Last night, the women’s lacrosse teams gained an impressive 17-5 victory over Colgate. The No. 14 Red improved its record to 7-1, and 2-1 in the Ivy League, while the visitors fell to 5-5.
As a beautiful sunset swept the sky over Schoellkopf Field, Colgate opened an attack on the home team. The Red Raider’s Heather Smith scored two fast goals against a sluggish Cornell team. The 2-0 score awakened the Red, who by the 17:20 mark nailed a pair in the net to even the score.
“Well, honestly I think we were the faster team and the deeper team, their bench was pretty slight, and they had a pretty small squad. They had us scared in the first few minutes, we didn’t start quickly which has been a problem for us when we are going against teams that are not in the rankings, that we don’t hear about, that we don’t get all pumped up and fired to play.” stated head coach Jenny Graap ’86.
Once started, Cornell went on to score nine more goals for a first half total of 11. The women controlled and most of the game was played on the Red’s offensive half of the field. Cornell’s domination allowed Colgate only 19 shots, compared to the Red’s 36 attempts.
Leading the way for the Red was sophomore Sarah Averson, who scored four goals, all in the first half. Fellow attacker junior Lori Wohlshlegal added two goals and two assists, and co-captain Ginny Miles fired in two scores. Sophomore Sarah Fischer hit in another pair of tallies and dished an assist, and classmate Erica Holveck knocked in a goal and gave an assist. The attackers got the team back on track and focused the rest of the game.
“I am really proud of our team tonight, because although they came out with a two goal lead, we didn’t give up we came back, and we stayed composed,” praised sophomore Annie Boccella.
After the intermission, the Red brought in the reserves. Graap gave the entire team some time on the field. Even with the bench playing, Cornell still dominated the game. Opening the second half, the Red scored the initial three goals, to bring the score to 14-2. The home team held Colgate scoreless the first 12 minutes after the break. The Red slowed the tempo down, and the squad executed plays to perfection, scoring some effortless-looking goals, especially a solid hit by sophomore Meghan Dickerson with 21:35 remaining.
The teams traded off scoring the final six goals, but Cornell got the last shot with 0:07 to go in the game. Sophomore Anne Pfeffer nailed the closing goal from a feed by freshman Kristy Wasson.
“Our attack took it right to them so that so the entire team got a little experience and play on the field and everyone contributed,” added Boccella
The defense played tough, with junior Katie McCorry leading the way. She held her mark scoreless and tallied two checks and three ground balls.
“Freshman Heather Galey played very well recording 2 checks, 1 interception, and 3 ground balls. Sophomore Abby Beyer earned a drawn charge and a check. Our pressure on the Colgate attackers was consistent throughout the game,” lauded Graap.
Between the poles, junior Carrie Giancola played the first half and netted three saves with two goals against her. Splitting tending duties in the second half, freshman Ashley Charron made two saves and allowed two scores, and sophomore Amy Sharenko let one goal slip by her.
“We played the whole team; the second half was all the young players. I was very pleased with our younger players today. For some of them I feel this is the first quality minutes they have gotten all season. They looked poised and they didn’t make a lot of mistakes. They look the way I want them to look: sharp. I am really pleased we got that experience for them and were able to get those younger players some more playing time,” Graap extolled.
Cornell next faces Ivy rival Dartmouth in New Hampshire. The match is this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
“We are excited for Dartmouth,” finished Graap.
Archived article by Cammy Kandiko