ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell University field hockey team dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 11 Princeton this afternoon on Marsha Dodson Field. The loss was the first in Ivy League play for the Big Red this season, as the team falls to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The Tigers improved to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in league and clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title.
“We were very pleased to have the opportunity to play for an Ivy League title on our home field and we're disappointed in the loss,” said head coach Donna Hornibrook. “But we respect Princeton and they played a great game. The difference today was that they were able to capitalize on their opportunities and finish around the goal and we weren't able to.”
The game was much closer than the final score indicated, with Princeton holding the slight 18-14 advantage in shots and 10-6 edge in penalty corners. The Tigers put 13 shots on goal, while Cornell had nine shots on goal.
Both teams' goalies were outstanding with Cornell junior Melanie Jue making eight saves in the loss, while Jennifer King stopped nine in the victory.
After having an early Cornell goal waved off in the first minute of play, the Tigers took control of the half and earned five penalty corners and took seven shots in a span of 6:30 before Kraftin Schreyer scored Princeton's first goal at the 12:53 mark. During the span, Jue made three saves, including a spectacular save where she took the ball off the goal line, and the team also got a defensive save by sophomore Stephanie Sanders.
Less than eight minutes later Kathleen Sharkey sparked the Tigers' second goal as she sent a long pass into the circle and pulled Jue off her line. Katie Kinzer managed to beat Jue to the ball and sent it into the back of the net.
Cornell had two chances late in the half; the first coming on an Abbi Horn and Catie De Stio two-on-one rush and the second on a Kate Thompson breakaway, but in both cases King came off her line and made the save.
The Big Red offense came to life in the second half, using a series of penalty corners to put some pressure on the Tigers' defense. Unfortunately, for the second time in the game, Cornell had a goal waved off in the 49th minute and that temporarily ended the Big Red threat.
From that point, the two teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way, with the Tigers getting two goals in the final 10 minutes of play to account for the 4-0 final.
Candice Arner tallied Princeton's third goal at the 61:19 mark with a reverse stick shot from the left side of the goal and Holly McGarvie scored the Tigers' final goal at the 69:36 when she put back a rebound off a save.
The Big Red plays its final game next weekend as it plays host to Dartmouth on Sunday, Nov. 9 at Marsha Dodson Field at noon. The team will celebrate Senior Day prior to the contest as Stephanie Brownstein, Abbi Horn, Belen Martinez and Eva Olesky play in their final collegiate game.
