ITHACA, N.Y. — Rachel Alderfer scored a late fourth quarter goal, but it was not enough as Colgate fell 3-1 at Cornell Sunday afternoon.
Alderfer found the back of the cage on a penalty corner with 2:48 remaining in the game. She inserted the corner and played the ball to
Sarah Killcommons, who held it for
Amanda Allen. The ball got played in toward the goal by Allen before Alderfer got her stick on it and redirected it into the goal to cut the lead to two at 3-1.
The Big Red took an early lead with a pair of goals in the first quarter. Midway through, Julia Darmo played a pass to Grace Leahy, who finished off a shot from close range. Cornell scored its second of the game from Caroline Ramsey when she converted on a penalty corner with 3:18 remaining in the first.
Anna Unger stood on her toes in the opening quarter, making five saves and denying the Big Red on back-to-back shots twice. Unger finished with seven saves in the game.
Colgate earned its first penalty corner of the game with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Allen got a shot off, but she put it just wide of the goal.
Colgate notched back-to-back shots with just under two minutes left in the first half.
Chase Cmaylo released the first, and
Sarah Killcommons took the second, but both got saved by Cornell's goalie.
Unger made another two saves in the second, including one that stopped the Big Red on a penalty corner opportunity. The Raiders defense also held strong, halting multiple scoring chances by Cornell.
In the third, Cmaylo fired the Raiders' lone shot in the quarter that got save by the goalie.
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw back-and-forth action as neither side could get much going. Cornell made it 3-0 after Leahy scored her second of the game with 6:15 remaining. The ball got loose in front of the goal before Leahy found it and tapped it in.
Prior to Alderfer's goal, the Raiders had three-straight penalty corner attempts that they could not capitalize.
Colgate recorded 10 shots in the game, with five landing on goal. The Raiders also finished with five corners.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach April Cornell-DeAngelis
"We are happy we played a much stronger game today even though it wasn't the result we were looking for on the scoreboard. It felt good to get into an attacking rhythm and connect as a team. We have had to make so many positional changes in the past week and the team is doing well to learn and adapt. We know that consistency is going to be key to getting the win."
UP NEXT
Colgate returns home for a pair of games next weekend. The Raiders welcome Bucknell for a Patriot League battle at 11 a.m. Saturday, before hosting Vermont at noon Sunday.
