The women’s lacrosse team failed to avenge last year’s loss and fell again at the hands of Syracuse last night. The No. 11 Red (8-3, 3-2 Ivy) dropped the game 9-7 to the No. 15 Orange (7-4, 3-1 Big East) in the Carrier Dome. Although the Red was beaten, the team played a good game and competed with an under-ranked Syracuse team. The game was aggressive, hard-hitting and really fast.
“It was very, very physical game,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86.
The Carrier Dome provided a different setting for the Red, who is more accustomed to outdoor games. The Dome’s audience, filled with Cornell fans cheering helped the squad break out early.
Freshman Michelle Allen had a huge game for the Red, scoring the first three goals for the team. Syracuse and Cornell traded off goals for the opening minutes of play. Allen’s third and final goal came with two minutes remaining in the half.
S.U. got the draw control, and Syracuse freshman Leigh-Ann Zimmer scored her team’s fifth goal with 31 seconds to the intermission. She had three tallies on the night. Again the Orange won the faceoff, and hit a sweet shot into the net with 17 seconds remaining. That goal closed out the half, with SU leading 6-3.
“The draw control in the first half was a problem because they won practically every one, they were 8-2 in the first half draw control. That is giving up possession every time at the 50-yard line. I thought our defense did a great job, but eventually our defense would break down, and they would score. We just didn’t have enough offensive opportunities to counterbalance they number of opportunities Syracuse had,” Graap said of her team’s first half play.
“I think Syracuse is an excellent team, I think we had some moments where we lulled a little bit — the end of the first half we gave up some goals that we shouldn’t have given up,” she continued.
Syracuse maintained its momentum going into the second half. The Orange needed a little over two minutes before they scored its seventh goal. Cornell suffered a tough break when sophomore Erica Holveck had to be taken out of the game.
“I am pleased with the defenders, we got a lot of people in, we had a couple of injuries — Erica Holveck turned her ankle and Rachael Friedman took a stick to the head, so we were subbing a lot and using other people, and I thought Katie Lavin did a great job for us. She had a good game,” praised Graap of her versatile defense.
Cornell had possession of the ball, and was preparing to attack when Syracuse’s Erica Hofmann stole the ball and sprinted down the field, going all the way to make the shot. She scored SU’s eighth goal, giving her team its largest lead of the night.
The Orange won the draw control again and looked to attack. A penalty by junior Katie McCorry gave SU a free shot, but it was called back due to a crease violation.
The Red offense seemed hesitant for a while against the bigger and taller home team. Both defenses held, and junior goalkeeper Carrie Giancola came up with some huge saves. Finally at the 19:19 mark junior Lori Wohlschlegal was able to break though the Syracuse defense and score Cornell’s fourth goal.
The visiting team looked to be rushing its offense during the next five minutes. The Red took hard shots, and missed passes. Eventually, the team regained control, and junior Ginny Miles came up with Cornell’s fifth goal at the 13:46. Her unassisted shot brought the score to 8-5.
The Orange answered a minute later with its ninth, and final, goal. The pace of the game slowed down after sophomore Rachael Friedman left the field after being whacked on the head with a stick.
Cornell pulled together, and Jaimee Reynolds scored the Red’s sixth goal at the 9:04 mark. The Red won the draw control, and Wohlschlegal put the ball away 30 seconds later to bring Cornell within two. That was the final goal of the game, as the defenses stepped up and both goalkeepers came up with some big saves.
“Even at the start of the second half we were a little slow to get into it,” bemoaned Graap. “At other times we were fine, we just had those moments where they capitalized on us being just a little tentative. It was a close game, I thought we made a good comeback in the second half, but we didn’t get some critical calls from the officials, which is a little frustrating,
“We turned around the draw control in the second half though, we put in freshman Jamie Quinn, who is 5-11, I think she did a good job for us, trying to change up that draw control, I was very pleased with that,” she added.
Cornell pulled ahead on the draw control, winning eight to three in the second half.
“Overall I am pleased. Sure, I would have loved to have won, but I am pleased we played a solid game, a team game, where we have struggled a little bit, even in our wins. We have struggled to come together, and I think today at least we did that. It was a great game, two good teams. It’s a wonderful rivalry right in our backyard,” Graap summed up.
Cornell returns to Ivy action this weekend when it travels to Yale to battle the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Archived article by Cammy Kandiko