Van Rijswijk Scores Gamewinner in Field Hockey's 2-1 Win at Cornell
BOX SCORE
ITHACA, N.Y. – University at Albany field hockey (4-1) rebounded from its first loss with a 2-1 win at Cornell (1-1) on Sunday afternoon. Junior midfielder Fiori Van Rijswijk netted the game-winning goal from Paula Heuser.
“We played a little tired today, but I'm proud of how our team fought back,” said head coach Phil Sykes. “We had some nice defensive stands, and were able to set ourselves up with a few penalty corners to seal the game.”
Just three minutes into the game Paula Heuser had a good look off of a penalty corner, and Kelly Bonner also nearly gave UAlbany the lead two minutes later. The Big Red defense came through with a defensive save on the Bonner attempt to keep the score tied at zero.
Despite coming out swinging, the Great Danes were forced to play from behind from the start, as Cornell converted on a penalty corner with six minutes gone in the first half.
Heuser came right back to score on a penalty corner. The sophomore midfielder and fellow German Pahila Arnold executed a give and go off the penalty corner insert for the score. Liza Morgan had the only other shot on goal between the two teams for the rest of the half.
Cornell earned two consecutive penalty corners early in the first half, but failed to convert on either opportunity. Jaclyn Hibbs garnered a defensive save on one attempt at the 43:55 mark to keep the score tied at one.
Bonner, Heuser and Morgan continued knocking on the door late in the second half, but came up empty-handed. The teams traded penalty corners with less than 10 minutes left in the game, but Maxi Primus and the UAlbany defense held strong.
Heuser charged down on the counterattack down the right side to find Van Rijswijk in the middle for the game-winning goal. Van Rijswijk now ranks second on the team in points with seven (2g, 3a). Heuser leads the team in points with 17 (7g, 3a).
The Big Red had two final penalty corners in the closing minutes, but UAlbany cleared the ball downfield and emerged with the win.
The Purple & Gold hits the road this week for Pacific (Calif.) on Friday at 8:00 p.m., ET, and No. 12 Stanford at 2:00 p.m., ET on Sunday. The contest in Palo Alto will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network.
