Women’s soccer finally secured a win over Princeton on Saturday, 2-1, after a 25-game losing streak, as the Red hasn’t defeated the Tigers since 1995.
“Coming into the game, we were excited to play soccer the way we wanted to — come out relentless, with passion, and to play for each other,” said senior defender Emily St. John.
Princeton (8-7-1, 1-4-1 Ivy) led the goals, scoring within the first 10 minutes, putting the Tigers ahead early.
Cornell followed that goal with more intensity and a stronger attack to weaken Princeton, and then 10 minutes later, the Red (3-7-5, 1-3-2) found the back of the net with a corner kick from junior forward Laken Gallman.
Coming out of halftime, Cornell had one goal: to win.
“Given the momentum of the last few games, we went into the game thinking about it as an opportunity to get our first Ivy win,” St. John said.
By the 49th minute, junior midfielder Reagan Powers scored the game-winning goal for the Red to achieve a long-awaited win against Princeton and their first Ivy win of the season.
“[The win] was a culmination of all of the hard work our team has been putting forward the past few seasons, and shows the strides we have made this year,” St. John said. “Even though we went down 1-0 in the beginning of the game, everyone played their part of fighting back to the 2-1 win.”
Despite having more goals, Princeton outshot Cornell 17-14, with six being on goal for the Tigers and three on goal for the Red.
Sophomore goalkeeper Erica Fox continued to put up a tough front at goal as Fox saved five goals compared to Princeton’s goalkeeper’s lone save. Some saves from Fox were critical as they kept the game in Cornell’s favor.
“Erica Fox…was absolutely incredible,” St. John said. “She made some game-saving saves that kept the lead for us and changed the momentum.”
With one more game left in regular season play, Cornell looks to end with another win.
“Going into Dartmouth, we are riding off of the momentum of the past few weeks and absolutely looking for a win,” St. John said. “We know this Dartmouth team well and we think our style of play matches up well to succeed in this contest. We really hope to get the win to have one of the best finishes we’ve had in the Ivy League in the past few years.”
The Red will play their last home game at Berman Field when they face off against Dartmouth College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. This game can be live-streamed on ESPN+.