The women’s soccer team suffered its second loss of the season, losing 2-0 to a very strong Yale squad this Saturday at Berman Field.
The booters were repeatedly trapped at midfield, and sophomore keeper Katie Thomas was forced to face a barrage of Bulldog chances in Cornell’s defensive zone. Goalie Kristin Lotito, who replaced Thomas near the end of the game, had one of the Red’s few fine performances, stopping three of three shots on goal.
“Yale played very effectively,” said head coach Berhane Andeberhan. “[In contrast], we didn’t play very well.”
Yale scored both its goals early in the game, but certainly did not back off afterwards. The Red’s defense struggled to eliminate the Bulldogs’ repeated offensive opportunities. Meanwhile the Bulldogs truly demonstrated why they are currently the first place Ivy League team.
“[Yale’s] speed and physical play was bothering us in the back,” said Andeberhan. “By the time we got to offense, we were too off-rhythm in our attack.”
With about 20 minutes left in the game, Andeberhan decided to give backup goaltender Kristin Lotito a chance in net. Lotito was one of the few bright spots for the Red in its lackluster performance. Almost immediately after entering the game, she made a point blank save that drew oohs and ahs from a very quiet crowd. In total, Lotito stopped three shots, allowed no goals, and kept the game competitive in the second half.
“Kristin has been playing great, and she has been very supportive to Katie [Thomas],” said Andeberhan. “We wanted to get her some playing time.”
In the last two minutes of the match, the Red finally worked up some offense after hardly getting a shot off in the entire second half. However, this was too little, too late. Yale goaltender Lindsay Sabel made an unbelievable save at the one-minute mark to preserve the shutout.
“They just played a very intelligent game,” said Andeberhan. “We got involved too much individually, and didn’t play as a team enough.”
The Red faces UVM this Friday in Burlington, Vt. Despite this setback loss, the booters are still having their best season since 1992, when they opened the season 5-0-0. The freshmen are still arguably one of the best entering classes in years, and there is still much more season to come.
Archived article by Michael Pandolfini