A matchup to watch took place at Tenney Stadium on a sunny Monday afternoon. The Red Foxes were coming off of a close win against LaSalle two days prior and Cornell was looking to add another win to their three game winning streak, most recently taking Columbia University 12-9. With both teams coming in motivated for the win, Cornell was able to top Marist in a 18-12 game.
The game began with draw win for Cornell. For the first few minutes both teams were putting forth a lot of effort, but coming up with nothing. After back and forth possessions, Cornell senior attack Sarah Phillips, put up the first goal of the game, assisted by senior attack, Tomasina Leska. The Big Red further made their presence known on the Red Fox field by winning the first three draws, a second goal by junior attack/midfielder, Caroline Allen, and another goal seconds later by freshman midfielder, Shannon Brazier.
The Red Foxes came fighting back with their first goal by sophomore attack, Devon Connolly. But it was quickly answered by Cornell with two goals by Phillips, making this the first hat trick of the game. Another goal was put away by Allen, as well as sophomore attack, Olivia Jensen for the Big Red.
Within the first ten minutes of the game, Cornell had dominant possession of the ball and were racking up goals. A timeout was taken by the Red Foxes with 17 minutes left to play in order to gain composure and keep the energy up, and it showed. Following the timeout, senior midfielder, Hailey Wagner put the second goal on the board for the Red Foxes, assisted by junior attack, Samantha Mehalick. Minutes later, Wagner had the second hat trick of the game with two more goals. Marist began to win more draws, take more shots on goal, maintain possession and upped the intensity on defense. The Red Fox high energy was back.
The Big Red later answered with another goal from Brazier and the final goal of the half by Phillips. But, Wagner, Connolly, and Mehalick all fired back with a point each for Marist within the last two minutes. The Red Foxes were able to make a tremendous comeback, making the score 9-7, with Marist trailing Cornell at the half.
Marist started out the second half strong, winning the draw, however Cornell was responding aggressively to the scoring lull that they experienced in the middle of the first half. Allen had the first say in the second half with her third goal, making this the third hat trick. Quickly after, sophomore midfielder, Grace Paletta added two goals and Phillips put another on the board for the Big Red. However, the Red Fox defense, lead by sophomore goalie, Delaney Galvin, were fighting hard to defend the den and send the ball to the other side of the field.
Within the first ten minutes of the first half, Cornell impressively managed to put five goals on the board. Freshman midfielder, Genevieve DeWinter and Phillips also added a goal each later on for Cornell. However, these goals did not go unanswered. Mehalick, sophomore attack, Kelly George and junior midfielder, Jessica Lasaponara all tallied a goal for the Red Foxes to stay in the game, making the score 16-10, Cornell, with ten minutes left to play.
In the final ten minutes, both teams left it all on the field. Cornell saw goals from Leska and Jensen. Marist received goals from the fourth hat trick of the game, by Mehalick, and also Wagner. Following many strategic moves and aggressive game play by both teams, Cornell came out on top with a score of 18-12.
When asked about the game Coach Jess Wilkinson stated, “I think Cornell really brought their A game today. Possession had a lot to do with it today. That was where we kind of fell short. But I think anytime we did earn that draw control stat, we were able to put the goal away.”
The comeback at the end of the first half and battling Cornell in the second half truly displayed great talent and exceptional teamwork. Wilkinson said, “I am really proud of the team today. I thought that they did a really good job in stepping up when the momentum was on our side. We played with a lot of heart and I am proud of them for that. I think they should really know that.”
The Red Foxes will move on to face Jacksonville University this coming Sunday. The energy from Marist this weekend makes for interesting games in the future. Wilkinson adds, “We saw the type of grit that we were looking for from them. We play a lot of times with the score not in our favor, but we never really play like that. It shows a lot what we were doing on the field and we are hoping to bring this to our MAAC play as well.”
Edited by Lily Caffrey-Levine