ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red field hockey team had an offensive explosion in its season opener on Saturday afternoon, as Cornell earned a 5-0 victory over Colgate University at Marsha Dodson Field.
 
Cornell scored their first goal 10 minutes into the game and never looked back. With Colgate unable to clear a rebound, sophomore Kate Fitzpatrick put it home for the first of her two goals on the day.
 
The Big Red kept the pressure going throughout the first 35 minutes and it paid off, as Katie Carlson and Elizabeth Horak combined for a goal just minutes before the half. Carlson had the ball on the right post and fed it across the face of the net to a waiting Horak who calmly slotted it home for the two-goal halftime lead.  
 
The Big Red did their part on both offense and defense in the second half to quell any attempt of a Colgate comeback.
 
Just 70 seconds into the half, Fitzpatrick tipped in a pass from Krysten Mayers for her second goal of the game and the 3-0 lead. Defensively, the Big Red limited the Raiders to just one shot in the second half and none over the final 19 minutes of play.
 
In the 61st minute, freshman Taylor Reed scored her first career goal when she shot the ball inside the right post from the top of the arc to make it 4-0. Horak finished off the scoring with just seven seconds remaining, sending a ball from the top of the arc just inside the right post for her second goal of the game.
 
In goal, Kelly Johnson registered one save to preserve the shutout, the seventh of her career.
 
Cornell held the advantage in shots (25-3), shots on goal (14-1), and penalty corners (8-1).
 
Raiders' goalie Maria Krull made nine saves in the loss.