ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior Sydney Malaga's goal in the 84th minute broke a scoreless contest, aiding the Cornell women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over its Central New York rival Colgate at a chilly Berman Field on Tuesday night.

Malaga's marker extended Cornell's home unbeaten streak to 10 matches, signifying the Big Red's longest stretch without a loss on its home turf in program history.

Senior midfielder Reagan Pauwels assisted on Malaga's tally to increase her team lead in assists to four.

Junior Erica Fox and sophomore Natalie Medugno shared time in goal, splitting the clean sheet for the Big Red (3-1-4, 0-1-0 Ivy). Fox made three saves over 84:46 of action, while Medugno did not face a shot during her 5:14 in goal as she was an injury replacement for Fox.

Colgate's Allie Popham made three first-half saves for the Raiders (2-8-2, 1-1-1 Patriot) before giving way to Emma Hickey, who stopped two Cornell shots in the second half before being saddled with her first loss of the season.

"Excellent win, really hard-fought," Cornell women's soccer head coach Rob Ferguson said. "We knew it was going to be a battle coming in. We needed to play well, we needed to play well with the ball, we needed to defend well, and we needed to show the fight, and in the end we did. There were phases of the game that I don't think we were good enough with the ball in the first half, especially, and without the ball to start the second half. Overall, it's an excellent win, and in a game like that, you've got to win one-nil."

Ferguson credited the Big Red's back line, which featured five players seeing action on Tuesday. Jackie Lasseter, Kendall Patten, and Cecily Pokigo played all 90 minutes, while Lily Ellingson and Maddie Leroy shared time on defense.

"They were disciplined, organized, pretty clean in clearances and dealing with balls," Ferguson said. "I thought they did a good job with the ball and tried to play and break down the other team. Delighted with them, and I thought Erica made a couple of great saves."

In the 13th minute, Lyna Schaffer provided Colgate's best scoring chance as her shot attempt clanked off the crossbar.

Cornell's best chance of the first half came in the middle portion of the period when the Big Red had three scoring opportunities in a 20-second window. Freshman Brooke Brown had the initial shot attempt, but Popham was able to make the save. Senior forward Mia Gonzalez saw her shot get blocked, leading to Pauwels' attempt missing wide.

Brown and fellow freshman Emily Gibbons made their first collegiate starts, playing 48 and 46 minutes, respectively.

Ellie Stokes registered Colgate's lone shot on goal of the first half in the 32nd minute, but Fox made the first of her three stops before making a pair of spectacular second-half saves, including the first on Nikki DiCaprio in the 50th minute. 

Gonzalez had another scoring opportunity in the 82nd minute when Hickey halted her shot off a header, only two minutes before the Big Red's eventual game-winning goal from Malaga.

Nearly a minute following a Big Red corner kick, Pauwels sent a left-footed cross into the 18-yard box from around 25 yards out, setting up Malaga for a header attempt that was deposited into the bottom right corner of the goal, out of the out-stretched arm of Hickey.

Colgate had a chance to level the match 30 seconds later as Emma Juetten's shot was saved by Fox, who was able to seal the victory as the Big Red were successful at holding possession for the remainder of the contest. 

Statistically, Cornell dominated Colgate, posting a plus-10 advantage in shot attempts (17-7) while doubling up the Raiders in shots on goal, 6-3. The Big Red concluded the match with eight corner kicks, seven of which came in the second half.

MATCH NOTES
• Tuesday was the 44th all-time meeting between the Central New York rivals. Cornell cut into Colgate's lead in the series, improving to 18-22-4. The Big Red has won each of the last three meetings against the Raiders, which is Cornell's longest win streak over its geographic rival since posting seven consecutive wins from 1986-92.

• With its home unbeaten streak at 10 matches (5-0-5), Cornell is the 21st Division I program with an active home unbeaten streak of at least 10 contests.

• Cornell also increased its unbeaten streak over non-conference opponents to 10 matches with Tuesday's result. The Big Red is 4-0-6 against non-Ivy League opponents, dating back to a 1-1 draw against Binghamton on Sept. 14, 2022.

• Thanks to Malaga's 84th-minute goal, Cornell saw its goal-scoring streak extended to 10 matches on Tuesday. It is tied for the third-longest span of recording at least one goal (1988 and 2000) and is the longest goal-scoring streak since establishing the record of 13 in 2003.

• Malaga's goal was her second tally of 2023, becoming the fifth Cornell player to register a multi-goal total this season. Cornell has five multi-goal scorers for the first time since 2013 when it also had a quintet of players with two-plus goals. 

• The game-winning marker came at the 83:23 mark of the contest, serving as the Big Red's latest game-winning goal since Kaili Gregory at 99:04 against St. Bonaventure in an overtime win on Aug. 24, 2018. It is the latest game-winning goal in regulation since Elizabeth Crowell broke a 2-2 tie at 83:59 against Buffalo on Sept. 19, 2014.

• Pauwels is the first Cornell player with a four-assist season since Ava Laden in 2021 and is the eighth Big Red player (10th occurrence) with a four-assist season since 2003.

UP NEXT
Cornell returns to Ivy League play this weekend when it travels to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth. First touch between the Big Red and Big Green from Burnham Field is scheduled for 3 p.m. Match action will air live on ESPN+.