Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – In a tightly fought, back-and-forth game, the Big Red field hockey team fell to Columbia, 3-1, this afternoon on Marsha Dodson Field. Despite trailing, 2-1, midway through the contest Cornell dominated the play in the second half, but couldn't come up with the equalizer before a late Lions' goal sealed the victory for the visitors.

The Big Red struggled in the first half, getting outshot 6-3 and giving up five penalty corners without a single chance of its own. A goal in the 13th minutes by Gabby Kozlowski, a tip-in off a penalty corner shot from Paige Simmons, put Columbia up, 1-0.

Just minutes later, Cornell answered on an incredible play to knot the game at 1-1. The sequence began when Kat DiPastina won a ball deep in Cornell's defensive end and sent a 50-50 ball upfield to Brittany Thompson. The sophomore forward outmuscled the Columbia defender, worked her way up the sideline and then sent a cross in front of the Lions' goal. Hannah Balleza, planted on the far post, dove to get a stick on it and tipped the ball into the net.

The teams went into the half deadlocked at 1-1, but Columbia took advantage of a Big Red man-down situation to score in the opening moments of the second half when a flurry of activity in front of the Cornell goal allowed Adriana de Vries to slip a shot past Big Red goalie Alex Botte in the 37th minute.

For the next 15 minutes, the Big Red completely dominated the flow of the game, forcing Christine O'Hara to make three saves and seeing a sure goal stopped illegally by a Columbia defender, resulting in a penalty stroke attempt for Cornell. Unfortunately, the Big Red could not convert and just over six minutes later, the Lions' sealed the victory when Desi Scherf collected a rebound off a Botte save and scored to account for the 3-1 final.

After a slow start, the Big Red outshot Columbia 13-8 in the second half and had the 5-3 advantage in penalty corners. Cornell finished with the slight edge in shots (16-14) and the Lions held the slim lead in penalty corners (8-5). Between the pipes, O'Hara finished with nine saves for the win, while Botte made eight saves for the loss.

The Big Red travels to Yale next weekend to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 1 at noon, before returning to Ithaca for a mid-week matchup with instate rival Colgate on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.