While many students took a step back from their work in anticipation of Spring Weekend, the women's lacrosse team fought a hard battle against Cornell. But the Friday afternoon game - a 17-9 loss for the Bears - may have proved to be a letdown for the excited fans.
Brown gave up seven goals before scoring one of its own in the first half. Cornell's Katherine Simmons and Libby Johnson led the first-half charge by putting two goals each past Brown goalie Melissa King '08 before Jesse Nunn '09 broke the Bears' silence at 11:30 with a hard-charging free position shot that went by Cornell's Kristen Reese.
"It was pretty ugly," said Head Coach Keely McDonald. "They came out really strong at the beginning of the first and second half. It really hurt us."
"We didn't come out strong and we got ourselves in a hole," said Kara Kelly '10. "We take a lot of pride in being a scrappy, aggressive team and getting the draws and ball controls; We didn't do either one of those things."
Bruno cut the Big Red's lead down to 8-4 when Kelly Robinson '09 scored her only goal of the game at 23:46 of the first half. That was the closest margin Bruno could manage. The Big Red came out firing in the second half, this time with six unanswered goals, many of them unassisted.
At 8:58 in the second half, Justine Lupo '08 gave Brown its fifth score before a pair of Bears earned yellow cards to slow the offensive attack.
"I think we started getting a little tired and let the frustration get the best of us," said Molly McCarthy '10.
After the penalties, Nunn and McCarthy scored four straight goals for Bruno in a six-minute period - three of them coming from Nunn, the team's leading scorer with 22 goals on the season. She finished the game with four, while McCarthy had one tally and two assists.
"Nunner is a great cutter and we've always had a strong connection," McCarthy said.
In addition to their individual triumphs, Lupo had three goals.
Those in attendance saw a patient Brown team on offense that needed to convert on more of its 24 shot attempts. Cornell's offense attacked more quickly, utilizing fewer passes before charging the net, firing off 33 shots total.
Brown controlled six fewer draws, but earned five more free position shots compared to Cornell. Thirty-nine fouls were called and Brown totaled all five of the yellow cards handed out.
"I think it is another lesson learned and we need to focus on playing on a full 60 minutes to play well the entire game," McCarthy said.
A positive during the game was the return of midfielder Kiki Manners '10, who missed four games due to a hip injury.
Brown will look to make gains in its ball control against Yale on Wednesday in New Haven, Conn.
"I think there's no doubt we'll have a different start on Wednesday," McDonald said. Previous wins have kept the Bears in fifth place, still in the running for the Ivy title. The team has five games left, the last three at home, and though it has some work to do if it hopes to make playoffs spirits are still high.
"After we beat Dartmouth, the rest of the league is worried about us," Kelly said. "We can be one of the best teams in the league."
