Cornell women’s lacrosse got off to a strong start against a tough Ivy foe on Saturday, leading at halftime, but eventually succumbed to Princeton, 15-10, after a five-goal scoring run by the home team created too much of a deficit to overcome.
The Red (7-7, 2-4 Ivy) traded goals with the Tigers (8-5, 4-1) throughout the first half and headed into the second half holding a one-goal advantage as sophomore attacker Izzy Zachara found the back of the net off of an assist from senior captain Ida Farinholt with a little over a minute left in the half.
“Cornell played a strong first half and we were aggressively going to the net,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “[Freshman midfielder] Grace Paletta netted our first two goals and our defense made some great stops.”
The Tigers seemed to find their rhythm after halftime, however, as they went on a five-goal scoring run to open up the second half.
“Coming out of halftime, we got back on our heels and struggled to stop their fast breaks,” Graap said. “The Tigers got into sync, winning the majority of the draws in the second half.”
The five-goal streak by its opponent didn’t completely doom the Red. Facing a four-goal deficit, the Red remained persistent, netting three goals in the final 15 minutes of the half. But the gap proved too wide to close.
Despite being outmatched in shots and draw controls, Cornell held the statistical advantage over Princeton in both caused turnovers and ground balls — winning six to four and 17 to 13, respectively.
Junior attacker Tomasina Leska led the way for the Red in ground balls — fielding four, while sophomore and senior defenders MK Bonanni and Anna Baumeister each fielded three.
Offensively, sophomore attacker Caroline Allen notched another hat trick, while Farinholt also tallied three points on the day with two goals and an assist. Paletta found the back of the net twice and Zachara, senior midfielder Joey Coffy and junior captain Sarah Phillips added a goal each.
Defensively, Bonanni and senior defender Cait Callahan each caused two turnovers.
Sophomore goalkeeper Katie McGahan also made eight saves and fielded two ground balls as she saw action in all 60 minutes of the match.
With no midweek tilt, the Red will focus all of its attention on rebounding from its loss and securing a spot in the Ivy Tournament as it hits the road once again to take on Harvard at 1 p.m. on Saturday.