VILLANOVA, Pa. — Cornell and Villanova traded first-half goals before both sides held the opposition scoreless in the second half leading to the Big Red and Wildcats playing to a 1-1 draw at the Higgins Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Senior forward
Mia Gonzalez scored in the fifth minute for Cornell (2-0-4), who extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches (4-0-4) with Sunday's result. Villanova's Makayla Stadler netted the game-tying marker in the 28th minute, leading the Wildcats to their 11th consecutive match without a loss while its record was moved to 3-0-5 on the year.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Natalie Medugno made a career-high five saves for the Big Red in the draw, while her counterpart Payton Woodward stopped four Cornell shots.
"I thought we started the game well and in line with our plan of being on the front foot, pressing, and using the ball effectively in the attacking half," said Cornell women's soccer head coach Rob Ferguson.
Cornell opened the scoring early as Gonzalez netted the match's first tally just 4:44 into the contest. Sophomore
Mariana Kessinger lofted a ball into the Big Red's attacking third from midfield, allowing Gonzalez to beat a Villanova defender. Gonzalez's right-footed shot from the right side of the 18-yard box deflected off the left post and into the goal.
"Excellent ball from Mariana in to Mia, and a super composed finish which was great to see," Ferguson said.
After Medugno made two of her four first-half saves over the contest's first 11 minutes, Gonzalez had two chances to increase the Big Red's lead in the 15th and 24th minutes, but Woodward saved both shot attempts.
Stadler leveled the contest in the 28th minute when she scored off a header on a free kick taken by Ire Omotayo near the midfield stripe. Stadler's shot attempt lofted over a group of Cornell defenders inside the penalty area and out of the reach of a leaping Medugno.
Medugno made her the last of her four first-half saves in the 37th minute, keeping the contest tied as she batted away a second-chance header by Lauren Ashman following a Villanova corner kick.
Offense came at a premium in the second half, as three of the 14 shot attempts in the frame were on target. Medugno saved the only shot on goal she faced, while Woodward stopped both Big Red attempts.
"We adjusted very well into a 3-6-1 at halftime and played incredibly well for 15-20 minutes, and pretty well throughout the second 45," Ferguson stated. "There was always the potential for this adjustment and kudos to the players for implementing what we did in training on Friday."
The Wildcats had a scoring opportunity in the 58th minute, but Ashman's shot from outside of the 18-yard box hit the crossbar. Cornell's back line thwarted a scoring chance as the ball remained loose within the penalty area.
Junior midfielder
Peyton Nichols had Cornell's lone shot on goal in the second half in the 72nd minute.
In the 88th minute, Villanova had two scoring chances off the boot of Alex Little in a late attempt to take the lead. Medugno made a diving save to her right to halt Little's first shot attempt, while the shot on the rebound went wide right of the goal.
"On the balance, they hit the woodwork and had one good chance to win it, so a tie was probably a fair outcome," Ferguson said.
Villanova had a slight advantage in shot attempts, 13-12, and in shots on goal, 6-5. Both programs had three corner kicks, which included all three of the Big Red corners coming in the second half.
MATCH NOTES
• Sunday was the sixth all-time meeting between Cornell and Villanova in women's soccer. It is the first time the programs have played to a tie, as the series now favors Villanova 3-2-1.
• The last three matches played by Cornell have resulted in ties, marking the second time in program history in which three consecutive contests have ended in a tie. The other instance occurred when it tied with Providence and St. John's in the 2002 ECAC Tournament before drawing with Stony Brook in the 2003 season opener. At the ECAC Tournament, Cornell beat Providence in penalty kicks but was on the losing end in penalties to St. John's.
• The eight-match unbeaten streak (4-0-4) is the fifth time in program history in which the Big Red has logged an unbeaten streak of at least eight matches. The other occurrences happened in 1985-86, 1987-88, 1991, and 2014-15.
• Sunday's result also marked the fifth time in program history in which the Big Red has not lost any of its first six matches to begin a season, joining the 1986, 1991, 2005, and 2015 campaigns.
• Cornell is off to its best six-match start to a season since 2019, when the program had a 4-1-1 after its sixth match.
• Gonzalez's fifth-minute goal was Cornell's quickest goal scored since Evanthia Spyredes recorded a goal at the 2:29 mark of a match on Sept. 18, 2019, against Binghamton.
• Dating back to last season, Cornell is unbeaten over its last nine non-conference contests (3-0-6).
• When scoring the first goal of the match under head coach Rob Ferguson, the Big Red now holds a record of 7-1-3, which includes a 2-0-2 mark this season.
UP NEXT
Cornell will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 23, to play its first Ivy League match of 2023 when it travels to Princeton. First touch between the Big Red and Tigers from Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. Game action will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
