The women’s soccer team will look for its second Ivy League win of the season when it faces Brown (5-6-2, 0-3-1 Ivy) tomorrow in Providence, R.I. for a 5 p.m. contest. The Red (7-4-1, 1-4) is coming off a big 4-0 win against Wagner on Wednesday night at Berman Field, while the Bears failed to secure its first Ivy win of the season last weekend, losing to Princeton.
“In some ways, it’s a lot easier for us to play an away game because we’re all together. Obviously weekend games are easier that way, because you have concentration, not like a weekday game where you have school all day, and then a game,” commented head coach Berhane Andeberhan.
On a chilly night, the booters came out red-hot against a weak Wagner squad, notching the first goal in the 17th minute. Senior co-captain Sarah Olsen had the scoring touch, finding the back of net twice on feeds from freshman Shannon Fraser. Olsen now leads in the team in goals with four, while Fraser maintained her role as the team’s top scorer. Junior Leigh Ann Schwartz recorded her first collegiate tally and junior Emily Knight scored her third goal of the season in the win. The Red defense was also superb, only allowing Wagner one shot throughout the entire contest.
Brown jumped out to an early lead against No. 15 Princeton on Saturday, with junior Michaela Sewall connecting on a feed from senior Caitlin Carey in the 7th minute. The Bears would hold on to the lead until the 70th minute, when Princeton tied the game. Ten minutes later, the Tigers would seal the victory to remain the only unbeaten, untied team in the country. Junior keeper Sarah Gervais had seven saves in net for the Bears, who were outshot 18-3 by the Tigers.
Last year, the Red and the Bears battled to a 1-1 tie at Berman Field. The booters have been shutout in four out of five Ivy contests this season. Cornell has only allowed 10 goals this season, which is the second fewest in the Ivy League behind Princeton. Those goals have all come in conference games.
“Tactically, the things we want to do we are pretty clear on. Theorizing about them as a coach and then putting it to practice on the field isn’t always easy. We’ll review the kind of things we need to do for the game,” said Andeberhan.
Brown has been struggling of late, dropping four of its last six contests. In four Ivy matches this season, the Bears have come away with a tie against Columbia. The Red will need to come out strong from the beginning against a Brown team that is hungry for its first Ivy win this year.
“There are a couple of things they do that are kind of marginal, shall we say, to be polite, on corner kicks, and we’re prepared for them. Ultimately, if we just settle down and play our game, and play for five minutes at a time, I feel relatively confident that we can win,” remarked Andeberhan.
The booters will hit the road next week for an in-state battle at Syracuse before returning home for the final game of the season against Princeton next Saturday in Ithaca.
Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach