W. Soccer Welcomes Yale

The women’s soccer team will take on Yale tomorrow on Berman Field in a game that will hopefully put the Red back on the right track.
Cornell (1-8-1, 0-3 Ivy) is coming off a five-game losing streak, and this game will provide another chance for the team to see some Ivy League action. In Cornell’s last meeting with Yale, (6-5-1, 1-2 Ivy), the Bulldogs took the win on their home field, defeating Cornell 5-0. The Bulldogs have won five of the last six games they played in Ithaca. Yet the Red edges out Yale in the all-time series record, 14-12.
This will be Yale’s third consecutive Ivy game away from home. Two weeks ago, the team fell to Harvard, 3-1, but regrouped and defeated Dartmouth last week, 2-0. The Bulldogs come prepared with a strong offense after having scored 22 goals in its 12 games so far this season.
Senior forward Maggie Westfal leads Yale in points with seven goals and five assists this season. After scoring both goals in Yale’s game against Dartmouth last weekend, freshman forward Miyuki Hino was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. Leading the Bulldogs in assists is sophomore forward Becky Brown, who notched her ninth assist of the season in the team’s win over Dartmouth.
Yale sophomore Ayana Sumiyasu, the team’s primary goalkeeper, has a .794 save percentage and a 1.21 goals against average.
After managing just seven goals in the 10 games so far this season, the Red will focus on beefing up its offensive play in this weekend’s game.
“When we played Harvard, the way we played defense was great, but now we’re working on our offense,” sophomore goalkeeper Jodi Palmer said.
Guiding the Red offensively is sophomore forward Lena Russomagno, who has two goals and a pair of assists. Sophomore defender Cristina Law and freshman forward Brook Chang are tied with Russomagno as leading scorers of the team, each with two goals this season.
The Red hopes to get even more aggressive with their offense in this upcoming matchup, while also building up from its work on defense.
“Lately we’ve been working on a lot of offensive stuff. Last week we kind of put together playing defense as a team, and now we’re switching to playing offense all together so we can finish,” said Palmer.
The three skilled goalkeepers on the Red’s side are critical to the team’s defensive success. Sophomore Jodi Palmer is in goal for Cornell about half of the time, and freshmen Megan Bartlett and Kelly Murphy have also been a major asset to the team’s defense. Together, these three post a 2.39 goals-against average and a .737 save percentage.
While concentrating on strengthening its offensive strategy, the Red will ideally put it all together on the field and also focus on improving their strategy to ensure a victory.
“We need to focus on when chasing the lead, how to properly do that, because I think that there’s a little confusion on the field [when we’re] changing our formation,” junior defender Kala Neilson said. “Our coach said we’re going to be focused on the proper way of defending and of going forward, and on chasing the lead.”