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Thirty-two seconds into the second overtime period, No. 18 Cornell earned a penalty corner. Olivia Friedberg passed the ball from the left of the goal and found Caroline Ramsey. Ramsey collected and fired, but Abby Neitch walled up to deny the shot. The ball bounced to the middle of the scoring circle where Lieke Leeggangers was called for a foul, setting up another Cornell penalty corner.

Georgia Kelly found Caroline at the top of the circle, who fired a shot, but Neitch stuck her foot out to block the shot. The rebound fell right to Grace Leahy, who slotted the ball past a sprawling Neitch for the game-winning score.

The goal by Leahy lifted Cornell (10-3, 4-1 Ivy League) to a 2-1 double-overtime victory over No. 13 Syracuse (9-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Orange and Big Red each totaled six penalty corners, but Cornell capitalized on their sixth opportunity while SU was held scoreless on its chances.

Earlier in the season on Sept. 6, Syracuse defeated Cornell 4-2. However, for the first five minutes of play on Sunday, neither offense fired a shot. Each team had chances to shoot, but both defenses buckled down, stalling the attacks.

Ashley Plzak fired the first shot of the game at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter, but Neitch made the save. Neitch played the entire game for the first time in her career, filling in for Brooke Borzymowski. SU was called for a foul inside the circle, setting up the first penalty corner for Cornell. Julia Ramsey passed the ball into Caroline, but the Syracuse defense contained the shot before it could reach Neitch in goal.

Eleven minutes into the first quarter, the Orange worked the ball down the field into the Cornell circle, creating a penalty corner. Willemijn Boogert passed the ball to Eefke van den Nieuwenhof. Van den Nieuwenhof collected and fired, but her shot was blocked. The rebound ricocheted out in front of the goal to Pieke van de Pas, but her attempt went wide left.

The first quarter ended scoreless, with each team firing two shots and creating one penalty corner.

Charlotte de Vries created two scoring chances for the Orange during the 25th minute. De Vries dribbled the ball into the right side of the circle and fired a low ball, but Martha Broderick broke up the attack. The ball bounced back out to de Vries, who collected the ball and fired again from the same place, with Broderick denying the shot again.

Right before the 29-minute mark, Syracuse received its second penalty corner. But after Boogert took a shot, Broderick again put her body in front to keep the game knotted scoreless at half. After 30 minutes, Syracuse outshot Cornell 6-2 but only managed two shots on goal.

The Big Red began the third quarter with two penalty corners in the 35th minute. On the first corner, Caroline’s effort was deflected out of bounds by the Orange, setting up Cornell for its third penalty corner of the game. Julia found Caroline again, but Neitch denied the shot with her foot.

Five minutes later, Cornell set up its third penalty corner of the period. Julia Ramsey passed the ball to Claire Wolfe who slid it to Caroline. At the top of the circle, Caroline hit the ball toward Rease Coleman. Coleman redirected the ball past Neitch, giving the Big Red a 1-0 lead.

At the 42nd minute, Hattie Madden was tripped while shooting the ball in the Cornell circle. The foul set up van den Nieuwenhof for a penalty stroke. Entering the game, van den Nieuwenhof had scored six goals off penalty strokes, leading the country. She struck the ball, but Broderick denied it with her left leg.

After three quarters, Cornell led 1-0, using its three penalty corners in the quarter to break the scoreless tie. After 45 minutes, SU led Cornell in shots 9-6 with each team recording three on goal.

At the 51-minute mark, de Vries dribbled down the right side of the field, chipping the ball forwards. The ball trickled its way to a waiting Broderick who whiffed when trying to kick the ball away, leaving Madden with a golden chance to tie the game. Madden fired a shot under the legs of Broderick into the net, trying the game 1-1.

The next seven minutes both offenses stalled with neither team managing a shot. SU was awarded a penalty corner with under two minutes remaining. Boogert passed the ball to Sienna Pegram who settled it for van den Nieuwenhof. Van den Nieuwenhof worked a give-and-go with de Vries, but van den Nieuwenhof had her pass intercepted by Cornell.

At the 58-minute mark, Syracuse earned its second penalty stroke and van den Neiwuenhoff lined up to take the shot. Van den Nieuwenhof struck the ball, but Broderick walled up, deflecting the ball wide left of the cage.

After 60 minutes of regulation, the score was 1-1 despite SU outshooting Cornell 13-6.

During the first overtime period, Cato Schreinemacher was fouled inside the circle, leading to Syracuse’s fifth penalty corner. Schreinemacher found van den Nieuwenhof at the top of the circle, who passed to Boogert. Boogert was closed down, unable to attempt a shot.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first overtime period, Syracuse forced its sixth penalty corner. Bo Madden slotted the ball in to van den Nieuwenhof. She found Lana Hamilton, who tried to score the game-winner, but again the Cornell defense stepped up. The ball rolled to de Vries, who fired a shot, but missed wide.

Cornell wasted no time in the second overtime period. Within the first minute, Cornell had two penalty corners, the latter being Leahy’s game-winning goal.

Published on October 15, 2023 at 7:43 pm