EASTON, Pa. – After controlling the run of play for the majority of a scoreless first half, the Big Red field hockey team tallied a pair of second half goals and held off a late push from Lafayette to down the Leopards, 2-0, this evening at Rappolt Field in Easton, Pa. With the win, its fourth shutout of the season, Cornell improves to 5-1 overall, while Lafayette slips to 5-2.  
 
Katie Carlson registered the game-winner and tacked on an assist to lead the Big Red's offense. Sam McILwrick also scored for Cornell, while both Krysten Mayers and Isabel Josephs earned an assist.
 
Both teams played solid defense throughout the contest with the Big Red holding the slim advantage in shots (11-8), and shots on goal (8-4), while the Leopards had a 6-4 edge in penalty corners, including five in the final half of play.
 
Cornell goalie Maddie Henry earned the start and posted her second shutout of the season with four saves. The sophomore netminder has yet to yield a goal in more than 240 minutes of game action.
 
Lafayette goalie Sarah Park made six saves, including four in the second half.  
 
The Big Red's offense seemed to dominate the play in the first half and had an incredible chance with time winding down in the stanza as Mayers got behind Lafayette's defense, but had a point blank shot saved by Park to preserve the deadlock heading into the intermission.
 
Mayers set up the Big Red's first goal in the 42nd minute with an incredible individual effort as she weaved her way through three Leopards before sending a pass to Carlson in the center of the circle. The senior collected the ball with her back to the goal, spun way from a charging Park and put the ball into the empty net to give Cornell the 1-0 advantage.
 
The visitors extended their lead in the 51st minute to 2-0 on a penalty corner goal from McILwrick, who blasted a shot from the top of the circle to the near post. Both Carlson and Josephs were credited with an assist.
 
With just over four minutes remaining in the game, Lafayette pulled Park for benefit of an extra field player, but could not solve Henry, who made a great save with less than two minutes to play. The Leopards had one final chance with just five ticks remaining on the clock when they were awarded a penalty corner and sent everyone to the circle, but the shot went wide to give Cornell its fourth shutout of the season.
 
Ivy League play opens this weekend as the Big Red travels to Penn on Saturday, Sept. 23 for a contest at noon.  Even though the Quakers hold a 25-14-2 lead all-time, the series has been back-and-forth in recent years, as the teams have split the last eight meetings, with six of those coming as one-goal decisions.