On Saturday, Cornell traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, hoping to secure an Ivy win. However, due to Brown’s ongoing intensity, the Red left the field scoreless in a 2-0 shutout.
“Brown has been one of the top teams in the Ivy League for my four years here at Cornell and this year was no different,” said senior midfielder Sara DeGraw. “We knew the game was going to be physical and fast-paced, so our mindset and play had to match up with the demand.”
Brown (10-2-2, 4-0-1 Ivy) came out strong and stayed with that energy throughout the game. Cornell defensively held on as sophomore goalkeeper Erica Fox accumulated six saves to keep the Red in the game.
“With Brown having two of the strongest forwards in the Ivy League, I thought our defensive mindset and effort to completely frustrate Brown’s strong attacking assets showed very well during the game,” DeGraw said.
The Bears outshot Cornell 19-3, with eight on goal for Brown and one for the Red. The lone shot on goal was made by DeGraw.
“We struggled a bit with generating our offensive opportunities and numbers joining in the attack that we normally have in games,” DeGraw said.
According to DeGraw, Cornell expected to compete with Brown’s strong front, and knowing what the team would face, the Red practiced different ways to combat them.
“Before the game, we practiced the organization and shifting that our defensive plan needed,” DeGraw said. “We worked on being patient with our defensive block, the different individual jobs that the block asked from players, and once we won the ball how to counter and exploit the space that Brown’s formation would leave open.”
As Cornell could not find a win against Brown, the Red has two more chances to secure an Ivy win before the end of the season.
“We want a clean sweep with these next two home games,” DeGraw said. “We want to defend our home turf and get the result that we haven’t been able to pull out this year so far.”
Cornell will come back home to Berman Field to face off against Princeton at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29. This game can be live-streamed on ESPN+.