Homecoming weekend unfolded into to a disappointing outing for Cornell as the Red gave up its first loss on Marsha Dodson Field to Harvard.

Despite outshooting the Crimson (5-6, 2-2 Ivy) by a 15-10 and maintaining a 9-4 edge in penalty corners on its home turf, the Red (8-3, 2-2 Ivy) fell, 1-0, on the cool Saturday afternoon.

“We had a lot of shots on net, but we had trouble finishing,” said sophomore goalie Alex Botte, “It was a tough loss because it was not that we played badly — we just fell short on a number of good opportunities.”

While the Red never got on the board, the team was not without several close breaks. Late in the second half, junior attack Catie De Stio and junior midfield Kate Thompson worked together for a valiant attempt on the goal. Thompson infiltrated the defense by slipping a long pass through the Crimson backs to a wide-open De Stio. However, Harvard’s goaltender Cynthia Tassopoulo charged out of the cage to deny De Stio. A second window opened for the Red just before halftime when Cornell held good position on the field to put the heat on the Harvard defense trying to clear out the ball. De Stio anticipated the direction of the Crimson’s restart and intercepted the feed. Unfortunately, De Stio was unable to capitalize, as Tassopoulo was there to silence her hard shot.Under pressure: Although Cornell controlled play, Harvard took the win with a single goal scored against senior goalie Mel Jue (33).

Between the pipes for the Red, senior Mel Jue registered two saves in the first half and three in the second. Tassopoulo shined with four stops in each 35-minute stanza for eight total saves in the Crimson shutout.

Within the first five minutes of the second period, Harvard attack Elizabeth Goodman-Bacon scored the only goal of the game off of a penalty corner. The Crimson’s Carly Dickson received the assist by crossing the ball to Goodman-Bacon waiting at the far goalpost.

“Every team has these types of games and we are confident that we will to bounce right back,” said Botte, “We are looking to have a productive full week of practice to prepare for our next contest with Brown on Saturday.”