The Cornell Daily Sun - Independent Since 1880

The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2001/09/21/standing-at-a-fork-in-the-road/)

September 21, 2001

Uncategorized

Standing at a Fork in the Road

By wpengine | September 21, 2001

The sign pointing left says “Loserville.” The football team’s been there before, most recently in the mid-’80s when it could rise no higher than fifth in the Ivy League. The sign pointing right says “Titletown.” The football team hasn’t really been there —

W. Soccer Defeats Yale in OT

By wpengine September 24, 2001

There’s just something special about overtime wins. Heart stopping excitement and disappointment are just around the corner, and inevitably one of those feelings disappears. As said by women’s soccer head coach Berhane Andeberhan, “In overtime, you’re always on the edge of ecstasy and disaster.” The Red kicked off its 2001 Ivy League schedule in spectacular fashion Saturday, beating Yale 1-0 in overtime at the Yale Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium in New Haven, Conn. It came up big late in the game to defeat the Bulldogs in an exciting contest that was up for grabs until the very end. The result moved Cornell up to 2-1 (1-0 Ivy) and dropped previously undefeated Yale to 3-1 (0-1 Ivy). Junior midfielder Sarah Olsen scored the game’s only goal, tapping a rebound past Bulldog goaltender Lindsay Sabel 2:26 into overtime to seal the victory for the Red and give Olsen her first goal of the season, directly causing a celebration pile to form at midfield. Freshman Katie Thomas had another outstanding performance, making six saves to earn her second shutout of the season. Andeberhan assessed Olsen’s importance to the team. “She’s our MVP. She’s a tremendous leader both on and off the field, and the players find it easy to follow her. It’s easy when the captains are the hardest workers. It’s like she’s a rookie — she works as hard in practice as she does in the games, and it reflects on the rest of the team.” The two teams were very evenly matched throughout the contest. Both dominated different aspects of the game. Yale controlled the field early, but the Red seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Andeberhan attributes the victory to superb off-season conditioning. He adds, “[Yale is] a very strong team, but during the last 15-20 minutes of the game, we really started to gain momentum and dominate. We worked hard over the summer to become a well-conditioned team, and it showed. I felt we had the edge going into overtime.” He had nothing but praise for Thomas as well. “She’s not like a freshman. She has a lot of experience, and she understands the position extremely well,” he adds. “This is the kind of performance we can expect from her each game; she is a tremendous talent.” This victory should be an important boost for the Red, which was coming off of a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Syracuse. According to Andeberhan, “Both games were valuable, but as a coach, it’s always nice to see the players get rewarded for their hard work. We still have a long way to go, but we were much more consistent today, and of course it’s always sweeter to win.” The Red will try to harness its newfound momentum when it faces Colgate at home this Wednesday. Archived article by Matt Nassr
F. Hockey Storms Back for Win

By wpengine September 24, 2001

The Cornell field hockey team opened its Ivy League campaign on the road Saturday in New Haven, Conn., against the Bulldogs of Yale. Coming off an impressive 6-1 win against SUNY-Albany on September 10, the Red was poised and confident for its conference opener. After falling behind early in the game by a score of 2-0, the Red’s senior co-captains Ashleigh Snelson and Melissa Wannop rallied the team and began a remarkable run to victory. Snelson got Cornell on the board at the 34:28 mark on a penalty corner, assisted by sophomore Carissa Mirasol and junior Sarah Nordstrom. Less than three minutes later, the Red converted yet again to tie the score at 2-2. Sophomore Karleigh Burns netted the equalizer on a penalty stroke at 37:09. With just nine minutes remaining in the game, the Red scored the go-ahead goal on junior Annie O’Rourke’s penalty stroke. The Red had scored three unanswered goals ,thus tiring and weakening the Bulldogs. However, at 62:48, Yale was able to find an opening and connect, tying the game at 3-3. With emotions rising and the tension mounting against its Ivy League rival, Cornell saw the minutes begin to tick by as the score remained tied. At 5:24 left in regulation, sophomore Kimmy Gardner put the Red on top for good on a penalty corner assisted by junior Dana Kindermann. “We were ecstatic,” said junior forward Sarah Rosenbaum. “Fans were telling us that they’d never seen us play with so much heart.” Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlin Tierney had an impressive game in net. She had 17 saves on the way to her first Ivy League victory in three attempts. Tierney helped Cornell improve its record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Ivy League play. “She had an awesome, awesome time this weekend,” Rosenbaum said. With the victory against the Elis, the Red began its Ivy slate on the right foot, especially considering the team’s title aspirations. “We have a lot to prove,” Rosenbaum said. “We want the ring.” The following day, the Red battled the University of Rhode Island at Yale for an afternoon match-up. After a thrilling victory the day before, the Red carried its motivation and enthusiasm as it faced the Rams. Sophomore Lindsay Grace connected for the only goal of the game at the 60:44 mark and was assisted by Burns. It was Grace’s second goal of the season. With the 1-0 shutout, the Red moved to 4-1 overall with its winning streak standing at three. Goaltender Tierney saved eight shots in the contest and 25 for the weekend, playing an integral role in the team’s two wins in as many days. The Red hopes to carry its momentum into next weekend when it faces Columbia at Schoellkopf Field on Friday at 4 p.m. On a different note, yesterday while the team was still in Conn., head coach Michelle Tambroni delivered her first child, Carissa Lynn. “It’s the first time in her life that field hockey wasn’t the first thing [on her mind],” Rosenbaum said of her coach.Archived article by Andrew Knauer