ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell field hockey team had a great second quarter but could not make up for losses in the first as the Big Red fell, 4-2, against the visiting #14 Saint Joseph's Hawks.
 
The Hawks opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a quick shot to the goal by Tonya Botherway. With three shots and two corners, to Cornell's one each, Saint Joseph's entered the first quarter break with a 1-0 lead.
 
Saint Joseph's continued play in the second quarter with a goal by Kate Blincoe, during a penalty corner, with 10:47 on the clock. The Big Red answered the Hawks' second mark with a long goal by Taylor Gladd less than a minute later. Gladd received a long pass from Maddy Conklin to change the direction of the ball and shoot it towards the net. 
 
With less than three minutes left in the first half, Kirsten Pienaar ties the score at 2-2 with a successful penalty stroke. Saint Joseph's answered Cornell's game-tying goal with just 41 seconds left in the first half. The Big Red entered halftime down, 3-2.
 
The Hawks return from halftime with a fire as they score another goal in the fifth minute of the half. Down 4-2, the Cornell defense is able to keep the Saint Joseph's offense from scoring once again, but the Big Red are unable to hit the backboard for the rest of the game.
 
SJU held an 8-3 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in penalty corners at the half but the Big Red reversed the trend in the third and fourth quarters. When the final whistle blew the home team worked towards a more equal amount of shot attempts (SJU 12, COR 9) and penalty corners (SJU 6, COR 5).
 
Maddie Henry made four saves to go along with several outstanding defensive plays, including a defensive save by Kristen Ferguson, to break up scoring opportunities for the Hawks.
 
Cornell (2-1) will begin Ivy League play next week as it hosts Penn on Monday, Sept. 23 for a 4 p.m. contest.