ALBANY, N.Y. – No. 20 Maine scored in the first four minutes and again in the last three minutes of the contest, but the Big Red field hockey team tallied three consecutive goals in the middle to earn the tight 3-2 victory this afternoon at Albany's Alumni turf. The triumph comes nearly seven years to the day of Cornell's last win over a ranked opponent, having defeated No. 19 Syracuse, 3-2, on Oct. 25, 2007.
Cornell (10-4) held the slim edge in shots (11-9), and shots on goal (8-7), but Maine (10-8) had the 4-1 advantage on penalty corners.
Four Big Red freshmen –
Katie Carlson,
Krysten Mayers,
Sam McILwrick, and
Kelly Johnson – were instrumental to the victory.
In goal, Johnson made four saves to earn the win and improve to 7-2 on the year. Maine's Emma Cochran finished with four saves and two goals allowed in 35 minutes before giving way to Emily Corbett, who finished with one save and one goal against.
An early defensive save by McILwrick kept Maine off the board, but in the ensuing moments the Black Bears were awarded a penalty corner and Annabelle Hamilton connected to stake the Black Bears an early 1-0 lead. Cornell answered back in the 16th minute with a goal from Carlson. The marker was set up by a Big Red penalty corner, as
Marisa Siergiej's shot was saved Chochran, but the rebound bounced to Carlson.
Less than eight minutes later, Mayers tallied the game-winner with a great individual effort as she drove down the left end line and converted to give Cornell the 2-1 lead at the break.
Mayers extended the Big Red's lead to 3-1 when she and
Taylor Standiford teamed up for a give-and-go goal at the 49:27 mark.
Maine turned up the pressure in the final moments, but had a shot turned away by Johnson in the 63rd minute, her fourth and final save of the contest, before Jessica Skillings' strike accounted for the 3-2 final.
Cornell finishes the season with a pair of critical Ivy League contests, playing its final two games at Marsha Dodson Field on consecutive Saturdays, taking on Princeton on Nov. 1 and Dartmouth on Nov. 8. Both games are slated to start at noon.
