Field Hockey Seeks Revenge

Revenge is the name of the game this weekend for the field hockey team. After suffering defeats to both Yale and Holy Cross last season, the Red (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) will look for retribution tonight on Yale’s home turf before facing Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon.
Although Yale’s (1-4, 0-1 Ivy) record seems harmless, it is not entirely indicative of its level of play as the Bulldogs have lost three of their four games to nationally ranked teams. Head coach Donna Hornibrook agreed with this assessment, noting Yale’s depth.
“I think Yale is a pretty well-balanced team,” Hornibrook said. “We’ve had competitive, tight games with them the last three years, so we expect it’s going to be a pretty competitive game. But we’re trying to focus on playing our game. We spent time looking at how they set up defensively. And we worked on breaking that down a little bit. We worked this week on creating scoring chances for ourselves. It’s definitely a focus of ours and to work on finishing a little bit. We have to make sure the ball is on the cage. We need to get [the ball] in the circle and take advantage of it.”
The Bulldogs are led offensively by sophomore forward Ashley McCauley, who enters this weekend with four goals and one assist for a team-best nine points.
Cornell holds a slim 15-13-1 all-time record over Yale in head-to-head match-ups, but Yale won last season’s contest, 4-2, at Schoellkopf Field.
“We’re really focused and prepared,” said junior co-captain Katie Bradshaw. “The coaches did a great job all week preparing for Yale. We’ll look at some film tonight, but this was a good week of practice and we’re looking forward to the game.”
On Sunday, Cornell remains in New England and will take on the Holy Cross Crusaders (2-5) in Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross has won five of the last seven contests played between the two squads.
The Crusaders have struggled thus far in the season, but sport a balanced scoring attack with six players each netting a pair of goals this year.
“They generally have a pretty good attack,” Hornibrook said. “They’re certainly one of the top-4 teams in their [Patriot] league. They have consistently been in the playoffs year in and year out, so I looked at their schedule and they definitely have played the tough teams. Their record doesn’t reflect the quality of their team because the level of competition they’ve played. I think they’ll be a very good team. I think they’ll be a competitive team.”
Crusader’s goalie, Erin Singleton, must be prepared Sunday as the Red is looking to rebound from last week’s shutout at the hands of Rutgers, snapping an 11-game scoring streak.
As coaches and players explained, one game’s performance — whether good or bad — should not carry over into the next. However, Cornell will be hard pressed to forget last weekend’s frustrating overtime losses to Penn and Rutgers, respectively. The Red will therefore be playing with a little extra motivation and determination this weekend.
“The intensity has definitely been good at practice,” said junior goalkeeper Shannon Prescott. “We are just focusing on the way we play and we will definitely come out with motivation this weekend. We weren’t happy about last weekend, but if we play the way we know how to, we should win.”