For the second time in three years, the field hockey team finished second amongst Ivy League competition with a road victory against Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon.
Princeton’s (13-14, 6-1 Ivy), 3-1, victory over Penn (8-9, 4-3) Friday night eliminated any hope the Red (10-7, 5-2) had to move into first place with Tigers, but second place was still in doubt as Cornell took the field on Saturday. If the had Red lost, Columbia (13-8, 5-2) would have retained sole possession of second place as a result of its 2-1 victory over Harvard on Friday night.
After a scoreless first half of play, the Red emerged from the locker room and put the first goal on the scoreboard at 44:09. Freshman attacker Catie De Stio stole the ball and fended off Dartmouth defenders the entire length of the field before passing it ahead to junior attacker Brenna Gulotta, who gave the Red a 1-0 advantage.
“Catie dribbled the ball up the field and I sprinted up with her,” Gulotta said. “She passed me the ball and I just hit it in the other side of the net.”
Gulotta’s contribution did not end there. With a little under five minutes left in regulation, Gulotta swiped an errant Dartmouth pass and pushed it ahead to junior attacker Mandy Malzberg, who provided some insurance for the Red by scoring her second goal of the season.
“I basically picked up the ball around the 40-yard line and I just dribbled the length of the field,” Gulotta said. “I beat one or two girls and I passed the ball through to Mandy, who took the ball around the goalie.”
Dartmouth maintained an advantage in shots and penalty corners, leading the Red 15-9 and 8-3, respectively. However, whatever statistical advantage Dartmouth had on paper, Cornell took advantage of its opporunities in transition.
“I thought the defense to the forwards to the midfield and to the backs were very good, especially the forwards,” said senior co-captain Katie Bradshaw said. “They played really good defense. Most of our goals were the result of counterattack opportunities. It was just a really great way to end our season with a win at Dartmouth. Even though we didn’t come away with the title we still feel really good about our season’s performance in the Ivy League. We’re really proud of the fact that we were never beaten in regulation in the Ivy League. We know we were right there for the title. Next year should be a really good opportunity to go for the Ivy League championship again.”
Junior goalie Shannon Prescott made two saves for Cornell while Dartmouth goalkeeper Ashley Heist blocked four shots. Prescott recorded her second shutout of the season on Saturday.
Although the Red share the same record as its Ancient Eight rival Columbia Lions, the Red won the head-to-head match up, 2-1, in overtime at Schoellkopf Field on Sept. 8.