Cornell’s field hockey team (8-8, 3-3 Ivy) wraps up its 2000 campaign on Sunday at noon with a matchup against the Big Green of Dartmouth (9-7, 3-3 Ivy). Despite the Red’s elimination from the Ivy League title chase at the hands of national power Princeton on Tuesday, Cornell still has plenty to play for in this weekend’s contest.
For starters, a win this weekend assures the Red of at least a share of a third-place finish in the Ancient Eight standings; if Harvard loses to Columbia this weekend, a win gives Cornell sole possession of the number three spot.
“Third place is a very respectable position. I think being behind Harvard (5-1 Ivy) and Princeton (6-0 Ivy) is great. I think we’ll feel good about that,” head coach Michelle Tambroni commented.
Beating the Big Green also means that the Red finish the year above .500 for the first time in three years, both overall and within the league.
And last, but certainly not least, Sunday marks Senior Day for Cornell, where the Red thanks its seniors for their four years of dedication to the program.
“The seniors will be very, very emotional. Every Senior Day is a very emotional moment for the seniors,” Tambroni said. “They put four years on the line for this program, they made a lot of sacrifices and put forth a lot of commitment, and this is it. Their last 70 minutes to compete, representing Cornell for the last time in their careers is really emotional.”
All the seniors on the Red roster will be in the starting lineup for the game – except one. Goalkeeper Maureen Sullivan has been sidelined with an injury for the past few games and will have to watch freshman Kaitlin Tierney guard the Cornell cage.
“I know she’s very upset about this, and it’s really affected her emotionally. However, she’s very supportive of Kaitlin. She’s really held her head high and maintained a very positive attitude about the whole thing,” Tambroni noted.
In terms of ability, Dartmouth matches up very evenly with the Red, although Tambroni’s troops will have to adjust to competing against a team that normally plays on grass and runs a different system.
“I think player for player, we’re going to be pretty even, it’s going to be a very, very even match. However, I think they play a different style of game, they hit a very big hitting game, which we need to really adjust to that style, because we’re not a big hitting team,” she commented.
However, the most important thing, Tambroni added, is “to send off [the seniors] with their last memory on the field as a win.”
Archived article by Alex Fineman