After a long drought, the Cornell women’s soccer team is finally hitting its stride and fulfilling some of its early season promise. That’s the good news. The bad comes in the form of the Red’s next opponent, Ivy foe, Princeton. The Tigers are atop the Ivy League (10-1-1, 4-0) and have simply been dominating all season long.
Princeton has been virtually untouchable thus far, with its only blemish being a 2-0 defeat to the No. 2 UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, Calif.
Virtually all the Princeton players are capable of scoring, as evidenced by the fact that eleven different players have contributed at least one goal.
The Tigers are led by a young, dynamic scoring tandem at the forward
position. Freshman Kristina Fontanez and sophomore Theresa Sherry share the team lead in goals with five each. In addition to the duo, junior forward
Krista Ariss and senior backer Rochelle Willis lead the Tigers in assists
(three). With this talented core group of players, one can expect Princeton
to come at Cornell full-throttle.
“They’re a very talented and quick team,” Cornell coach Berhane
Andeberhan noted. “We expect them to play a high pressure game.”
Senior Catherine Glenn will mind the net for Princeton. She ranks among
the best keepers in the Ivy League, with an immaculate 0.50 goals against
average. She has allowed just six goals in her twelve starts this season,
and has posted seven shutouts.
Thankfully for the Red, it is playing its best soccer of the year right
now. After garnering a tie last Saturday against Brown, Cornell annihilated
Quinnipiac 3-1 on Tuesday. The most encouraging sign from the match was the awakening of the Red offense. Even without the services of leading scorer
and junior co-captain Sarah Olsen, the team managed to match its season
high in goals. Sophomore forward Emily Knight notched her first two goals
of the year, and junior midfielder Cailin Rice scored the first of her career.
To have a chance against the juggernaut known as Princeton, the Red must
continue to play solid defense.
“We recognize that we’re playing an excellent team,” Andeberhan said. “We
have to be willing to defend well, and we need to keep compactness.”
However, once Cornell wins the ball, Andeberhan stressed that his team
must be willing to attack.
“When we win the ball, we need to be audacious and daring.”
Cornell will enter the game relatively healthy, but they may miss two of
their most important cogs. Right midfielder Caitlin Ramsey, the fastest
player on the team, injured her knee in the win over Quinnipiac. She is
definitely out for this game, and may be done for the year, if her injury
is diagnosed as an ACL tear. Olsen is still feeling the ill-effects of a cold, and her status for the match is still uncertain.
Archived article by Alex Ip