The field hockey team fell to Cornell Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, dropping its fifth Ivy League game of the season. The Bears (3-11, 0-5 Ivy) matched two of the Big Red's goals, but Cornell (7-8, 1-4) pushed through and came away with a 4-2 win.
Just six minutes into the first half, the Big Red's leading scorer, Brittany Thompson, received a pass at the 25-yard line and charged through Bruno's defense. Goalie Shannon McSweeney '15 came out of the net to cut off the angle, but Thompson maneuvered around her and scored into an open net to put Cornell on the board, 1-0.
Brown answered right back. Just 3:42 after Cornell's first goal, forward Kit Masini '12 received a pass that popped over her left shoulder. The pass allowed her to escape her defender and spurred a one-on-one with Cornell goalie Alex Botte, whom she beat to even the score.
But Bruno was not given much time to celebrate. The Big Red struck again in the 11th minute after Thompson stole the ball on the Bears' side and pushed it forward to Hannah Balleza, who then crossed it to Kat DiPastina for the score.
Cornell secured its lead with another first-half goal to go into halftime with a comfortable 3-1 lead.
"We weren't playing together as well as we'd hoped," Masini said. "It wasn't clicking quite right."
After the break, the Bears put on the pressure and went on the offensive for 11 minutes. The push paid off when Abigail Taft '12 turned a pass from Kelley Harrison '13 into a goal to put Brown back in the game 3-2.
"We said at halftime that we need to go back to playing our own game," Masini said. "We came out ready to come back and to turn it around."
But a goal by the Big Red in the last 10 minutes of play secured the win. Thompson converted a penalty corner to put the final score at 4-2.
Cornell had the offensive advantage, leading 18-10 in shots, 10-8 in shots on goal and 8-3 in penalty corners.
The Bears are back in action Tuesday when they host Holy Cross for a 4 p.m. non-conference contest.
