Senior tri-captain Kimmy Gardner spoke of the field hockey team’s opening weekend goals, saying, “There are very high hopes, but we are taking things one game at a time.”
So far, the team is doing just that.
The Red opened its 2003 campaign during a double-game weekend in Worcester, Mass, with interim head coach Philip Sykes at the helm. On Friday, the Red lost to host squad Holy Cross, 2-1, but bounced back Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Georgetown.
Holy Cross and Cornell were held in defensive gridlock until 19:07, when the Crusaders’ Heather Yanusas scored an unassisted goal. The Red’s seniors fired back minutes later to even things up.
The team’s lone goal came on a penalty corner from Gardner, with assists from seniors Carissa Mirasol, last year’s leading scorer, and Karleigh Burns. The two teams remained tied until well into the second half, when a Cornell turnover led to the game-winning Holy Cross goal.
Cornell lost despite earning more penalty corners, and outshooting its opponent, 8-6. Senior goalie Kaitlin Tierney made three saves for the Red.
Depth made the difference for the Red on Saturday against Georgetown.
Junior Jamie Woolsey came off the bench to score the game-winning goal with 22 minutes remaining. Classmate Julie Huang, also off the bench, recorded her first career point with her assist.
Defense then did the rest, as the Red then ran out the clock.
Cornell’s first goal against Georgetown came just four minutes into the game. Junior Sara Weiner scored as classmate Danielle Dunn earned an assist. Georgetown evened things up with just 10.6 seconds remaining in the half.
“The bench is pretty deep, and we have a lot of talent,” said Gardner of the team’s offensive display.
Tierney stopped four shots in the winning effort, while the team chipped in a defensive save.
The Red will be back in action next weekend when it hosts Ivy-rival Columbia on Friday night, and square off against Central Michigan on Sunday.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro