In its final home game of the season the field hockey team honored its two seniors, Lizzie Goldblatt and co-captain Katie Bradshaw, and the two players returned the favor by giving head coach Donna Hornibrook her 200th win.
This weekend the Red played its final two home games of the season against Lock Haven and Siena. The Red started the weekend off with a 3-1 loss to a strong Lock Haven squad but it was able to bounce back Sunday with a 4-2 win over Siena.
Coming off a Northeast Conference title clinching 7-1 win over St. Francis, the Lock Haven Lady Eagles came into Ithaca soaring with a 14-5 overall record.
Despite outshooting Lock Haven 7-5, the Red was never able to get back into the game after Lock Haven took a 3-0 lead in the second half. Junior Abbi Horn scored the only goal for the Red late in the game but Lock Haven’s defense proved too strong for the Red to overcome.
The team, however, did not let that hold them back when it faced Siena the following day. The Red had a dominating performance as it outshot Siena 25-7 and held a 10-2 advantage in penalty corners.
Junior co-captain Belen Martinez scored the first goal for the Red with Horn and sophomore Natalie Appelton both credited with the assist.
Siena’s Andrea Caso was able to get a rebounded shot past senior goalie Lizzie Goldblatt to tie the game at 1-1.
Horn, however, did not wait much longer to score the Red’s second goal of the game and take the lead back after getting a feed from junior Brenna Gullota.
Freshman Catie De Stio gave the Red a 3-1 lead after scoring a goal off Martinez’s assist right before the end of the first half.
Siena’s Anne Linley was able to push her team within one but Horn quickly put an end to any hopes of a Siena comeback with the Red’s final goal of the game.
“I want to do everything I can to bring this team a step forward,” Martinez said. “We are very deep and have a lot of talent.”
That depth and talent propelled the Red to a 9-7 (4-2 Ivy) record with its final game coming up against Ivy rival Dartmouth.
The Red’s 9-7 record has guaranteed it an above .500 record this season and an improvement over its 7-9 overall record last year.
The Red has the opportunity to improve upon last season’s 4-3 Ivy record with a win over Dartmouth next week as well.
“Our goal is to win the Ivy League,” Martinez said. “We want to finish better than last season but we have to take it one game at a time.”
That one game is going to determine the Ivy League title this season with Princeton currently in the top spot at 5-1 and Cornell, Harvard, and Penn all tied at 4-2. Princeton plays Penn and Harvard plays Columbia next Friday while Cornell plays Dartmouth the following day.
A Princeton loss will give the Red an opportunity next Saturday to play for a share of the Ivy League title.