September 11, 2001

F. Hockey Trounces Albany

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According to head coach Michelle Tambroni, “This was a revenge game.” With last year’s bitter 4-2 road loss still fresh in the minds of many upperclassmen, the Cornell field hockey team exploded for six goals yesterday at Schoellkopf Field to defeat Albany 6-1 in the 2001 home opener and improve its record to 2-1. The Red was paced by junior Sarah Rosenbaum, who led the way with a hat trick and an assist.

The young team wasted no time early in the game, with sophomore Carissa Mirasol scoring at the 2:20 mark by taking a pass from classmate Lindsay Grace. Just less than three minutes later, Grace scored the second goal on a beautiful penalty corner to give the Red an early 2-0 lead. Senior co-captain Ashleigh Snelson directed the original hit to Rosenbaum, who passed to Grace for the open-net goal.

From then on, it was all Rosenbaum, as she scored the next three Cornell goals. Her third goal came on an assist from Snelson at the 49:57 mark to complete the hat trick. Her dominance was mirrored by the rest of the team, as Cornell outshot Albany 21-7 and controlled the field throughout the game.

Albany’s Amy Hammer scored with the clock reading 0:00 just before halftime, beating sophomore goaltender Kaitlin Tierney, for the Danes’ lone goal, bringing the score to 4-1. This was as close as Albany would get.

After Rosenbaum completed the hat trick, Tambroni got many of the reserves playing time, including several of the freshmen on the roster. Rookie Jamie Woolsey opened many eyes in the crowd with electrifying play. Junior Samantha Ade rounded out the scoring at the 62:36 mark on an assist from Woolsey for her first career goal.

After the game, Snelson reflected on the impressive win.

“We needed a game like this to give us some confidence, this game is huge right now for us,” she said.

Speaking of Rosenbaum, Snelson commented, “Everyone feeds off of her energy.”

Rosenbaum herself had words following her impressive performance.

“I came out to play today, the whole team came out ready to play,” she said.

She noted the team’s goal is to “beat teams that beat us [last year].”

Interestingly enough, this was a new position for Rosenbaum, who has just become a striker.

Tambroni spoke of the team’s depth and its dominant play altogether.

Speaking of Rosenbaum, Tambroni said, “Before the game, she said, ‘I want my hat trick today,’ and I said, OK, that’s fine.”

Tambroni also added words of caution, acknowledging, “We have to be more aggressive on defense.”

This game could be an important stepping stone for the Red, looking to turn it around from a sub .500 season last year. With solid goaltending and impressive depth, it hopes to be a force this year. An important test will come on Sunday, when Cornell hosts Kent State (2-2), which is coming off a 19-4 season and has made the NCAA tournament three consecutive years.

Archived article by Matt Nassr