Field hockey suffered a tough loss to No. 11 Harvard at Berylson Field Saturday afternoon. The Crimson scored four goals all in the second half to shut out the Red. Ultimately, this loss along with other wins across the Ivy League eliminated Cornell from Ivy League playoff contention.
“We put it all out there and truly played our hearts out. … Before the game we knew we would have to play a really good game to keep up with Harvard,” said sophomore forward Ashley Plzak.
The matchup against Harvard in the first half was locked at a tie. The Red struggled to generate offensive chances. Cornell earned only one penalty corner and recorded no shots on goal during the first two periods.
Harvard took eight shots and forced six penalty corners in the first half. However, the Red’s defense held up and made many stops to keep the score even. Sophomore goalkeeper Martha Broderick recorded a save in the first half.
The second half of the game was all for the Crimson. A pass from midfielder Lara Beekhuis helped forward Sage Piekarski find the back of the net for the first goal of the game halfway through the third period.
Piekarski found the back of the cage again halfway through the final period. The Crimson would score two more goals to solidify its win.
During the final two periods, the Cornell offense took twelve shots in a great effort to score. Seven of those shots came from junior defender Georgia Kelly. In addition, they had eight penalty corners.
“The statistics are very misleading. I felt we played better in the second half. A lot of my shots were generated from short corners and I was just really determined to win the game,” Kelly said.
The Red wrapped up the season at Boston University on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Terriers. Both goals were credited to freshman forward Uma Käding, giving her a team-leading six goals on the season.
Broderick –– who played the first 30 minutes –– and junior goalkeeper Jane McNally, who is also the Sun Sports Editor, combined for two saves as the goalkeepers split the match. This was Broderick’s 19th career win in goal making her tied for third most in school history.
“It felt good to finish the season on a high note and give our seniors and fifth years a win to end on,” Plzak said. “We were really gritty on the press and in the circle and that definitely showed with the score.”
Looking forward and into the off-season, Cornell will have seven seniors leave its roster. But with so many young underclassmen gaining experience this season against tough teams, the Red is confident that it will perform next season.
“We are going to lose a lot of players this semester and will likely be down to 16 players which means that everyone will be getting lots of extra touches, coaching and time on the field soon,” Kelly said.
Cornell will return to the field in the fall of 2025 with seven starters, 12 letter winners and a new opportunity to showcase its talent.