This weekend was still a rough pair for the Red, as it lost 1-0 to Columbia in its Ivy opener and 2-1 on Sunday to Niagara.

“We need to change our pace of play and the amount of possessions and that we keep going up the field. Mostly just coming out with fury,” said sophomore defender Clara Gallagher. “[Head coach Patrick Farmer] talked to us about being fierce. ‘There will be no survivors’ is our motto. We have to come out with vengeance at the beginning of each half.”

In the game against the Lions on Friday, Cornell junior goalie Tori Christ made three saves in her eighth start of the season, letting only one through. Cornell forced Columbia's Grace Redmon to make four saves for her shutout, including a pair of second-half offerings from freshman Caroline Growney and another shot from senior Maneesha Chitanvis.

Sunday’s game did not result in a positive outcome for the Red, as it lost, 2-1, to Niagara. Junior forward Alysse Godino scored the first goal of her collegiate career, while Christ made six saves; however, the Red was unable to pull it together to grab the win. Niagara snagged the winning goal with 4.3 seconds remaining in the game.

The scoreless first half featured a solid save by Christ in the 15th minute, when she palmed a shot from the Purple Eagles up and over the crossbar.

Cornell threatened several times, with senior midfielder Hannah Labadie heading the ball from about 15 yards, which led to a diving save in the 22nd minute. About 10 minutes later, junior midfielder Rachel Nichols got a shot off a corner kick that was stopped. Niagara broke through for the game’s first goal with 23:40 left. After the Red answered with Godino’s goal, it had a couple of opportunities to take the lead; however, it was still unable to put the pieces together to capitalize on any of them. The winning goal came when Niagara found some space on the left, beat a defender and lofted a pass to the far post to convert into an uncontested header.

“The results we have been getting are upsetting,” Gallagher said. “A lot of the games have been very close and the other team happened to get the better half of everything, but we now have to focus on the Ivy League. We have to focus on each game and getting better and improving.”

Cornell returns to its Ivy League portion of play on Friday against Penn at home.