The women’s soccer team ended its 2001 season with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Columbia on Saturday. The loss left the Red with a 4-8-3 overall record (1-5-1 Ivy), while the Lions end their campaign at 10-6-1 (2-4-1 Ivy).
After a quiet first half characterized by a battle for possession at midfield, the Lions struck early in the second half with the game’s first and only goal.
At the 53:44 mark, Columbia’s Gwyneth Lederman sent a ball into the box, which Tara Davis then fed to forward Erica Woda. The sophomore finished the play by sending the ball past Cornell goalkeeper Katie Thomas into the right side of the net. It was Woda’s first goal of the season.
As the Lions dropped back in the game’s final minutes, protecting their one goal lead, the Red went on the offensive but couldn’t convert on a number of chances.
Columbia goalkeeper Janine Lerardi tallied two saves in her fifth shutout of the year and the team’s sixth. Thomas made three saves for Cornell.
Columbia outshot the lady booters 13-11 and held the advantage in corner kicks 4-1.
Such lopsided offensive stats had been a struggling point for a young Cornell squad all year, and Saturday’s game proved no different. Game in and game out the Red struggled to get its offensive attack in rhythm. However, on the season, the Red was only outscored 19-15 in total goals.
While the outstanding play of first a year goalkeeper Thomas, who was twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, got most of the credit for Cornell’s defensive resiliency, the backfield played just as large a role.
Two of the Red’s most solid backers, Ellen Daly and Julie DeMichele, were part of the group of seniors playing their last game in a Cornell uniform Saturday.
The outgoing class also included midfielders Kim Feeney and Andrea Madison, and forward Erica Olson.
It was an emotional day to cap an emotional season, full of the wonderful ups and downs that characterize any group trying to come to its own to produce a better future for itself.
After what many may consider a disappointing “re-building” year, the Red now seems to have put the pieces together to make another run at a title.
Archived article by Scott Jones