On Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, the women’s soccer team (9-2-4, 3-1-2 Ivy) dominated Cornell (5-6-4, 2-4) in a highly-anticipated, playoff-implicated 2-0 victory.
With the win, the Bears rose to second place in the Ivy League. This coming Saturday’s match against No. 1 Princeton will be the Bears’ final chance to claim the top seed in the Ivy League Tournament.
The team entered the weekend after a 2-2 draw against Harvard (5-5-3, 3-2-1) on Oct. 18 left Bruno barely hanging onto fourth place — the final qualifying spot for the Ivy tournament. But in just one match, the Bears turned their luck around.
“The team, as well as the coaching staff, hold each other to a standard that we know we are capable of each and every day,” wrote Addison Etter ’29 in an email to The Herald. Etter made her first career start as goalkeeper on Saturday.
Despite the pressure to come home with a win this weekend, Bruno looked as calm, cohesive and skillful as ever. In the early stretches of the game, Brown dominated possession, ruthlessly hounding Cornell’s defense for any cracks.
Bruno’s first major chance came just 8 minutes into the match, when a beautiful ball to 2024 First Team All-Ivy midfielder Joy Okonye ’27 sailed through the defensive line. Although Okonye’s shot was deflected out, it earned Brown’s third corner kick in the first 9 minutes.
While the Bruno offense continued to penetrate Cornell’s side of the field, Brown held strong on the defensive half. Supported by the team’s strong back line, Etter only faced 2 shots on goal in the entire first half — both of which she saved.
“I could be confident stepping into the net knowing I had the confidence of my team in front of me,” Etter wrote. “Even though it was my first full 90 minutes, the coaching staff made sure I felt prepared, and I am grateful for their support and belief in my ability to step in net for this team.”
The scoreboard remained empty throughout most of the first half, but in the 30th minute, the Bears broke through. Nadja Meite ’28 lofted a gorgeous ball from just past midfield to Angelina Vargas ’27, who received it near the right side of the box. Without a second to waste, Vargas passed the ball across the face of the net to a wide-open Okonye, who scored her seventh goal of the year.
Okonye now stands in first place in goals scored in the Ivy League, tied with Naya Cardoza ’26 and Dartmouth’s Stephanie Lathrop. She also ranks first in the conference in points and is tied for first in assists.
Energized by their 1-0 lead, the Bears kept the momentum going. Not even 7 minutes after Okonye’s score, Audrey Lam ’27 set up to take the team’s fifth corner kick in the first half. She sailed a beautiful ball into the box — ensuing immediate chaos.
Scrambling in front of the net, both teams fought desperately for possession until the ball bounced off the heads of both teams’ players and fell to the feet of Corine Gregory ’27. Mere feet from the goal, Gregory executed the tap-in to claim a 2-0 lead for Brown going into halftime.
“I’m really excited for this team and proud that we’ve put ourselves in a position to compete for the Ivy League Championship,” Head Coach Kia McNeill told Brown Athletics after the game. “I’ve said it all season, but this group is special, and I want to keep coaching them as long as possible.”
Entering the second half, Cornell’s players fought with everything they had, leveraging a surge of energy in an attempt to turn the game on its head.
“Cornell is a dangerous team, and with both teams fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive, these are never easy games to play in,” McNeill said.
Less than 1 minute into the second half, the Big Red fired its first corner kick of the match, a dangerous shot that Etter narrowly managed to scrape off the goal line. Even though the scoreboard still showed a Bruno advantage, it felt as though Cornell was the one in charge.
“Etter was tremendous in goal,” McNeill said. “She handled a lot of set pieces and service into the box really well. We knew that was one of Cornell’s strengths, and her calmness and composure in (goal) helped us manage those moments effectively.”
In the 61st minute, Cornell finally found the back of the net. Expertly converting a free kick, the Big Red’s Mariana Kessinger crossed the ball into the box, where a header found the back of the net. But before Cornell could celebrate, the referees called the goal back due to an offsides penalty. From there, Brown fortified its defensive end, preserving the Bruno lead for the remainder of the match.
Despite outshooting the Bears 10-4 in the second half, Cornell was unable to get past Etter, who delivered 5 incredible saves in the half to record a shutout in her first collegiate start.
“I’m really happy with the result and the way the team played today,” McNeill said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but we grinded it out to get the win and the shutout.”
When the horn sounded with the final score of 2-0, Brown was one huge step closer to clinching a spot at the Ivy tournament.
Brown will face No. 1 Princeton (6-5-3, 4-2) at home this Saturday at 1 p.m. for the team’s final regular season game. With a win, Brown could claim the top seed in the Ivy League as they head into the Ivy tournament.
“Coming off an important win at Cornell, I think the team is excited to get into training this weekend and prepare full force ahead to put up a fight and great performance against the Tigers,” Etter said. “We definitely have the talent to do well in the Ivy tournament and beyond … but all we are focusing on is one game at a time.”
