Field Hockey loses in Ivy opener to Cornell

When the members of the Penn field hockey team described the first half against Cornell yesterday, the words "beat" and "executed" frequently arose. These words accurately describe what the Big Red did to the Quakers in the first 35 minutes of play. "They really beat us to the ball, and we weren't executing in the circle," Penn junior Nikki Battiste said. "They didn't have many opportunities but they capitalized." Cornell scored its first goal 10 minutes into the game. Then, 10 minutes later, the Big Red scored another two goals, each within a minute of each other. The first half ended without a response from the Quakers. "After they scored their goals, especially the two quick ones, we got more composed," Penn freshman goalie Carrie Wilhelm said. "We all decided and knew that we really wanted that game, so we just kind of brought it back together." The second half treated Penn more kindly. The Quakers were able to hold the Cornell lead to three goals, while scoring one of their own. Ten minutes into the half, Penn sophomore Kylee Jakobowski crossed the ball from the right side of the field to junior Maria Karas, who chipped it into the goal. However, the Quakers' lone goal was unable to make up for the deficit they had accrued in the first half of play. "If we had played the whole game like the second half, I think it would have been a different outcome," Battiste said. "[In the second half] we passed more quickly instead of holding onto the ball and used the space more, both sides of the field. We switched fields a lot and we got a couple of opportunities." Unfortunately for the Quakers, they waited too long to counter Cornell's powerful starting performance. By the time the Quakers figured out how to keep their opponent in check, the match had become almost unwinnable. And while Penn played better in the second half, they were, by that time, facing an opponent with a comfortable lead who no longer needed to play aggressive offense. The Quakers, coming off their first win against Lafayette last week, had hoped to count Cornell as their first Ivy League victory. They will now have to wait until next Saturday, when they will travel to Hanover, N.H., to face Dartmouth. "We really wanted to get our first Ivy win. The second half we really showed we were there for a game," Wilhelm said. "I think as long as we come out fired up we will definitely give [Dartmouth] a hard game."

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