Like she has done so many times before, senior Jaimee Reynolds placed the No. 6 women’s lacrosse team on her back and carried it to victory Saturday. Her five second-half points keyed a game-turning comeback against Harvard at Jordan Field as the Red (12-1, 6-1 Ivy) topped the Crimson, 9-8, to extend its season-high winning streak to seven games.
On its Senior Day, Harvard (7-7, 1-5) jumped on top early, scoring on its first four shots on goal to take a 4-1 lead just over four minutes into the contest.
“We were just shell shocked,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “We called a timeout and we hadn’t even played five minutes yet.”
Behind the three-goal effort of junior attacker Sarah Fischer, Cornell was able to cut the lead to just one midway through the first half. Led by Erin Kutner, who scored her third goal of the contest, the Crimson went on another run, chasing Red goalie Carrie Giancola from the game, to enter the break with a 7-4 lead.
“We had a hard time getting our goals in during the first half,” said Fischer.
Unlike the Red, Harvard was able to convert on nearly all its opportunities during the first 30 minutes of play.
“We happened to catch a good team with a mediocre record when they were playing their best game of the season,” explained Graap. “They were playing really, really inspired.”
Cornell regrouped in the second half and mounted a comeback. Reynolds found the back of the net on a free position shot at 40:48 to bring the Red to within two. The Crimson responded with its eighth and final goal of the game shortly thereafter.
Reynolds and the Red then went to work.
The senior midfielder fed sophomore Jamie Quinn to again cut the Harvard lead to two goals at 8-6. Reynolds then netted three straight to give Cornell its first lead of the day, 9-8, with 9:14 remaining.
“[Reynolds] just stepped up when we needed her,” said Graap. “It wasn’t just her offense, her defensive play and midfield transition play [was excellent] as well.”
Behind a career performance by sophomore goalie Ashley Charron, the Red defense shut down Harvard for the remainder of the game as Cornell held on for the win. Charron recorded six saves in recording her first career win.
“Ashley played exceptionally well so we decided to stay with her,” said Graap. “She earned her keep.”
Reynolds’s five points bring her career total to 178, two short of the school record held by Cari Hills ’98. She also needs just six more goals to tie Hills’s goals record of 131. This was the 60th consecutive game in which the three-time All-American has scored a point.
With the win, the Red clinched second place in the Ivy League. Its 6-1 conference record is its best ever. At 7-0 for the month of April, Cornell also completed its first undefeated month since May 2000, when it defeated Sacred Heart and Johns Hopkins to win the ECAC championship.
The Red will attempt to extend its winning streak to eight — which would be a team record — when it hosts Delaware in its home finale on Wednesday.
Archived article by Owen Bochner