Women’s soccer fell short to its Empire State rival Columbia (5-3-3, 3-0-0 Ivy) 4-1, failing to build on its win against Dartmouth in its previous game. The decision moves the Red to 2-6-4 overall.
The score was even for the first nearly 20 minutes of play as neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. Following a miscommunication by the Cornell backfield, Columbia scored at the 19-minute mark. Within four minutes, a corner pass into a header had the Lions up by two.
Within two minutes, senior forward Ava Laden cut the deficit to one with a deflected volley to the back of the net. Head coach Rob Ferguson said he was proud of the level his team maintained during the second half.
“I felt we were largely the better team in the first half in terms of executing our game plan, pressing, and getting on the front foot,” Ferguson said. “We created a few solid chances and could have had a couple of goals, yet at half time we are 3-1 down. That’s the game sometimes.”
Columbia added to its lead with a perfectly executed corner kick with under two minutes to go in the half. The Lions again exposed Cornell’s defense, scoring with a set piece.
The Lions kept the Red scoreless in the second half and added another goal to secure the win. Ferguson said that despite the loss, he is proud of his team’s fight during the game.
“In this league, we can’t make the mistakes we made and expect to get a result, it’s pretty black and white in that regard,” Ferguson said. “These are tough lessons, but that’s ok. … We have to learn from them and go help the players improve on those moments.”
Cornell’s next game is against Harvard (4-2-4, 0-2-0) on Sunday, Oct. 13, looking to capitalize on the Crimson’s two-game losing streak. Ferguson says the team has the level to start racking up wins but they just need to stay focused in the important moments.
“[What we’ve done well is] pressing with intensity and commitment,” Ferguson said. “[Ahead of Harvard, we need to improve our] quality of chances created, finishing and eliminating basic mistakes.”
Paul Kurgan is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at [email protected].