Cornell’s women’s soccer team kept its Midwest Conference postseason hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over Illinois College Sunday afternoon at Green Athletic Field.
The Rams stand seventh in the league race with seven points, although still control their own fate with two matches left in the regular season.
The Rams snapped a four-match scoreless drought with a pair of second-half goals against the Lady Blues.
Sanne Croes netted her team-leading fifth goal of the season on an assist from Kylie Hard just a few seconds into the second half, putting the Rams ahead 1-0. Elise Hermiston added an insurance goal at the 78-minute mark to complete the scoring.
Cornell dominated the match statistically with a 22-9 advantage in shots. Croes and Sam O’Brien led the Rams with five attempts apiece. Hermiston and Sydney Hancox both attempted three shots
Elise Thomason-Larsen had four saves in the complete-game victory, her fifth shutout of the fall.
Sunday’s win capped a rough week for the Cornell women, as they lost to Lawrence 1-0 Saturday and lost to Knox 2-0 Tuesday.
In the Lawrence game, Cornell attempted seven shots in the first half, although couldn’t convert from its efforts. The score remained 0-0 going into halftime.
Lawrence took advantage of a fortunate bounce its way to score the only goal of the match 14 minutes into the second half.
The Rams outshot the Vikings, 11-6, for the match. Kylie Hard led the attack with three shots. Sanne Croes attempted two shots. Six Rams had one shot: Georgia James, Amelia Brown, Marina Mayorga, Emma Daugherty, Elise Hermiston, and Maddalin Doran. Elise Thomason-Larsen played the full 90 minutes in goal. She recorded four saves in the match.
Knox converted on the first of its seven corner kick chances, grabbing a 1-0 lead only three minutes into the contest. Emma Art scored her second goal of the match at the 14-minute mark, giving Knox a 2-0 cushion that wound up the final margin.
The Rams were limited to five shots. Sydney Hancox, Sanne Croes and Sam O’Brien each had one attempt on goal.
Goalkeeper Elise Thomason-Larsen gathered six saves, working the full 90 minutes. The Prairie Fire attempted 13 shots, eight in the second half.