Coming off two road losses to Harvard and Columbia, women’s soccer (3-7-4, 2-3 Ivy League) entered its home match against Yale (8-5-1, 2-2-1 Ivy League) looking for redemption. A first half dominated by the Red yielded two goals that catapulted Cornell into a 2-1 win, its second Ivy League victory of the season.
From the kickoff, the Red’s offense took control of the match, allowing for eight shots on goal in the first half alone. A half hour into the match, senior forward Laken Gallman stopped short a kick from Yale keeper Anna Shamgochian, setting up sophomore forward Alanna Colbert for the opening score.
“Alanna’s grown well this season,” said head coach Rob Ferguson. “The last few weeks have been her best few weeks, no doubt about it. She and Laken had been off the bench for about a minute when they scored. They’re game changers.”
Colbert capitalized on her entry into play, making an immediate impact with a goal at the 15-minute mark in the first half. She said her goal was a culmination of team preparation and the previous week’s hard work.
“We’ve been training hard all week, really hard,” Colbert said. “We took time out of our week to meet with each other and to see what was breaking down. To come out here and actually prove ourselves is awesome. It was definitely a confidence booster.”
The second goal for the Red came a few minutes later, off of senior defender Lily Ellington’s feed past the Yale defense to sophomore forward Sydney Allen. Allen’s third goal of the season, in her fourth consecutive start on the field, proved to be the game-winner.
“[Sydney]’s continuing to do what she did a few weeks ago [against Dartmouth],” Ferguson said. “The big question was if her performance was going to be a permanent thing. This time around, it looks permanent.”
Cornell’s aggressive play in the first half only allowed Yale one shot on goal, but the Red’s security wavered when the Bulldogs threatened Cornell’s lead eight minutes into the second half. Vienna Lundstedt capitalized on a pass by Andie Miller to slip past the Red defense and junior goalkeeper Natalie Medugno to give the Bulldogs a fighting chance.
“When it’s a one-goal game, a lot of psychology comes into play,” Ferguson said. “That’s a lot of mental pressure on top of the tired bodies that are working hard.”
In the last five minutes of the game, the Red dropped back, and Yale fired on all cylinders, taking half of its total shots on goal. As closing out matches has been a challenge for the team in the past, Ferguson said the win against Yale boosts the program's confidence and creates a winning mentality moving forward.
“Frankly, [the last fifteen minutes] were nerve-racking,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have a program with a history of winning. That is something we have to build. It doesn't come in a year, [or even] four years. Now, we’re looking to keep it going.”
Cornell looks to level its Ivy League record in a road match against Brown on Saturday The team aims to continue its momentum against Ivy League opponents.
“We’re excited to keep pushing forward and proving ourselves,” Colbert said. “We started off right against Dartmouth, then had a pretty shaky breakdown [against Harvard and Columbia]. We’re excited to keep building ourselves up.”
Paul Kurgan is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at pjk239@cornell.edu.
Alexis Rogers is the sports editor on the 143rd editorial board. She is in the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts & Sciences, and she can be reached at arogers@cornellsun.com.
