ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell field hockey team got on the board quickly and scored again during a furious finish, but Princeton was able to score three straight to hold on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Marsha Dodson Field. The loss dropped the Big Red out of a first-place tie in the Ivy League standings and dropped to 10-5 (4-2 Ivy), while the Tigers improved to 6-10 (5-1 Ivy).

Katy Weeks and Krysten Mayers each tallied goals, but they were sandwiched around three consecutive Princeton goals over the span of just 12 minutes of game action. Kelly Johnson made five saves in goal for Cornell, which was outshot 15-7. The loss kept the Big Red from matching a school record for wins in a season (11).

Cornell got on the board first just 5:25 into the game when Weeks redirected a penalty corner shot from Marisa Siergiej and buried her second goal in the lasts three outings to give the Big Red an early lead.

That edge stood for nearly 20 minutes until Sydney Kirby scored the equalizer on a penalty stroke for her sixth goal of the season, then took the lead 10 minutes later when Teresa Benvenuti gave the Tigers their first lead of the day.

Princeton got an insurance goal less than two minutes into the second half when Allison Evans hit the back of the net from 5 yards out.

Cornell made a rousing rally from that point on, outshooting the Tigers 4-2 and getting back within a score when Mayers took a pass from Sam McILwrick and buried a shot with 2:56 remaining in regulation, but the Tigers were able to hold on to keep track with Columbia, a winner over Yale on Saturday, at the top of the Ancient Eight standings.

The Big Red closes out its regular season when it meets Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. at Marsha Dodson Field.