The Cornell women’s soccer team broke its seven-game winless streak in impressive fashion last night against a tough Quinnipiac team 3-1. The sophomore-senior connection of strikers Emily Knight and Erica Olson provided two goals on the evening, leading the Red to its first win since September 22.
Junior mid-fielder Cailin Rice initiated the scoring for the Red at 21:25 in the first half when she put a deflected ball in the top of the net from 15 yards out. It was Rice’s first career goal.
Knight responded 14 minutes later with a goal of her own from 10 yards out on a cross from Olson. The tandem would connect again at the 65:30 mark when Knight scooted a ball from Olson past Braves’ goalkeeper Renee Morin.
Quinnipiac scored its lone goal eight minutes later when sophomore Meghan Kennedy connected to make the score 3-1. Junior Alyson Jaquith assisted on the goal.
But the effort would be too little too late.
The key for the Red was its huge advantage in shots on goal, a category in which the lady booters have struggled to post quality numbers all year. The Red doubled the Braves in the final tally, 20-10.
The three goals equaled Cornell’s highest offensive output back on September 9th in its first game against Lafayette.
The Red’s third win of the year was against the class of the NEC league and is a big win by any standards. However, it is a particularly significant change of fortune when considering Cornell’s recent struggle to find any sort of consistency on both sides of the ball.
Last night, while playing on rainy grounds that seemed to favor its possession-focused style of play, the Red was able to dictate play all game long. It seems to have regained the sense of rhythm it displayed earlier this season.
The win boosted Cornell’s record to 3-5-3 (1-2-1 Ivy), while leaving the Braves with a 8-5 (6-1 NEC) mark.
The Red will visit Princeton this Saturday at 4 p.m. Princeton is currently undefeated in Ivy league play and sports a 10-1-1 overall record.
Archived article by Scott Jones