ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore defender
Raya Leikin converted two second-half penalty kicks, including the winner in the 50th minute, as the Cornell women's soccer team defeated Lafayette 2-0 Thursday night at Berman Field.
The victory improved the Big Red's record to 2-1-0 after finishing with a 19-7 advantage in shots and putting nine attempts on goal. Lafayette fell to 0-2-2 following the setback.
"Really happy with the result and really happy with the clean sheet," said Cornell women's soccer head coach
Rob Ferguson. "We know the situation we're in with so many injuries — probably close to half our outfield squad, which is challenging and demanding on everybody. The game was a fight. We were playing a physical, feisty team that wasn't backing off anything and we had to match it, and we did. I'm proud of what they put into it, and in large part the performance, especially given the circumstances."
Cornell controlled the attacking play throughout a scoreless first half, outshooting Lafayette 10-3. Senior forward
Alanna Colbert nearly gave the Big Red the lead in the 15th minute when her shot hit the crossbar, and Lafayette goalkeeper Catherine Apker helped keep the match level with a trio of first-half saves. Apker, a native of nearby Homer, N.Y., concluded the night with a season-high seven saves.
The breakthrough arrived in the 50th minute as Lafayette committed a foul inside the 18-yard box. Leikin took the penalty — Cornell's first since Ashley Durik '23 converted from the dot at Niagara on Sept. 1, 2022 — and drove her right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner past Apker.
Freshman goalkeeper
Sofia Kerrigan supplied the decisive defensive moment in the 67th minute, leaping to make a one-handed push save on a header off a free kick from the far elbow of the 18-yard box, lifting the ball just over the crossbar to preserve the Big Red's one-goal lead. Kerrigan finished the night with four saves and secured the first clean sheet of her collegiate career.
"That was one heck of a save from Sofia," Ferguson said. "That's incredible reaction time, an instinctive save in the moment. That save was just world-class and that's what top goalkeepers give you."
Following a Lafayette handball inside the box in the 81st minute, Leikin provided a near-carbon copy penalty attempt to double Cornell's lead and complete her career-high four-point night.
Leikin, who became the first Cornell student-athlete to net multiple penalty-kick goals in a single match, logged Cornell's first brace since forward Laken Gallman '24 scored twice against UAlbany on Oct. 17, 2023. The Mill Valley, Calif., native also became the program's first defender with a brace since Miki Agrawal '01 against Columbia on Sept. 13, 1997.
The pair of converted penalties marked just the second time in program history Cornell netted multiple penalty-kick goals in a match, joining a contest on Oct. 22, 1983, against Yale when Meagan McMahan and Noreen Morris both scored from the dot. Cornell also became the eighth Division I program to net multiple goals off penalties this season, joining Duke, Kentucky, Louisiana, Marshall, Purdue, San Francisco and Toledo.
"I like the grit and the fight tonight," Ferguson said. "This game could've been more comfortable if we'd put some chances away, but we didn't, so we had to dig deep. We've got players logging more minutes than we want right now, and to deliver that level of grit and desire in that situation is really positive. Going forward, I want us to keep taking control of games in that free-flowing attacking way, sustain those spells a little longer and find our way back into them when we're having to defend more."
Cornell will conclude its program-record, season-opening four-match homestand on Sunday when it welcomes Pitt (3-1-1) to Berman Field. Kickoff between the Big Red and Panthers is scheduled for 1 p.m., with match action streamed on ESPN+.
