After 0-1 Ivy start, women's soccer racks up win

The comeback kids again showed their resilience in Ithaca last weekend. Down 1-0 after a frustrating first half, the women's soccer team (6-3-1, 1-1 Ivy) capitalized on goals by Britt Payne, DC '02, and Sara Ruiz, BR '02, to upend Cornell and secure their first Ivy League win of the year. The victory epitomized the Bulldogs' recent resolve. After a three-game losing streak, including a loss to Ivy rival Princeton, the team reversed its fortune and won three in a row, including come-from-behind triumphs in the last two. With the next five games against NCAA tournament teams, however, the Bulldogs have to start their second half heroics at the opening gun.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Sara Ruiz, BK '02, came through for the Bulldogs with three assists against Army.

The Cornell win may be the impetus that propels the Elis thorough the perilous terrain ahead. For the first 45 minutes, it looked as if the Bulldogs would be plagued by the offensive ineffectiveness that characterized the team's play during its three-game slide. The Big Red matched Yale's physical play, and star goalie Meghan Cauzillo '01 stymied every Yale scoring opportunity. At the 39th minute, the Bulldogs made a mental error, pulling down Cornell forward Alicia Doolittle '04 in the box and allowing the Big Red to have a penalty kick, which forward Darra Messing '04 converted to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead. During intermission, the Bulldogs had to adapt.

"We made some mental adjustments. Coach told us to finish our shots and go stronger towards the goal," Elizabeth Jarchow, SM '03, said. "That helped us put a couple of goals in the net in the second half."

The attack began 14 minutes into the period. After a series of deft passes, Payne directed a shot past Cauzillo to tie the game at one and eased some of the tension that had permeated the team."Once we score a goal, one or two more usually come and that gives us a lot of confidence," Captain Jennifer Mendoza, BR '01, said.

Less than 15 minutes later, the prolific pair of Chandra King, TD '03, and Ruiz combined to give Yale a lead they would not relinquish. King snaked a pass to Ruiz, who sent a shot that deflected off a Cornell defender's head and eluded Cauzillo's grasp as it traveled into the net.

"Any Ivy League win is big, but this one was even more important," Coach Rudy Meredith said. "It was our first [Ivy win] of the year, and if we are to win the Ivy title we cannot lose any more of our league games."

Payne hoped that the excitement of this win would have implications for future contests. "This gives us momentum for the next few games, which will be very tough," she said. The upcoming stretch will challenge Yale like no other period this year. Their play in the next two weeks will determine whether they will participate in the NCAA tournament. Included in the five games are two match-ups against Ivy powerhouses Dartmouth and Harvard and a battle with No. 1 Notre Dame. Their other two opponents, UConn and Penn, also appeared in the NCAA tournament last year.

W. Soccer

Record:6-3-1, 1-1 Ivy Recent Results: Won at Cornell, 2-1 on Sat., Sept. 30 Coming Up: Wed., Oct. 11 at Dartmouth

While Meredith would love to win each game, he realizes that a sweep against those titans is unlikely. Meredith believes that winning three of these five games will ensure the Bulldogs a berth in the tournament. Mendoza wants to focus on the three league matchups, arguing that if Yale can win those, they will have an excellent chance of capturing the Ivy crown, which would result in an automatic berth to the tournament."If we want to succeed, we have to play our `A' game," Meredith said. If we make mistakes, they will kill us. These are great teams and they will capitalize on our mistakes."

The keys for the Bulldogs will be their offense and ability to play with intensity in the first half. On paper it seems the Elis should have no trouble scoring—they have five of the top 10 scorers in the league. Katherine Sims, CC '04, tops the Ancient Eight with seven goals, and Ruiz, the Ivy Player of the Week, is tied for the lead in assists with five this season. But, at times, the Yale offense has been as cold as a New Haven winter. "We have not been scoring goals in the games that we have lost but I think that we have gotten our act together up front," Meredith said.

The relative timidity and lethargy that has characterized many of the team's first halves must come to an end for the Bulldogs to survive these five opponents. Mendoza has been exhorting her teammates to come out with more intensity and play with a greater sense of purpose early in games. "We start out a little to slow and wait for the other team to score," Mendoza noted. "We need to start as if we were playing from behind."

The challenge starts this week at Dartmouth, a powerhouse that has given the Elis difficulty in the past. The team is confident, however, and if the Elis play as effectively for 90 minutes in Hanover as they did for the second half in Ithaca, they may be able to elude the first obstacle on their hazardous road towards the postseason.

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