This Saturday, Penn exposed one of the Cornell women’s soccer team’s lingering weaknesses: goal scoring. Despite the staunch defense of the Red, which thwarted all 10 shot attempts by Penn in the first half, the Quakers capitalized in the second half scoring two goals securing the win.
The Red managed a disappointing three shots on target compared to the 10 put on target by the Quakers. Head Coach Dwight Hornibrook expressed his displeasure with the Red’s inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
“I think we didn’t get off to a good start as we failed to create clear shooting opportunities in the first part of the half,” Hornibrook said. “The young players on the team worked well together to pose an offensive threat in the second half. However, the whole team needs to do better to put pressure on the opponent and create goal scoring opportunities.”
Regardless of the Red’s offensive shortcomings, senior Goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy continued her consistent play making eight saves and keeping the Red in the game until the second half.
“[Kennedy] had an impressive performance, along with the defensive unit, which kept Penn at bay for the entire first half,” Hornibrook said.
The Quakers’ second goal resulted from unusual circumstances as a Red defensive clearance resulted in the ball hitting the corner flag, rebounding off and giving Penn possession. Following the out of bounds, Penn’s Jadyn Wilensky sent a well-timed cross into the box which Allie Trzaska deftly handled and sent into the back of the net.
“This Penn team has a well-balanced squad of strong and athletic players, hence they proved to be challenging opponents,” Hornibrook said. “In order to have a better result in the future, we need to play the ball till the final whistle by applying constant pressure on our opponents and creating tangible goal scoring chances. We hope to learn from our mistakes and improve as a unit for the following games.”
The Red’s matchup will take place this Friday, October 6, at 1pm at Harvard. The game will also be streamed via ESPN+.