ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward
Alanna Colbert's first-half goal held up into the second half, but Penn's Grace Saxton netted the equalizer in the 57th minute as the Cornell women's soccer team (5-6-3, 1-3-1 Ivy) settled for a 1-1 draw with the Quakers (6-5-3, 1-2-2 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon at Berman Field.
"There was a lot of great stuff in the performance, including the first half and the way we fought back into it after we lost momentum in the second half," said Cornell head coach
Rob Ferguson. "We had chances to win it in the second half that just didn't go our way. [Emily] Gibbons' shot hit both posts and came out, and that's tough. A little bit of luck would help there. I'm proud of a lot of what they did today, but at the same time, we're disappointed in not getting the win. A tie is a tie, but we needed the win, and we knew that going in."
Cornell controlled much of the opening half and earned eight of its 10 corner kicks before the break. Freshman goalkeeper
Sofia Kerrigan stopped two early chances from Penn's Abbey Cook, and the Big Red broke through in the 17th minute. Junior midfielder
Ella Koschineg served a free kick into the box, and Colbert's header was saved by Penn goalkeeper Josephine Hensley. Colbert followed up and buried the rebound for her fourth goal of the season.
Penn nearly leveled the score late in the half when Saxton's header off a corner kick hit the crossbar in the 38th minute, and Kerrigan saved Zula Root's follow-up attempt three seconds later to send Cornell into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The Quakers came out of the break with more urgency and took 10 of the game's 16 second-half shots. Cook and Mia Fuss each missed wide in the opening minutes before Penn tied the match. Fuss collected a pass from Cook on the right flank and lofted a cross to Saxton, whose right-footed finish was her first goal of the season.
"It was exactly what we thought it would be, and what we spoke about at halftime," Ferguson said. "They came out with more energy, more intensity and more directness, and we didn't get on the front foot. We had to not only match it, we had to double down on what we did in the first half. We didn't do it until they got the goal, and then we livened up. That's not good enough. You gave them 15 minutes where you let them control the game, and the game finished 1-1 because of it. We have to learn and grow and not let teams do that."
The Big Red pushed for a winner after Saxton's equalizer. Hensley saved a shot from freshman defender
Camryn Savig in the 68th minute, and Gibbons, a senior midfielder, hit the post in the 70th minute. Colbert put two more attempts toward goal in the 72nd minute. Penn's best late chance came in the 85th minute, when Cook's shot hit the post, and Kerrigan denied Cook again in the 87th minute. Cornell earned back-to-back corners in the final four minutes, but attempts from Gibbons and junior defender
Amanda Polyniak went off target.
Penn finished with a 16-10 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal, while Cornell held a 10-3 lead in corners. Kerrigan made five saves and Hensley made three.
"Second halves have been a problem for us in Ivy play," Ferguson said. "We've either been winning or tied at halftime in every game, so we have to solve that."
The Big Red has yet to trail heading into halftime this season and is 3-1-1 when leading at the break.
Cornell plays its final regular-season road game Saturday, Oct. 31, at Brown. Kickoff from Stevenson-Pincince Field in Providence, R.I., is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and the match will stream live on ESPN+.
