A battered and bruised Cornell women’s soccer team was handed its second Ivy league loss on Saturday by Harvard, who remained undefeated in league play. The Crimson scored two early goals and added another in the second half to complete the 3-0 victory.
Junior Beth Totman scored Harvard’s opening goal just 7:53 into the first half when a corner kick was sent into the Red box and Cornell was unable to clear it.
A mere two minutes later, fellow junior Orly Ripmaster took a pass from sophomore Katie Westfall and put it into the back of the net, giving Harvard a 2-0 lead.
Cornell has been plagued by injuries of late throughout its line-up and found it hard to recover after falling behind so quickly.
“We couldn’t have any lapses against a team that good,” said head coach Berhane Andeberhan, “and the two early mistakes on the backline killed us.”
The Red seemed to recover momentum in the second half, looking fresh out of the locker room but the tide would soon change in Harvard’s favor.
In the 48th minute, the Crimson put the finishing touches on its sixth straight win, and fifth shutout overall. Freshman standout Liza Barker scored the game’s final goal when she headed a Ripmaster cross past a diving Katie Thomas.
The victory upped Harvard’s season mark to 7-1 (3-0 league) and left the Red at 2-5-2 (1-2).
Harvard has allowed just one goal in its last six games and has played well enough to earn a national ranking at #11 in the most recent pole.
Cornell, a young team which has constantly had to deal with injuries all over the field, now remains stuck in a six game winless streak.
However, Coach Andeberhan along with his players remains markedly optimistic.
“We are working very hard,” he said, “and there is no doubt that we will be rewarded for that effort at some point.”
The Red’s next opportunity to break out of its recent troubles comes next Saturday when they will host Brown at 1 pm.
Archived article by Scott Jones