The field hockey team will have to wait until its next game to set the school record for wins in a season, after falling to Brown yesterday by a score of 4-2. Cornell (9-5, 4-2 Ivy) has three games left in the season, all on the road. The loss marks the seventh consecutive meeting between the two schools in which Brown (6-7, 3-2) has emerged victorious.
Brown stole the momentum early in the game, when senior forward Brooke Townsend scored the first of her three goals on the day just 3:16 into the match. The early lead allowed Brown to settle into a rhythm and establish its own style of play. The Bears clogged the midfield with four players, preventing the Red from executing its transitions and developing its game plan.
“We gave up an early goal which gave them confidence and momentum,” said Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook. “The early lead allowed them to stack their midfield, taking the speed factor away from us.”
As a result, Cornell was forced into playing a style with which it was unfamiliar. Its counterattacks were ineffective because the team rarely had the opportunity to get the ball past the midfield and open up the offense.
“The team strength is not in tight spaces,” Hornibrook said. “We tried to stretch out the field, but couldn’t because of the compact game.”
Brown’s ability to completely stymie Cornell’s offense was proven by the 4-0 edge it held in shots taken in the first half. Still, the Red was down by just one goal heading into halftime.
Brown scored three unanswered goals in the second half, as the Red was still limited offensively during that stretch. Townsend’s third goal of the match, with approximately eight minutes left, seemingly put the game away for the Bears. Determined not to be shut out on Senior Day – the last home game for seniors Blair Corcoran, Ellen Davies and Natalie Serle – the Red began to mount a comeback. While still unable to establish its style of play, the tenacity of the Red picked up as freshman Alyssa DePaola tallied her team-leading ninth goal of the season by scoring off of a rebound in front of the net.
Despite the added intensity, time was not in the Red’s favor as the Bears’ lead proved to be too great to overcome. However, Cornell was awarded a penalty corner as the clock expired and on the play, Corcoran in-bounded the ball and was in position to deflect a rebounded shot into the goal for her third of the season.
The Red will be back in action on Wednesday night as it travels to Syracuse to take on the Orange at 7 p.m.
Archived article by Jon Hausner
Sun Staff Writer