Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's soccer team played toe-to-toe for 90 minutes with Brown on Senior Day, but the visitors took advantage of a late penalty kick to escape Berman Field with a 1-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Berman Field.
 
The defining moment of the game came in the 82nd minute, when a foul was called on a play at the very edge of the penalty area. The referee deemed the infraction to be inside the box and pointed to the spot. The Bears' Celia Story then executed a perfect shot from there, tucking a virtually unstoppable shot in the upper corner of the net to the right of Cornell goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy.
 
It was a cruel way to lose for Cornell (2-7-3, 0-3-2 Ivy League), which performed well against a Brown (10-4, 3-2) squad that remains in Ivy League contention. Building a string of strong starts, Kennedy turned in another notable performance with eight saves.
 
While Brown had its fair share of possession in the Big Red's third early on, it was the home side that generated the day's first quality scoring chance. Right at the 15-minute mark, freshman defender Naomi Jaffe sent a long cross from the right side into the far side of the box. Senior midfielder Meera Dheer was first to it and split two defenders, but her shot from 10 yards was cradled by Brown goalkeeper Christine Etzel.
 
The Bears countered with 23:30 left in the half on a strong line-drive header from Sydney Cummings off Abby Carchio's corner kick from the right side, but Kennedy made the stop and scrambling to secure the rebound.
 
The play set off a string of opportunities at both ends, with Cornell responding about two minutes later and drawing a corner kick. Sophomore midfielder Juliana Comer challenged directly from the left corner, forcing Etzel to make a leaping grab toward the near post.
 
Kennedy made six saves in all in the opening 45 minutes, with the two most difficult coming in the latter half of the stanza. At the 25-minute mark, she steered Carchio's offering from distance off the crossbar and away from trouble. Then, with just three minutes before the intermission, Carchio sent Brittany Montgomery through on the right side for a quick-developing one-on-one, but Kennedy was aggressively off her line and stopped the shot toward the near post with her legs.
 
Cornell threatened a few times in the second half. With 37 minutes to play, a long service from sophomore defender Abby Adams got through central defenders and gave sophomore midfielder/forward Kennedy Yearby a chance from inside the box — but Etzel sprawled to her left to make the save.
 
About 10 minutes later, a stellar ball from junior midfielder Carolyn Ruoff against the grain sent Yearby through on the left side. She entered the box and crossed to senior Paige DeLoach, whose shot required a diving stab by Etzel to her left.
 
Before the game, the Big Red held its annual Senior Day ceremony to honor to final home game in the careers of Paige DeLoach, Meera Dheer, Whitney Farber, Erin Fitzgerald, Kaylee Fitzgerald, Tess Pullano, Julia Schubauer and Katerina Weikert.
 
Cornell hits the road for its final two games, starting with a match against nationally Princeton at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.