WEST POINT, N.Y. — For 88 minutes, the Cornell women's soccer team (2-3-2) looked headed for something the program had never done — a third straight scoreless draw. Then Sophia Henry buried a loose ball in the penalty area with 1:25 left, breaking the Big Red's 292-minute, 15-second shutout streak and dealing the visitors a hard-luck 1-0 loss Thursday night at Malek Stadium at Clinton Field.
Army (3-6-0), which snapped its four-match losing streak, netted the go-ahead marker when Henry collected a loose ball in the penalty area and put it into the net with just 85 seconds remaining in regulation. The goal, confirmed following a video-assisted review, was initiated when Maddi Woodward lofted a ball into the penalty area from between the edge of the center circle and the center line. A Cornell defender was unable to control the ball before it hit Makaela Morrell's heel and went right to Henry for the eventual game-winner.
"It's a massively difficult result to take," Cornell head coach
Rob Ferguson said. "I do not think we would have been satisfied with a tie based on how the game played out, so to lose the game in the fashion we did so late is tough for the group to take, but we have no choice — we will take it on the chin and move forward. There were a lot of positives to take from today and it is important we lean into those while dialing in on improving in the final piece when we are in the final third."
Cornell created the stronger second-half attack, finishing with advantages of an 11-6 edge in shot attempts and 5-2 edge in shots on goal over the final 45 minutes of play. The Big Red also concluded the match with advantages in both shot attempts, 15-11, and shots on goal, 6-4.
Army goalkeeper Karalyn Dail made five of her six saves on the night during the Big Red's second-half surge, earning her second clean sheet of the season. Dail stopped sophomore defender
Raya Leikin in the 52nd minute before denying senior forward
Brooke Brown and sophomore midfielder
Andrea Wilson 19 seconds apart during a dangerous stretch by Cornell in the 63rd minute. She later saved attempts from senior forward
Alanna Colbert (72nd minute) and Wilson (76th minute) to preserve the scoreless tie.
"In the second half, our attacking mindset was terrific," Ferguson said. "We won the battle in the midfield, where I thought AJ [
Ava Jung], Andrea and Gibbo [
Emily Gibbons] really took the game by the scruff of the neck, and wrestled control of the field and really didn't give it up much throughout the half. I thought Alanna, Brooke and Sofía [Menéndez] were excellent in open play in the second half, and their energy and quality in the buildup were key to creating as much as we did. We possessed the ball well, we added passes with composure and created threatening opportunities the way we want to. We didn't find the finishing touch when and where we needed it and that is an area we need to keep working to improve."
Colbert led Cornell with six shot attempts, two of which were on goal, while Wilson put both of her attempts on target. Senior midfielder
Emily Gibbons added three shot attempts, and Brown and Leikin each had one shot on goal. Freshman goalkeeper
Sofia Kerrigan made three saves, stopping Henry and Lily Marquez in the first half before turning away an attempt from Ragon Francy in the 70th minute.
Army held a 5-4 edge in first-half shot attempts and finished the contest with a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks, but Cornell dictated more of the play after the halftime break before Henry's late breakthrough.
"We played well today, especially in the second half when we really took control and dominated the ball and the battle," Ferguson said. "The first half had some momentum shifts. We defended well when we needed to and we looked threatening in certain phases as well."
Thursday marked the programs' first meeting since 2004 as the Black Knights evened the all-time series at 5-5-0 and have won four of the past five meetings. Cornell was held without a goal for the third consecutive match, extending its scoreless stretch to 348 minutes, 1 second.
The Big Red will conclude their four-match road swing on Sunday, Sept. 13, when it travels to Vestal, N.Y., to face Binghamton (4-1-2). Kickoff from the Bearcats Sports Complex is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, and match action will be streamed live on ESPN+ and regionally on MSG.
