February 24, 2010

Women’s Lacrosse Starts Season with High Hopes

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As the seasons of several winter sports teams wind down, the women’s lacrosse team is gearing up for its first game of 2010. The team will arrive in Piscataway, N.J., this Saturday for a 12 p.m. game on Rutgers’ turf. This follows a scrimmage last weekend against Albany, and a 9-7 season last year.

“We had a great game against Rutgers last year and they have been an exciting team on our schedule for a while now. To open up with a Big East team, it’s always exciting and it’s challenging,” said head coach Jenny Graap.

“We’re returning a good group of veteran players. An excellent core group of players, especially on the defensive end.” Graap said.

Following the leadership of several polished seniors are nine freshman and 10 sophomores, all of whom are looking to step up their game.

In this Saturday’s game against the Scarlet Knights, the Red can expect some particularly experienced players on the offensive end as Rutgers returns three of its top five scorers from last season. Rutgers senior Brooke Cantwell led the Knights with 32 goals along with 6 assists. She was also named a second team All-Big East and first team IWLCA All-Region honoree. Senior Meghan Flanagan posted 15 assists while junior Kristen Anderson contributed 13 goals and 4 assists. On the Knight’s defensive side, senior Karie McGuire caused 19 turnovers and 20 ground balls, while fellow senior Emily Penn had 17 caused turnovers of her own and 33 ground balls.

In the team’s last meeting with Rutgers it took the Red four rounds of overtime to earn a victory, 8-7. In a thrilling game, Cornell came back from behind by securing three goals in the second half tying up the score, 7-7. Katie Kirk, then a freshman, scored the winning goal with just 2:10 left in the fourth round of overtime.

In its last 12 meetings with Rutgers the Red has fallen only once, in 2007. It hopes to keep this streak going with a victory over the Scarlet Knights to kick off the season.

Original Author: Chyanne Eyde