In an exciting evening of Cornell women’s field hockey, the Red defeated Lafayette by a score of 6-4 last night at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell improves its record to 7-5 while the Leopards drop to 6-8.
Leading the way was sophomore standout Anna Starkey who tied the school record for goals in a single game with four, three of which came in the first half. Also representing the sophomore class was Annie O’Rourke in her first collegiate start who beat the Lafayette keeper, Amy Cohen, for her first career goal.
Head Coach Michelle Tambroni praised the two classmates.
“I think a couple of key players tonight were Anna Starkey, obviously, she got a lot of points,” she said, adding, “A lot of credit [also] goes to Annie O’Rourke. [This is the] first game she started, the first game she really has gotten in. She did a great job; she got an assist and a goal tonight. I’m really proud of her.”
The Red came out ready to play and got off to a quick start early in the first half. It was the sophomore connection just six minutes into the game when Starkey scored off of an assist from O’Rourke after a great passing sequence that started in the back.
Then just three minutes later it was Starkey who once again beat Cohen, this time off a penalty corner with assists from junior Ashleigh Snelson and sophomore Sarah Nordstrom.
In a half that could have been renamed the “Starkey hour,” the forward once again scored, this time just 11:45 into play.
After letting through three quick goals, the Leopards regrouped and increased their offensive attacks. After senior goalkeeper Maureen Sullivan had deterred all of Lafayette’s attacks, it was freshman Jennifer Stone who was able to beat the Red with 19 minutes remaining in the half.
It was sophomore Megan Monahan, the Leopard’s leading scorer, who notched the second Lafayette goal, shooting just above Sullivan’s glove with 7:08 remaining in the half to bring the score to 3-2.
At intermission the Red made some lineup changes to increase its defensive prowess. Senior co-captain Amy Galebach was moved to center-midfield while fellow senior co-captain Kate McMahon moved back to the sweeper position.
The two captains proved Tambroni’s switches to be smart ones, as they combined to give the Red a two-goal lead just five minutes into the second-half. McMahon found the back of the net off a penalty corner with the assists being rewarded to Galebach and Starkey.
Continuing to strengthen the Cornell lead, O’Rourke scored her first career goal off a pass from Galebach about six minutes later.
Refusing to be dismissed, however, Lafayette once again fought back with freshman Melissa Hohn beating Sullivan and then Monahan, for her second goal of the night, putting the ball freshman Kaitlin Tierney, who was seeing her first career minutes.
However, Lafayette was never able to gain the lead, and Starkey put a cap on the night, scoring her final goal with just three minutes left to bring the score to 6-4.
Heading into Brown this weekend for a big Ivy League face-off, the team was excited about the win, and will look to build on last night’s momentum.
“It was a great win,” commented Galebach. “It was the highest scoring game we have had yet this season, so we are really excited about that. And going into Brown, it’s a great way to set up the rest of the season.”
Archived article by Kristen Haunss