By ryan March 26, 2001
In a town known for its ubiquitous precipitation, it was a half-hour long dry spell that overshadowed the men’s lacrosse team’s contest with unranked Penn State March 17, on East Hill. The Red couldn’t muster a single goal in the second half and fell 8-7, after holding a 7-4 advantage at halftime. Junior Galen Beers continued to shine on the offensive end, collecting four of Cornell’s tallies. The visitors drew first blood as Will Driscoll beat junior netminder Justin Cynar just over ten seconds into the match. The Red came out somewhat lethargic and Driscoll would find the back of the net again to expand the Nittany Lion lead. The laxers awoke from their slumber during the final five minutes of the opening quarter. With Penn State’s Mike Herscha serving a one minute sentence for unnecessary roughness, Beers scored his eighth goal of the season. The challengers did prove to be the more undisciplined squad, accruing eight penalties to the homeside’s two. Penn State was down a man when the Red struck next as senior David Key evened the game. His goal was followed less than a minute later by another Beers strike to give Cornell its first lead of the afternoon. A high-octane second quarter increased Cornell’s lead going into the intermission. By the numbers, it seemed that the Red should have gone on to win comfortably. The hosts earned a 45-32 advantage on ground balls, took seven more shots and won 10 of 18 faceoffs. The Lions returned from the locker room ready for battle and methodically ate away at the deficit. Eric Wood connected with Rob Booth just two minutes in to close the gap to two. After the squads traded penalties, Herscha shaded the deficit to one on an unassisted marker. Cornell had chances but any hope of offensive production was stymied by the strong netminding of Penn State’s Matt Vallone. The senior stalwart finished with 19 saves on the day. Vallone’s counterpart, junior Justin Cynar, collected 17 saves on the day. The Red’s offensive troubles seemed distant in the second quarter though. After Beers gave Cornell its first lead, the team rattled off three more unanswered scores. Junior Billy Fort recorded his third goal of the season to give the team a 5-2 lead. Cornell benefited from the magnanimous play of junior Scott Lee, who tallied two helpers in a five minute span, connecting first with senior Drew Schardt and then with Beers. But it would be the Nittany Lions’ offensive machine that made the difference in the end. Just over six minutes into the final stanza, Luke Oglesby found Mike Kern to even the contest at seven. Moments latter, Vallone was tagged for slashing and senior Sean Huss served the one minute penalty. Huss didn’t like what he saw on the scoreboard from the sideline and returned determined to put the visitors on top. Three minutes later he seized the opportunity when he put one past Cynar, shooting through a screen. It proved to be the knock-out punch as neither side would score again in the closing minutes of the game. The Red traveled to Yale Saturday having lost its last two games, but managed to regroup against the Elis, winning 13-11. With this most recent win, Cornell has now defeated the New Haven school 36 times. The Red has only collected more wins against Hobart, Pennsylvania and Harvard. The laxers opened the game with an explosive first quarter with a dynamic start that has become a trademark of this team. Cornell found the back of the net eight times in the first quarter. The onslaught forced Yale to pull netminder Eric Wenzel midway through the second stanza in favor of Adam Oppenheimer. Coming off a scoreless second half against Penn State, Key wasted little time putting Cornell back on the scoresheet. Sophomore Michael Egan, who would himself notch four goals on the day, connected with the senior co-captain just under two minutes into the game. Moments later, Key returned the favor finding Egan whose shot beat Wenzel. The game was a veritable sophomore party. Egan’s four goals were his first of the season, and classmate J.P. Schalk claimed his first two tallies on the year. The hosts could only manage one goal in the first period of play, with that tally coming off the stick of Blake Beechler. The score followed Key’s second goal of the game. But from that point on the Cornell offensive machine began firing on all cylinders. In what has become a theme of the season, the scoring came from a wide assortment of contributors. The team has had to distribute the scoring, and as the contest with Yale showed, Cornell enjoys success when it successfully does so. Six different laxers were credited with the Red’s next seven goals. However, it was the standout play of Egan and Key that put the Red ahead and preserved the lead when the Bulldogs mounted their furious comeback. The senior beat Oppenheimer four minutes into the final quarter to put Cornell ahead 11-8, after Yale netted seven unanswered goals to close to within two. The Bulldogs would never get any closer due to the stingy defense of the visitors. Cynar made 12 saves in goal for the Red while the tandem of Wenzl and Oppenheimer combined for a nine save effort. It was a disappointing second half for the victors, though, who have now had two consecutive letdowns after holding a lead at halftime. Cornell was uncharacteristically outclassed at the face off circle. Yale won 16 of the day’s 27 opportunities. The Bulldogs also increased their hustle enough following the first quarter to close the gap and pick up 34 ground balls to the Red’s 37.Archived article by Gary Schueller
By ryan March 26, 2001
The No. 14 Cornell women’s lacrosse team (5–0, 2–0 Ivy) rolled to three straight victories this past week, knocking off Columbia, Vanderbilt and Pennsylvania. In a display of its rising dominance, the Red led or tied in all but two minutes and 12 seconds over the stretch of 180 minutes of game time. The women have now won 10 straight games dating back to last season. With each successive game, the team displayed a different face. In its first game, the Red used a balanced offensive attack to down Columbia, although it didn’t blow out the Lions as expected. “We didn’t perform well at all, in spite of the score,” head coach Jenny Graap ’86 lamented. “We were not satisfied with our effort. The score is not we’re focusing on — we’re trying to learn something from every game.” The team jumped out to a 6–2 lead in the first half on the strength of junior Jaimee Reynolds’ three goals, but couldn’t put Columbia away. In the opening minutes of the second half, the Lions cut the lead to three before Cornell reeled off six straight goals en route to its first Ivy League win of the season, 12–5. Junior Lori Wohlschlegel picked up a hat trick, helping her earn an Ivy League honor roll nod for the week. Sophomore Sarah Fischer and freshman Michelle Allen each scored two, while junior netminder Carrie Giancola saved four shots. Because of the slight Lion–comeback, the Red was forced to keep many of its starters in the game and wasn’t able to play many reserves, as was expected. “They are the weakest team in the Ivies and there are certain objectives that we need to accomplish,” Graap said. “We weren’t performing at the level that we should have.” In its second game, using the lackluster performance as motivation, Cornell looked to avenge last year’s 12–6 loss to Vanderbilt (0–4). At the time, the Red was 5–0 and riding high, before the No. 13 Commodores brought it back to earth. This time around, determined to keep its winning streak alive, Cornell used an incredible amount of mental and physical toughness to hold off a pesky Vandy squad. The Commodores opened the game with a free position score six minutes into the game. Just 47 seconds later junior co–captain Ginny Miles took a nice pass from Wohlschlegel to knot the game at one. After another Vandy goal, Fischer tied the game with a free position score. Cornell then scored five of the next six goals through the beginning of the second half, taking a 7–3 lead. Just as the women were settling into cruise control, the Commodores struck three times in ten minutes, two within 25 seconds of each other, to close the gap to 7–6 with 14 minutes yet to play. But as it has all season, the defense kicked into gear and held its opponent without a goal the rest of the way to preserve the victory. Despite the close score, the Red actually controlled much of the game, recording 27 shots to Vandy’s 11. The opposing goalie had a stellar individual performance, nullifying many of the Red’s chances. “We really did dominate most of the game,” Graap confirmed. “We shot so much that it became a factor against us, as they would take the ball and counter. “Our defense had not been tested, and we were a little bit cold,” she continued. “Overall, it was a very clean game as everyone played solid lacrosse.” Miles tallied her third goal of the afternoon at the nine–minute mark, making the final score 8–6. The most amazing statistic of the day was that the team as a whole only had five turnovers. The final game of the week saw the Red revert to its old ways and start out a bit sluggish as it mustered a 2-2 tie after almost 20 minutes of play. “We didn’t play very well,” Graap agreed. “We came out flat while they were feisty and aggressive. That was a frustration for my team. I tried to prepare them for that, but they didn’t respond quickly enough. We’ve got to continually work hard. “But we learned a lesson. Every team wants to beat us. Now it’s a very different mental preparation going into games. For me as a coach it’s different when they’re expected to win. When we’re higher ranked, we have to play consistently.” A goal by Averson and two by Miles gave the team the boost it needed, as it led 5–3 going into the half. However, early in the second half, Penn’s Jenny Hartman scored two goals around one by Miles, cutting the lead to 6–5 with 20 minutes left in the game. The team was in a dogfight once again, and as in its previous game, the defense came to the rescue. Junior Kate McCorry and company shutdown the Quakers the rest of the way, while a quartet of forwards hit goals to give Cornell a 10–5 victory. Sophomore Katie Lavin got the offense rolling again by scoring her first goal of the season at the 9:41 mark. Miles, Reynolds, and Wohlschlegel soon followed suit. Miles finished with four goals, recording her second straight hat trick while Reynolds notched her team–leading 14th goal. Giancola had another solid day in the box, saving nine shots while playing the full 60 minutes. The team next plays Stanford on Berman Field tomorrow at 4 p.m. “We’re excited about the three home games coming up, and we’re looking forward to warm weather,” Graap laughed.Archived article by Sumeet Sarin