PRINCETON, N.J. — A pair of two-goal halves aided No. 14-ranked Princeton to a 4-2 victory over Cornell in women's soccer action at Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium on Friday night.

Jen Estes and Aria Nagai found the back of the net in the first half before Marissa Hart and Lexi Hiltunen tacked on insurance markers in the latter period for the Tigers (6-1-1, 1-0-0 Ivy).

Senior defender Kendall Patten foiled Princeton's attempt at a clean sheet when she registered her first collegiate goal on a feed from freshman midfielder Brooke Brown in the 80th minute. The assist for Brown was her first collegiate point.

Sophomore midfielder Abigail Bishara further trimmed Princeton's lead when she added another goal for Cornell five minutes following Patten's tally.

Bishara's classmate, sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Medugno, made a career-high seven saves in the setback for the Big Red (2-1-4, 0-1-0 Ivy). Three of Medugno's seven stops came against Pietra Tordin, as the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year was held scoreless after entering Friday night's match with a Princeton-leading nine goals.

"Proud of what the team put in on many levels, especially in the first half and the final 15 minutes," Cornell women's soccer head coach Rob Ferguson said. "We felt very unfortunate to be behind at halftime, and those two late goals really changed the complexion of things. We felt we'd done enough, maybe even to be in front heading towards the break, and then we are two down. That's the reality of playing the top teams in the country, but I think we showed today we are very close and can take a lot of positives and keep growing."

The first half featured relatively even possession despite Princeton netting two goals over the final 15 minutes of the opening half.

Cornell, who recorded five of the first seven shot attempts, had a pair of scoring chances in the first three minutes of the contest. Senior forward Ava Laden had a shot attempt go over the crossbar just 90 seconds into the match. Sophomore midfielder Mariana Kessinger recorded the Big Red's first shot on goal a minute later, sending a strike from 20 yards out, but was stopped by Princeton goalkeeper Tyler McCamey.

Princeton controlled the remaining 25 minutes of the first half, which led to the Tigers opening the scoring in the 31st minute as Estes capitalized on a loose ball following a cross from the left flank by Lily Bryant, which deflected off Drew Coomans' torso.

In the waning minutes of the first half, Nagai increased the Tigers lead to two, sending a left-footed free kick on the perimeter of the penalty area into the bottom left corner of the goal.

After the first 45 minutes, Princeton and Cornell were tied in shot attempts, 7-7, despite the Tigers doubling up the Big Red in shots on goal, 6-3.

"We were brave and confident in the first half," Ferguson said. "The team connected well, created chances, and limited them in the ways we had planned, which was good, but we have to learn to be more clinical in both 18-yard boxes."

Princeton's offense dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second half, recording nine of the first 10 shot attempts. Due to the Tigers' pressure, the hosts tacked on a pair of insurance markers set up by Heather MacNab.

With 10 minutes left to play, Cornell found the back of the net for the first time on the night as Brown set up Patten for her first collegiate goal with a left-footed cross into the penalty area. The pass ricocheted off the shoulder of a Princeton defender, leading Patten to capitalize on her one-on-one with McCamey.

"Happy for Kenny to get her first goal," Ferguson said. "Proud of the commitment to keep going until the end, trying to get back in it."

Cornell added another goal five minutes later as Bishara played a second ball to herself and lofted the ball out of mid-air and over a leaping McCamey, who finished the match with a season-high five saves.

MATCH NOTES
• Friday night's match was the 41st meeting between Cornell and Princeton on the soccer pitch. With its victory, Princeton increased its lead in the series to 29-8-4 over the Big Red.

• The contest was the sixth time Cornell played a ranked Princeton squad and was the third instance over the last seven years.

• Cornell scored multiple goals against a nationally-ranked opponent for the third time in 33 contests. The other two instances came in 3-2 road losses against No. 15-ranked Penn State (Oct. 30, 1996) and No. 25 Dartmouth (Nov. 4, 2001).

• Thanks to Patten's 80th-minute goal, Cornell has scored in each of its last nine matches, tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history. It is the Big Red's longest overall scoring streak since establishing the program record of 13 contests in 2003.

• With Bishara's goal, she became the fourth Cornell player to record multiple goals this season. It is the first time a Big Red squad has had a quartet of multi-goal scorers in a single season since 2014.

UP NEXT
Cornell will return to action on Tuesday when it hosts Central New York rival Colgate at Berman Field. First touch between the Big Red and Raiders is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.