W. Soccer Heads Upstate to Battle Grizzlies, Chippewas

While their male counterparts head west to take on the elite teams of the Pac-10, the women’s soccer team will stay in state and travel to Rochester, N.Y., to open its season against two teams from the Wolverine State. The Red will take on Oakland University (Mich.) tonight at 5 p.m. at the St. Bonaven­ture/Puma In­vitational being held at the Aquinas Institute in Rochester. Cornell will wrap up the tournament on Sunday morning with an 11 a.m. tilt against Central Michigan.
The Red’s Sept. 5 start date is the team’s latest since 2004; most of the nation’s collegiate soccer teams have already been in action for two weeks. Oakland (0-2-1) has yet to collect its first win while Central Michigan is a perfect 3-0-0 on the season.
Oakland’s freshman Amy Trandell scored the Grizzlies’ only goal on the season in a 5-1 loss to Michigan St. The Grizzlies, who participated in the NCAA tournament last year, have been shut out for the last 267:48 of play. Aside from the loss to Michigan St., Oakland was defeated by Central Michigan, 1-0, and played to a scoreless tie with Bowling Green.
Central Michigan has defeated Detroit, Oklahoma and Oakland so far this season. The Chippewas, led by Stephanie Martin’s three goals, have outscored their opponents 7-2.
Central Michigan was down by an early goal against Oklahoma but scored three unanswered second-half goals to pull out the victory. Martin scored one goal in the contest and was named Mid-American Conference Co-Player of the Week.
Cornell will bring a young squad to the field this weekend. The only returning senior is tri-captain Whitney Stich, who will team up with sophomore tri-captains Lena Russomagno and Jodi Palmer. Eleven freshmen — a recruiting class ranked in the top-100 in the nation by soccerbuzz.com — were added to the roster during the offseason.
[img_assist|nid=31445|title=Sweet Sixteen|desc=Sophomore Lena Russomango (16) led the Red with six goals and two assists for a total of 14 points in her freshman campaign.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]