17 in a 3-0 win over Howard on Sunday. Wednesday, it was the defense’s turn to take center stage. Yale held an athletic Hartford squad in check, capitalized on one of the few good scoring chances in the game and walked away with an impressive 1-0 victory on another rainy day at Reese Stadium.

The victory caps what has been a very strong first week of the season for the Bulldogs (2-1).

“I'm incredibly proud of this team for a very gutsy performance and a very hard fought and deserved win,” said Kylie Stannard, 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. “To get that effort from a team that is playing its third game in six days is pretty amazing.  This is the type of game I have been talking about with this program the past couple of years, and these guys just took a massive step forward in learning what it takes to win in college soccer.  Being proud and happy for them is an understatement right now.”

John Leisman scored the only goal late in the first half. First year Mark Winhoffer set it up with a nifty pass out wide to Leisman, who took a quick dribble and fired a shot that deflected off the post and in from 15 yards out.

Yale’s defense did the rest, smothering the Hawks and limiting them to only six shots in the game. Justin Lobe, Andrew Carton, Lucas Kirby and Will Emerson were the anchors, each playing all 90 minutes.

Goalkeeper Kees Schipper needed to make only one save but did a good job directing traffic and playing crosses.

Hartford had only one real scoring chance in the game, but Christian Deaconson’s header from right in front went well over the crossbar with less than eight minutes remaining.

“Neither team was particularly sharp tonight, but Hartford is a good team with lots of athletic pieces, and you add the fact that the weather made it extra fast and hard to control the ball, it made for a tough and scrappy game,” Stannard said. “However, I still feel we were the better team for most of the game.  It was the last 15-20 minutes that we really had to dig deep and close out the game.  Our will to win, and our heart and courage made it happen.  This team grew a lot tonight, and I'm optimistic there is more good to come.”

Yale has now posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since early in the 2012 season when the Bulldogs didn’t allow a goal in three straight games.

In three games this season, Yale has yielded only 18 shots.

The Bulldogs hit the road for the first time on Saturday when they play at Vermont. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“[The players] get a much needed day off [Thursday] and then we look forward to the beautiful drive to Burlington on Friday,” Stannard said.

Yale won’t play at Reese again until the Ivy League opener vs. Harvard on Sept. 30.