The season is still young for the women’s soccer team.
The Red is off to a shaky 1-6 start, and is on a four game losing skid as it goes into its third Ivy League contest Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Yale (5-3-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy). On the brighter side, Cornell is an even 1-1 in the Ivies, and five of its six losses have been by one goal in games that could have gone either way. Meanwhile, the team consistently has improved its play in its successive games.
Cornell suffered an unfortunate setback in Wednesday’s loss to Colgate, though. The Red went into halftime ahead 1-0 after controlling the first 45 minutes of the game. The women then allowed two consecutive Raider goals in the opening twelve minutes of the second half. The inconsistent play concerned the young team’s coach.
“We played badly in this last game,” coach Berhane Andeberhan said. “We almost came back. But if we had won I still would have been disappointed anyway.
“I am patient in terms of the results [of the young team], but I do not want to be patient in terms of the way we played. We did not play an intelligent, consistent game.”
Yesterday, Andeberhan called a team meeting to discuss the season and especially the Colgate game.
“We’ve been a little frustrated because we feel that we’ve been playing well, but we have not won many games,” junior forward Erica Olson said.
Senior midfielder Sarah Natchez agreed.
“I think that we’ve done really well. We did have a few heartbreakers. We just need to refocus,” she said.
Nonetheless, the Red scoring is beginning to wake up. Cornell has increased its goals and scoring chances in its last two games. Most notably, freshman forward Emily Knight notched her first collegiate goal.
“It was very exciting,” Knight exclaimed about her goal. “We’ve been having a lot of trouble finding the forwards, but in the last three games we’ve been getting more shots off.”
Senior goalie Meghan Cauzillo has also been a mainstay for the Red this season.
“She has kept us in games and bailed us out many times,” Andeberhan commented.
Despite all its troubles, the soccer team has endured and it is optimistic as it prepares to face the Elis. From the start of the season the team has aimed to be at the top of the Ivy League. Saturday the team will have a good chance to claim a position high within its conference standings.
“The Ivy League is what we are shooting for this season,” Olson said. “We are still going into the game thinking that we are the better team.”
The exhausted Red hopes to stick to its gameplan in Saturday’s contest. Although the women are battling a demanding schedule, they are striving to walk onto Berman Field tomorrow with a rejuvenated, aggressive gameplan and a positive outlook.
“We had a pretty good practice [yesterday]” Andeberhan said. “The team was working very hard and looked sharp and crisp.”
Natchez summed up the team’s thoughts best though.
“We want to win.”
Archived article by Amanda Angel