Penn has played like one of the best teams in the Ivy League this year — a fact the Cornell women’s soccer team (4-3-2, 1-1 Ivy) learned first hand Saturday at Berman Field.
The Quakers (4-4-1, 2-0 Ivy) scored two early goals and held off Cornell’s offense on their way to a 3-0 victory. 2002 Ivy League Player of the Year Katy Cross earned her fifth goal of the season in the 14th minute, scoring off a rebound. Six minutes later, senior forward Rachelle Snyder found the net after a pass from junior Carolyn Cross.
“You have give to credit to Penn and Katy Cross. She’s a great forward,” said head coach Berhane Andeberhan. “I think Penn, at this stage, is one of the top two teams in our league.” Penn defeated Harvard last week in Philadelphia, 1-0, and Cross is arguably the best forward in the conference.
The academic side of college life took its toll Saturday, as both senior defender Natalie Dew and senior goalkeeper Katie Thomas missed the game due to the LSAT exam.
“Even though everybody else played well, you lose continuity [with the absences],”
Andeberhan said. “Natalie has been our leader on defense. Both our goalkeepers have played well this year, but Katie is our senior goalkeeper, and she gives us a little more stability.”
Sophomore Katrina Matlin had four saves on the day. She had an excellent diving save with two minutes remaining in the first half, and another good stop in the early part of the second half.
Despite the loss, Andeberhan said he was happy with his team not giving up on the game, despite being down 3-0. No team had scored more than two goals against Cornell this year.
“We never really let up, we kept playing,” Andeberhan said. “I’m very pleased with them hanging in there and battling. I am not at all discouraged or displeased. I know we’re young, and I have to give credit to the opponent.”
Andeberhan noted that, despite Penn’s three goals, it was hardly a dominant performance by one of the Ivy League’s best teams. After Snyder’s goal, the match was generally even, with neither team creating much of an offensive push.
“In past years, a team that strong would have been far ahead of us,” he said. “It’s a fundamental change. A lot of wonderful ingredients are there, we just need to keep improving.”
Cornell will look to rebound next week against Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. The Red tied the Crimson 1-1 last year.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer