By OLIVIA MATTYASOVSZKY
Though it may not have happened on Schoellkopf, the Red did manage to trounce the Yale Bulldogs once this weekend. On Marsha Dodson field, the Cornell field hockey team crushed its Ivy League opposition, 4-0. This placed the squad in the top seat in the Ivy League and continued its undefeated streak in the conference.
Early on, junior captain Taylor Standiford and senior co-captain Ann DiPastina worked together to set up freshman midfielder Sam McIlwrick for a shot off a penalty corner. McIlwrick’s shot was good, and the Red went up 1-0 within five minutes of the starting whistle.
Cornell was relentless on attack throughout the whole game. Junior defensive back Marisa Siergiej had an impressive seven shots, tallying one assist and one goal. McIlwrick continued to build her momentum with four shots on goal. Four more shots, and the second goal of the game, came from forward Krysten Mayers, and junior forward Katie Garrity came through on her one shot to score the fourth goal for the Red. On the defensive end, junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Schaeffler had her first shut-out of the season with one stop.
“In preparation for the game we worked on our corners a lot and put some set plays in, Standiford said. “We executed them well because we scored three of our goals off of corners.”
The preparation paid off, and Cornell improved its record to 8-1 after the game.
“It feels great [to be on top of the Ivy League],” Garrity said. “It takes a lot of effort to be on top but it’s a really open conference this year and I think it could be our year.”
Less than 24 hours after flattening Yale, the Red took on American University at home. It was a meeting of two conference leaders, Cornell at the top of the eight-school Ivy League, and American leading the Patriot conference this year, as well as its returning champions from the 2013 season. In contrast to the Red, the Eagles hadn’t played a game in over a week but the opponent came out fast.
The Red’s defense staved off the Eagles’ offensive line and came out even harder on the other end, racking up eleven shots. Twenty-two minutes in, the Eagles offense converted and scored the only goal of the game. The Red’s offense was balanced, with Marisa Siergiej shooting four times, Krysten Mayers shooting three times, McIlwrick shototing twice and Georgia Lord shooting once.
The most exciting moment of the game came with 12 minutes to go in the second half when Standiford powered the ball in from just outside the circle. After being deflected, the ball hit the back of the cage, but the officials negated the goal, saying there had been no deflection.
Junior defensive back Marisa Siergiej had a strong showing in the Yale game with seven shots, recording one assist and one goal. (MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER).