In a game filled with dramatic shifts in momentum, No. 12 Cornell capitalized on its opportunities en route to a 17-8 victory over Brown in Providence, R.I., this past Saturday.
The Red scored on 68 percent of its shots on goal and used a 9-0 run spanning parts of the first and second halves to pull away from the Bears (4-7, 1-2 Ivy). In earning the win, Cornell (8-2, 4-1 Ivy) recorded season-highs in both number of goals (17) and number of players scoring a goal (10).
The game started off slowly as neither team could find the back of the net until senior tri-captain Allison Schindler put Cornell on the board with her first goal of the game from a feed by sophomore Courtney Farrell. Brown responded shortly thereafter as Kate Staley’s free-position goal knotted the score at one. The two squads traded tallies, bringing the score to 2-2, 17:33 into the game.
“We started off a bit slow on both ends, a little bit sloppy -the grass always does that to us,” said assistant coach Laurie Tortorelli.
Cornell eventually found its rhythm, adjusting to the field conditions and physical play. The Red erupted for six goals to close out the half as junior Lindsey Moore started the run with an unassisted tally with 11:22 to go in the half. The Red would score on goals by juniors Allison McKeown and Margaux Viola and two by sophomore Katherine Simmons before freshman Jessica Wiegand’s free position goal as time expired sent Cornell into the locker room with a 8-2 halftime lead.
The Red carried its momentum through the break and picked up right where it left off as sophomore Noelle Dowd scored off of an assist by Wiegand just eight seconds in. Simmons recorded her third score of the game and 21st of the season 35 seconds later. Dowd’s second goal of the game concluded the scoring run and extended the Red’s lead to 11-2.
Over the subsequent six minutes, Brown went on a 4-0 run to narrow Cornell’s lead to 11-6. That would be as close as the Bears would get as the Red responded with a 4-0 run of its own.
After two goals by Brown brought the score to 15-8, Schindler capped off the scoring on the day with two free-position goals in the final two minutes of the game.
Senior goaltender Maggie Fava finished with six saves on the day and sophomore Amanda Linnertz finished with a game-high five draw controls. According to Tortorelli, the play of both players was significant in helping shift the momentum to Cornell’s favor throughout the game.