September 9, 2005

Red Opens Ivy Schedule

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After splitting last weekend’s doubleheader, Cornell’s field hockey team will take to the fields once again in an attempt to improve their 1-1 record on the season. The women are set to host Ivy League rival Columbia tomorrow, followed by St. Francis on Sunday.

This weekend will also give the Red another chance to showcase the team’s largest recruiting class in history. Again, freshmen will find themselves recording major time on the field. Integrating the freshmen into an already experienced team proves to be one of the challenges facing the women.

“We need to calm down and not play like freshmen,” said sophomore Lizzie Goldblatt. “We have a young team, and we need to play to our potential.”

Last Friday, the women pulled out a 5-2 win on the road against Lehigh in their first game of the season. Cornell recorded four unanswered goals in the second half to beat the Hawks by three. The rookies stole the show with freshman Brenna Gulotta tallying a goal and two assists and classmate Mandy Malzberg recording two goals. For her performance, Gulotta was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

“Overall, we had a good performance with little lapses in discipline,” said head coach Donna Hornibrook. “We need to do a better job taking care of the ball.”

On Sunday, the Red took on its second opponent of the season, Lafayette, finishing with a tough 2-1 loss on the road. While freshman Belen Martinez recorded her first career goal with assists from senior co-captains Blair Corcoran and Natalie Serle, the women could not catch up with the Leopards in the second half.

The game proved to be a defensive battle all-around, with Goldblatt making six saves. Despite out-shooting Lafayette 16-6 on the day, the Red found itself unable to close the gap in scoring.

“The second game was a tight game,” Hornibrook said. “The second goal should not have been called a stroke and created a urgency that shouldn’t have been there. We created opportunities but did not finish them.”

Tomorrow, the women will try to correct their mistakes from this past weekend and fine-tune their defense to stop long runs and take field space away from the other team.

Columbia also comes into tomorrow’s with a 1-1 record after a 3-2 victory over Monmouth and a 2-1 loss against Maine last weekend. On their side, the Lions have Ivy League Player of the Week, senior Diana Day. Last weekend, Day scored two goals, including the game-winner against Monmouth. This gave Columbia its first season-opening win in the past six years.

Boasting a relatively new coaching staff, with head coach Katie Beach in her second year, the Lions are already off to a strong start.

“Columbia is a good team, and they play a similar game to us,” Goldblatt said. “They’re small, and they’re fast.”

Coming off losses against Bellarmine and Colgate, St. Francis is still looking for its first win of the season. The Red Flash narrowly lost to Bellarmine 3-2 but was shutout on the road against Bucknell this past Tuesday.

After a good opening performance and a chance to get the jitters out, the Red returns to the field for its Ivy League and home opener this Saturday against Columbia at 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.

Archived article by ristina Kovach
Sun Staff Writer