Cameron Pollack / Sun Senior Photographer

The Red used a six-goal scoring run to beat Yale on Saturday.

March 25, 2018

No. 21 Women’s Lacrosse Finds Offensive Rhythm, Downs Yale

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Cornell got off to a strong start and maintained its momentum to handily defeat Yale, 13-8, on Saturday.

Senior midfielder Ida Farinholt was able to find the back of the net less than two minutes into the first half — precipitating a six-goal scoring run for the Red that would leave the Bulldogs (6-3, 2-1 Ivy) scoreless for over 17 minutes.

Cornell (5-3, 2-1) continued to assert its dominance over Yale the entire game — holding the Bulldogs to its lowest-scoring game of the season thus far.

“We focused a lot at practice on not just a set play, but working off of each other and understanding what we’re going to do in a freelance game,” said senior captain and midfielder Taylor Reed. “I think that really translated into what we saw on the field today.”

The Red outmatched the Bulldogs on every level — taking 33 shots to Yale’s 21, causing nine turnovers to Yale’s four, winning 12 draw controls to Yale’s 11 and fielding 13 ground balls to Yale’s seven.

Farinholt, as has been the case for most of the season, led the way for Cornell — tallying five points on the day, winning six draw controls and fielding a ground ball.

But the Red’s Ivy triumph saw contributions from a wide range of players.

Junior attack Tomasina Leska added four goals of her own, while senior midfielder Joey Coffy earned three goals, won two draw controls, fielded two ground balls and caused three turnovers.

Reed also demonstrated her versatility by scoring a goal, winning four draw controls, fielding a ground ball and causing a turnover.

In her career debut for Cornell, sophomore attacker Izzy Zachara scored her first collegiate goal from an assist from Farinholt and also fielded two ground balls.

Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Katie McGahan made eight saves and fielded a ground ball.

The Red knows the conference win puts it in good position heading into the rest of the season.

“Any Ivy win is a huge win,” said junior captain Sarah Phillips. “We’re not looking too far ahead, but the Ivy League is eight really talented teams, so we’re just going to have to keep getting better every day and try to come out on top at the end of the season.”

The Red will take a brief break from Ancient Eight play as it is slated to take on two non-conference opponents — Rutgers (4-6, 0-2 Big 10) on Saturday and No.1 Stony Brook (8-0, 1-0 America East) on April 3.

“We’re just going to continue to build on our offense and lock down our defense as usual,” Reed said. “We just have to play our game next Saturday.”