Coming off of a big win in its first game of Ivy League play, the Cornell Field Hockey team will travel to New York City and Piscataway, N.J. to face Columbia and Rutgers. The Red (1-4, 1-0 Ivy League) will face the Lions (4-2,1-0) on Friday at 4 p.m. at Columbia’s Field Hockey Stadium and then will face the Scarlet Knights (4-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Bauer Track and Field Complex.
The Red will be heading into this game after coming off of a huge win against Penn in the first conference matchup of the season. Cornell was able to net four goals against the Quakers, three of which were scored by junior forward Hannah Balleza, with the other coming from fellow junior midfielder Elly Plappert. The Quakers were shut out by a stalwart Red defense anchored by junior goalkeeper Carolyn Horner, who had eight saves in the strong team performance.
The solid play by the entire squad has added momentum for the team as it continues to move into the middle of the season.
“We’ve been even more focused in practices this week than before, just because it is the first Ivy game,” said senior Paige Mollineaux last week, before the squad’s first Ivy game.
Clearly, this recharged Red mentality paid off and the Red will be looking to carry this positive energy through the week and against its opponents this weekend.
Columbia has started the season off strong, recording four wins against Bucknell, Lasalle, Hofstra, and Brown, after losing its opening two games to Richmond and VCU. The tough Lions team is spearheaded on the attack by Senior Gabby Kozlowski and Molly Andrews, while goalie Christie O’Hara minds the net for the Lions. However, if history repeats itself, the odds are in the Red’s favor to emerge victorious as Cornell has won 14 of the last 16 games in recent history.
After the Columbia matchup, the Red will have another test when it faces the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has gone .500 on the season so far, and leads the series with Cornell 4-3. Cornelia Duffin and Lisa Patrone lead the Scarlet Knights’ offense with four goals and three goals respectively. Sarah Stuby holds down the net for the team and has not missed a minute of playing time throughout the entire season so far.
After Columbia, the Red’s next Ivy opponent will be Yale in the squad’s second home game against an Ancient Eight foe this season.
Original Author: Shayan Salam