After a a near upset that turned heartbreaking loss against league rival Princeton last Saturday, the women’s soccer team looks to get out of its present skid today in Lewisburg Pa., when it challenges a strong Bucknell team (9-4 overall). Cornell (3-5-3 overall, 1-3-1 Ivy) has had a tumultuous season this year — starting the year 2-1-2 with several strong performances, only to slump recently by dropping five of its last seven games.
It seems now that the Red may finally be breaking out of its prolonged slide.
Cornell’s performance against Princeton showed that it is once again in top form.
As freshman goalkeeper Katie Thomas said, “There is a definite excitement going into today’s game. Though we lost to Princeton, we played really, really well.”
The defense which was faced with consistent pressure from Princeton proved to be up to the challenge.
Thomas had an incredible performance against the Tigers, making 13 saves while facing 30 shots. Her efforts as well as those of the whole defense held Princeton in check until the 89th minute of regulation when the Tigers finally tallied.
Thomas also proved to be a stalwart against Quinnipiac earlier in the week making four saves and helping the Red obtain its first win in seven games. Her efforts against Princeton and Quinnipiac earned her the title of Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time this year.
Cornell’s offense was unable to connect versus Princeton though it managed 10 shots. The offense did perform strongly earlier in the week with sophomore Emily Knight tallying twice and junior Cailin Rice adding another goal in the 3-1 victory over Quinnipiac.
The Bucknell team that the Red faces today is coming off a two-game winning streak, its latest victory being a 3-0 effort over Lafayette to clinch a post season berth in the Patriot League. In addition to today’s game, Bucknell will also be preparing for Navy which the Bison play later in the week.
The Red will look for the defense to continue to play as steady as it has these past few games. The Red offense will need to step up today to handle the Bison’s defense which has not surrendered a goal in the past two games. With three games remaining, Cornell needs to be able to carry momentum from its recent strong performances to get back to where it was earlier in the season.
As Thomas indicated, the attitude of the team is quite different now than when it was bogged down in its losing streak.
“It kinda feels as we felt earlier in the season. There is a lot of difference between how we feel now versus the slump we were in.”
Archived article by Chris Callanan