Two late goals from Bucknell were enough to give the Cornell women’s soccer team its first loss of the year last night in Lewisburg, Penn.
Cornell (6-1, 1-0 Ivy) controlled much of the game, but Bucknell managed to score when it needed to, earning a 3-2 win.
“I don’t think we played our best, but we played well,” said Cornell head coach Berhane Andeberhan. “We had a lot more scoring chances, but we didn’t quite finish them.”
Cornell out-shot the Bisons, 19-7, but Bucknell goalie Katie Dye made 10 saves to help boost her team (6-4, 0-0 Patriot) to the win.
The Red opened the scoring last night, when sophomore Molly Easterlin netted a goal in the ninth minute. It was her third goal of the year.
“We had a great segment in the first half,” Andeberhan said. “[On the score], the ball went from our backfield from the middle, and then to Molly – It was a beautiful goal.”
Bucknell’s Jennifer Margolis would tie the game in the 18th minute. But, Cornell would soon answer, as junior Caitlin Oliver tallied her third goal of the year. Oliver’s classmate Whitney Hughes was credited with the assist.
“It looked like a [Bucknell] defender got to the ball, and the goalkeeper came out,” Andeberhan said. “Caitlin got right in between of them, and scored. The goal came from a really good play. We thought it was well-defended.”
Cornell would take a 2-1 lead into halftime, but there would be no more scoring until late in the second half. The Red managed to create a number of offensive chances in the period, yet, the team could not find the back of the net.
After managing to get possession, Bucknell would tie the game in the 82nd minute, when Nicola Marotta scored after a free kick.
The game-winner would come in the 88th minute. Bucknell had the ball in Cornell territory, and the Bison tried several times to challenge Cornell freshman Taylor Hendren with shots coming from outside the box. The Red defenders were at first able to stop Bucknell, until Jennifer Dervacis managed to take the ball out from a crowd of players. Her first shot was deflected, but she managed to get the rebound, and give Bucknell the win.
“[The final scorel] happened with a lot confusion in front of the goal,” Andeberhan said. “We must have blocked six or seven attempts [at the net]. We were defending well, but [Dervacis] put it away.”
Cornell will return to Ivy League play on Saturday, when the Red takes on Penn in Philadelphia. The Quakers are 4-1-2, and played Harvard to a 0-0 tie last Saturday.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer