Bruno’s Naya Cardoza ’26 scored the team’s first goal in the 78th minute.
Courtesy of Brown Athletics
This past weekend, as parents, students and the cold wind alike descended upon Stevenson-Pincince Field, women’s soccer readied themselves for a crucial Senior Day matchup against Cornell. After 90 minutes of play, Bruno stood one goal over the Big Red after a phenomenal second-half attacking performance.
The Bears’ win over Cornell has put them in the Ivy League Tournament for the second year in a row. Last season’s tournament was unproductive for Bruno, whose loss to Columbia in the first round underperformed expectations and ended a 28-game undefeated streak against Ivy opponents. This year’s team now looks ahead for revenge.
“It’s kind of like a weight lifted off your shoulders,” Head Coach Kia McNeill said. “We can take a deep breath, play as a team a little bit and just know that we have a little bit more to play after next weekend.”
“There were a lot of doubts earlier on, especially because we’re so young. We’ve lost a lot of key players,” defender and captain Lexi Quinn ’25 said. “This game is just a testament to everything we can do.”
Though not apparent on the stat sheet, the first half of play was a challenge for Bruno. The Bears managed to outshoot the Big Red 6-3, but were challenged early on to establish a consistent attack going forward.
Though the Bears were effective on offense, they often found themselves stuck in and around the left side of their own box. While Bruno didn’t allow opportunities on their goal, Cornell’s ability to press the ball and create chances from that left side gave their fans a lot to cheer about in the early half.
Cornell managed five corners to Bruno’s one during this first-half period.
“The wind played a lot more of a factor than we even anticipated going into the game,” McNeill said. “We got pinned in our half a little bit and our formation didn’t really match up against Cornell, so we made a couple switches at halftime.”
Despite the early struggles to get out of the Cornell press, Bruno was more productive in the attack. The Bears’ counterattacking unit — composed of Ella Weil ’28, Ayla Sahin ’28 and Joy Okonye ’27 — went forward with goals on their mind.
The combination of Sahin’s speed, Okonye’s ability to provide crucial assists and Weil’s height and physicality makes the trio a challenge for any defense to handle. They proved their worth in the first half — every time the Bears got into Cornell’s third of the field, there was blood in the water.
One of the unsung heroes of the first half was forward Nadja Meite ’28. Her ability to win a cleared ball and get turned was what drove the Bears forward, allowing them to get up the field quickly and try to catch their center backs out.
The second half was a change for the Bears. They were dominant in possession and barely left the Cornell half, spending a majority of the second on the attack. Waves of attack after attack left the crowd with only one question: When would the goal come?
The answer arrived in the 78th minute. After a corner by Karlie Schlosser ’25, the team’s two center backs linked up to fire the Bears in front. Quinn flicked on the ball to Naya Cardoza ’26, who headed home the Bears winner.
“It’s amazing,” Cardoza said after the game. “Today was Senior Day for us, so being able to step on this field and play for the seniors and also just clinch our spot in the Ivy League Tournament, it was a really big win.”
Even though the Big Red was able to occupy the left side of the Brown defense, they were unable to play through the center. Cardoza, Quinn and Layla Shell ’25.5 closed that part of the field off, relegating the Cornell attack to long, low-danger crosses from the outside.
“Offense is mostly just chances, but defense is all what you can control, what you can do and being proactive,” Quinn said.
In the second half, Cardoza delivered a dominant performance. At times, she would push all the way up to the halfway line, taking the ball off Big Red attackers before their play could even begin to develop. Her ability to dig in and do the dirty work was paramount to maintaining the Bears’ high attacking play, which registered 11 second-half shots to Cornell’s three.
Her efforts during the game earned Cardoza a selection as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.
“We have some very talented forwards, so the more that we can get bumped up and stay in the opposition’s path, the better,” Cardoza said. “We get more chances, we get more possession points … we’re getting crosses in the box. Once our forwards get going, they can’t be stopped.”
During the post-game interview, Cardoza had a bump on her forehead, the result of taking a cleat to the face and a marker of her physical, lock-down performance.
The Bears will take on Dartmouth on Nov. 2 for their final regular season matchup of the year. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Dennis Carey is a Sports Editor who enjoys playing volleyball, listening to and collecting vinyl records, and poorly playing the guitar in his spare time.
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