The Cornell field hockey team will open its season today against Southwest Missouri State during a round-robin tournament that will end on Sunday with a game against national powerhouse Kent State.
After two scrimmages last weekend in which the Red dominated both games, the team is prepared to face its first real competition. “We are all anxious to play,” head coach Michelle Tambroni commented. And play they shall.
The Red will match up well against Southwest Missouri and should come out the victor after the 70 minutes of regulation. Southwest Missouri enters the game with a season record of 1-2 dropping games to Central Michigan and Ohio State with its sole win coming against Appalachian State
“We have never played them before. There is always a fear of the unknown,” commented Tambroni about the Bears.
This is a sentiment shared by her players. Senior Co-Captain Kate McMahon added, “Teams from the Midwest are on the upcoming. It will be interesting to see if their style of play is similar to that of the Ivy League and the East Coast.”
After taking on the Bears, the Red will have just a day to recover when it has to turn around and take on Kent. The Golden Flashes enter the game with a record of 1-3 after dropping games to Boston College, New Hampshire and Penn State with their only victory over Maine.
“It will be a very challenging game,” Tambroni acknowledged. “We lost last year 4-2, but having a member of our staff from Kent adds a bit more competitiveness towards the game.” New assistant coach Lisa Kadien is a former Kent player.
This will certainly be a competitive game for the Red because Kent knows how to win and has the history to prove it. Coming off of last year’s NCAA tournament berth, the Bears hold the upper hand having beaten the Red in their previous three meetings. The Red however, is up for the challenge. Tambroni cites the need to slow down Kent’s overall game speed and believes Cornell must determine the flow of the game.
This weekend will be very telling for the Red. “If we come back 2-0, we are off to a great start,” commented Tambroni.
The Red will hope to carry this enthusiasm into next week’s games as it travels to Columbia next Saturday and then finish its road trip at Colgate on the 20th. The team’s first home game will be against Ivy League foe, the University of Pennsylvania on September 24 at 1 p.m.
Archived article by Kristen Haunss