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Cornell’s five-goal surge in second half stuns field hockey

Early departure of stalwart Angus ’17.5 due to injury hurts Bears’ defensive efforts


In 2012, the only Ivy game the women’s field hockey team won was against Cornell, a double-overtime thriller in which a first-year named Hannah Rogers ’16 scored in the first half. Three years and 13 goals by Rogers later, Cornell (9-5, 4-1 Ivy) has become an insurmountable hurdle for the Bears (6-8, 1-4). A 2-1 loss in 2013 followed by a 4-0 defeat in 2014 set the scene for a revenge match this year, but Bruno suffered a tough defeat, 6-1.


The Bears went down early when Isabel Siergiej scored on a rebound after only two minutes, but Bruno was able to calm down and avoid conceding multiple goals in the following minutes.


The first half was fairly even — like in most of the Bears’ games this year — as Alexis Miller ’16 scored her sixth goal of the season with seven minutes left in the frame.


“One of the main goals of our  season was to come out really strong,” said co-captain Anna Masini ’16. “We came out hard from the get-go.”


Emily Arciero ’16 and Masini recorded helpers on the goal, which moved Arciero to seventh all-time for Brown in assists. The goal also pushed Miller into a tie with Rogers for the team lead in goals and marked her 13th point on the season — a new career high. Miller scored 12 points in her first three seasons, so the 13th point was a milestone for the senior.


The second half was Brown’s downfall, as it let up a goal just five minutes after halftime. Krysten Mayers scored her 13th goal of the year on an unassisted breakaway, deflating any momentum that the Bears had mustered.


“The score didn’t really reflect our defensive success,” Masini said. “The beginning of the second half was some of our best field hockey, but once one goal gets in, the few minutes following that are very important. Cornell capitalized offensively in this game.”


The breaking point came after Cornell’s second goal of the game, as defensive stalwart Katarina Angus ’17.5 suffered an injury that forced her to come out of the game. Missing Angus, who had played almost every minute this season, was tough for the Bears, and it showed. Four minutes after Mayers’ goal, Siergiej scored her second of the game on a lift shot.


Angus is “a pivotal player,” Masini said. “She has a very strong presence. When she’s not on the field, her direction and her voice (are) missed.”


It took the Big Red 14 more minutes to score again, but it did so twice in quick succession when Sam McIlwrick and Katie Carlson found the back board in a span of 30 seconds to put Bruno down 5-1. Siergiej finished the game with two goals and two assists for Cornell, while Taylor Standiford also pitched in with a pair of helpers. Brown was unable to muster much of anything offensively in the second half, only registering two shots and one corner. Cornell, on the other hand, stepped up its offensive game in the second half, creating six corners and finishing with 12 shots in the second frame.


Katy Weeks scored Cornell’s sixth and final goal of the game. The result matched the worst Ivy defeat for the Bears in over a year, as Brown fell to Dartmouth by the same scoreline in September 2014.


Brown will look for its second Ivy win of the year against Penn at home next weekend before taking on Lehigh in its final home tilt of the year.


“There will be a lot of emotions amongst the senior class,” Masini said. “Last year’s Penn game was one of our wildest games. We felt like there was a force field around the net. We’ll be ready to come out and fight really hard.”

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