Freshmen led the attack for the Big Red field hockey team (8-6, 3-2 Ivy), but two goals weren’t enough as Cornell fell to Albany (9-8) 4-2 on the road this weekend.
The momentum started on Albany’s side as the Danes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the beginning of the first half. Cornell answered with one goal at the 27:07 mark as freshman forward Carissa Mirasol found the net. Five minutes later, however, one of Albany’s leading scorers tallied a goal to put her team ahead by two points.
In the last ten minutes of the match, Albany scored again and Cornell answered as freshman forward Lindsay Grace shot the penalty corner goal.
Sophomore forward Anna Starkey and classmate Sarah Nordstrom both had assists in the game.
Although the Red doubled Albany’s seven shots with fourteen, the Danes doubled the Red’s goals. A defensive breakdown and a lack of execution may explain the point differential in this match.
“I think we had a lot of hardships in the game. We didn’t play up to our potential and we made a lot of mental errors. We outplayed them, outshot them and were the better team in the contest, but we came up short when they entered our circle. That’s where the loss was,” head coach Michelle Tambroni said.
As the Red headed into the second half, it picked up some momentum and by the end of the game, Cornell was playing with determination. Tambroni was pleased with the team’s performance in the latter half and wished that the game could have lasted longer.
“Albany came out hard in the first half and they did a good job against us. In the second half, we came out hard against them. I think if we had a couple more minutes in the game, we would have come out with a win, but we just couldn’t finish,” Tambroni noted. “In the last fifteen minutes, we were really trying to get that ball in the net and there was a lot of heart on the field. I wish we had played that way in the first half.”
Plagued with injury in the late games of the season, the Red suffered in this match as senior goalkeeper Maureen “Mo” Sullivan was sidelined with a concussion. To fill her place, freshman Kaitlin Teirney stepped in.
“Kaitlin didn’t play her best game, but she was mentally ready and it was good experience for her because she will be our starter next year. I’m proud of her because she was ready to go and she was mentally prepared,” Tambroni said of her goalkeeper’s performance.
After this difficult loss, the Red is ready to bounce back against another Ivy League opponent on Tuesday as it faces sixth-ranked Princeton. Although this loss was unexpected, Cornell has an important task ahead.
“We have to shake this loss off. The players have 24 hours to absorb the loss, the reasons for the loss and to think about what they need to improve in their game in order to be successful in the next contest. Princeton is going to be tough, but we want the win,” Tambroni commented.
Archived article by Kelli Larsen