If you left Berman Field for just a few minutes Saturday — maybe hoping to check out the homecoming action — you would have missed all the major action in the women”s soccer game. If you left Berman Field for just a few minutes Saturday — maybe hoping to check out the homecoming action — you would have missed all the major action in the women”s soccer game.
Yale scored two goals in eight minutes midway through the first half, and despite a generally solid effort, Cornell could not respond and lost 2-0.
Yale”s scoring seemed like an exception to the rule of the day, as the game was played mostly in the midfield, with the offensive momentum swinging back and forth. In fact, Cornell (4-6-2, 1-3 Ivy) looked like the better team in the second half, as Yale (8-4-0, 2-2 Ivy) was held to just two shots for the period. The Red recorded five.
‘It was definitively an even game,’ head coach Berhane Andeberhan said. ‘Yale dominated [early on]. After that, we settled down.’
Senior defender Natalie Dew, who leads the young Cornell defense, echoed that sentiment. ‘We didn”t start off playing well the first half,’ she said. ‘We did much better in the second half.’
Midfielder Laurel Karnes scored both goals for the Elis. First, the junior headed in a cross from sophomore Mimi Macauley in the 29th minute. The ball went over the head of Cornell senior goalkeeper Katie Thomas, who had tried to steal the pass away.
A few minutes later, sophomore Trista Choksi found the All-Ivy Karnes who was then able to find the net — firing a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Katrina Matlin.
Matlin shared goalkeeping duties with Thomas for the day. Matlin had one save — a beautiful stop in the later stages of the second half — while Thomas had two.
The Elis were coming off an impressive 1-0 road win over Dartmouth last week. Yale had not defeated the Green in Hanover, N.H. since 1992.
The talented Yale squad seemed to play at about the same level as the Red throughout the game.
‘They had some respect for our attack,’ Andeberhan said. ‘They did a good job. I thought they were a good team, [but] not that much better than us.’
Cornell was without junior forward Shannon Fraser for the game. Fraser has battled a hamstring injury all season, and she re-aggravated the injury before Wednesday”s loss at Syracuse. The Hamilton, N.Y. native made some improvement during the week in practice, but the pregame warm-up once again took its toll.
‘During warm-up, the hamstring went,’ Andeberhan said. ‘That was a big downer. We”re not going to take any chances. [If the condition significantly worsens], it can be a career-ending injury.’
Andeberhan noted that the booters remain focused on winning.
‘The team is actually quite confident,’ he said. ‘They haven”t let down. They”ve been playing well. They”ve just continued to battle. From a coaching point of view, I want them to be rewarded, because they work so hard.’
Cornell has five more chances to earn those rewards — including three league games. Dew believes the team can make good on its efforts, especially if the Red can keep its focus. ‘We still have opportunities to do well. Princeton and Dartmouth are great teams,’ she said, emphasizing the Red”s positive outlook going into these tough games.
The Red will continue its Ivy season next Saturday, against Brown (4-8-0). But first, Cornell will play an improved Army team on Wednesday, in West Point, N.Y. Cornell defeated the Black Knights 4-0 last year, in Ithaca.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer