The women’s soccer team is coping with some major growing pains. With a combined eleven underclassmen, the Red has weathered a stormy first half.
Even more frustrating is that the booters have about as much luck as Dan Quayle does in a first-grade spelling test.
On Saturday evening the women dropped to a dismal 2-10 (1-3, Ivy), suffering their second straight overtime defeat, this time coming courtesy of the Stony Brook’s Seawolves. With the win, the hosts improve its mark to 7-7-1.
“It was a tough weekend for us,” senior co-captain Sarah Natchez said.
The club has been on the short side of seven one goal games. Last Thursday night it was upended by Syracuse.
The team has shown several flashes of success for the future. Two weeks ago at the Harvard Invitational freshman forward Alicia Doolittle, notched the first hat trick for the Red since 1998. All of the offensive production came from underclassman, with Sophomore Sarah Olsen scoring the game-winner. Emily Knight, in her first year wearing the carnelian and white, added the other goal.
The battle at Stony Brook was a microcosm of the squad’s misfortunes. Entering the second half scoreless, the Seawolves junior Kerri McCabe drilled a shot into the upper right cornering of the net beating Cornell keeper Martha Shaughnessy at 45:54.
Again, showing steady signs of improvement, the Red controlled the tempo of the contest for most of the second stanza. Finally, with under twenty minutes in the game the club’s efforts came to fruition when sophomore Sarah Olsen found the back of the net off a feed from junior Andrea Madison to even the score.
As so many times before on the season, the momentum seemed to be swinging toward Cornell courtesy of its young talented corp.
Yet once again it would not be.
In the extra session the Seawolves didn’t take long to again dash the hopes of the lady booters. Just under three minutes in, Beth Arikian took a 35 yard free kick and launched it past the diving Shaughnessy.
“We really didn’t put it together,” Natchez said.
Nevertheless, the numbers seemed decidedly in the Red’s favor.
Cornell out-shot its host 15-12 and had triple the corner kick opportunities of Stony Brook.
Despite the falling record, the heart of the women remains a testament to their ability to correct first-half blemishes.
Freshman Alicia Doolittle called the loss a “learning experience,” adding that it didn’t stem from “lack of trying.”
One of the most touted rookie’s in the club’s impressive class, she has been a catalyst for the Red’s flashes of fine play.
She believes that the team’s has had a chance to win nearly all of its games and has been victimized by toss up decisions.
Admitting that she didn’t know “what was missing,” Doolittle exemplifies the optimistic spirit of the team, mentioning the women are “still pumped up” before every game.
With better bounces, and continued intensity, the Red should be able to solidify a promising future. For now, however, the efforts turn to Army whom it visits tomorrow.
The booters continue their Ancient Eight campaign when they travel to Rhode Island to face Brown on Saturday.
Archived article by Gary Schueller