ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell junior goalkeeper Maddie Henry matched a career-high with 13 saves, but it wasn't enough as the Big Red field hockey team fell to Columbia, 2-0, this afternoon in New York City.
 
Columbia (6-3, 2-0) held the significant advantage in shots (29-9), shots on goal (16-4) and penalty corners (12-1). Cornell put nearly half of its shots on goal, but Lions' goalie Katie Dempsey was up to the task with four saves to earn the win.
 
Cornell started the game strong, with a shot by Juliana Tardiff forcing Dempsey to make a save in the fifth minute of action, but the visitors didn't get another chance before a scramble in front of the net led to a Danielle Buttinger goal to give Columbia a 1-0 lead at the 17:41 mark.
 
The Lions continued to carry the play and sent a flurry of shots at Henry following a penalty corner, but the Big Red goalie made three consecutive saves to keep Cornell in the contest. Columbia had one more solid chance to extend its lead before the half, but two more stops by Henry and a defensive save by junior midfielder Kirsten Pienaar sent the teams into the break with the home team up, 1-0.
 
Columbia made it a 2-0 game just five minutes into the second half when a shot by Katherine Cavanaugh ricocheted off a Big Red defender's stick into the goal. Henry continued to turn away shot after shot before the Big Red offense had its best chance of the day when back-to-back shots from Tardif and Gabby DePetro forced Dempsey to make two saves in a three-second span to preserve the shutout.
 
Cornell (2-7, 0-2) returns to Dodson Field next weekend to take on Yale