Women’s soccer’s hopes for an Ivy League win on the season died on Saturday when the team lost its final match at Dartmouth. The 5-1 defeat closed out Cornell’s season 0-7 in-conference.
The Green had the advantage the entire game, starting with a goal in the 26th minute, followed by another in minute 34 to put the game at 2-0.
The one bright spot in Saturday’s game came from freshman forward Liza Mariner, who scored her first collegiate goal in the 71st minute. Mariner was assisted by sophomore midfielder Evanthia Spyredes, who sent a long shot in front of the left side to Mariner — who reached the net despite the best efforts of the Dartmouth goalkeeper.
But the momentum didn’t last long; Dartmouth quickly scored three more times to secure the 1-5 victory in Hanover, N.H.
After starting the season with a four-game winning streak, the Red finished its 2019 season by losing nine games and finishing overall at 4-10-1. Cornell’s 0-7 record in the Ivy League put the team in last place. Brown finished on top with an in-conference record of 6-0-1, followed by Harvard’s 5-1-1.
The Red closed out its season with a total of 10 goals across the 15 games — three coming in conference games — resulting from a mere 129 shots. Cornell’s opponents, when facing the Red, overall had 224 shots, earning 25 goals for the season — more than double Cornell’s efforts. Cornell also came up short in assists with only six versus its opponents’ 24.
There were two major categories in which the Red outperformed its competition: saves and, unfortunately for the team, fouls. In saves, Cornell recorded 68 as compared to its competitors’ 51, but this number was born of the fact that Cornell simply needed to defend against more shots than its opponents did. Cornell incurred 129 total fouls on the season — 15 more than its competition.
Despite the lackluster overall results, individual players put forth encouraging performances over the course of the season. Spyredes led the team in points earned with six by scoring two goals and two assists. Spyredes was also the second leading shot taker this year with 18. Next year as a junior, look for her to continue to improve and elevate her team’s overall play.
Freshman forward Ashley Durik led the team in shots with 21. She also earned four points with her two goals scored early in the season in Cornell’s win against Iona.
In goal, senior Chrissy Mayer started for the Red in eight games and came up with 38 saves.
With almost a third of the current roster comprised of freshmen, 2019 was a building year for the team. Cornell will need to figure out how to get more aggressive with shot taking, keep the penalties down and keep their opponents’ shots from reaching the net.