On a rainy Friday night on Schoellkopf Field, the women’s lacrosse team battled defending national champion Princeton, and the Tigers came away with a 9-2 victory. The loss was the Red’s (6-1, 2-1 Ivy) first in regular season play in more than a year. Cornell fell to the Tigers (6-3, 2-0 Ivy), last March 30, 16-12, at Princeton.
“We were really fired up coming into the game, we really wanted to beat Princeton. Maybe we focused too much on that, and lost track of the fundamentals and the composure you need to win a big game,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86.
The two teams battled fiercely for the first seven minutes of the game, with both defenses holding firm against the attack. Princeton struck first, as Alex Fiore caught a pass from Whitney Miller from behind the net, and shot it past junior Ashley Charron. Elizabeth Pillon added another score for the Tigers two minutes later, as she weaved through the defense to get the shot on net.
Miller added a tally of her own on a one-timer, and Theresa Sherry hit the back of the net to give Princeton a 4-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the half.
The Red got on the board a minute later, as junior Jaime Quinn caught a high pass from senior Sarah Fischer and one-timed it past Princeton goalie Sarah Kolodner.
The Tigers claimed a 6-1 halftime lead as both Sherry and Miller scored for the second time in the half. The Red had a good scoring chance near the end of the half, as a Cornell attacker was unable to convert on a quickstick shot.
Quinn added her second tally of the game two minutes into the second half on the same exact play as her first goal. Sophomore Julia Hughey fed the ball from behind the net, and Quinn dropped it down past Kolodner to cut the Tigers’ lead to four.
Princeton came back with its seventh goal three minutes later, as Leigh Slonaker picked up a ground ball in front of the net and shot it in past Charron. Pillion and Sherry notched their second and third goals, respectively, to cap off the scoring with 15 minutes left in the game.
“I think the tougher teams play intensely all the time, and our schedule up to this point has been fairly easy, so we came in undefeated,” said Graap. Princeton has had a few losses, but they had played four top teams in the nation, and I think that experience was really on their side.”
The Red’s offense was unable to solve Kolodner, who was solid in net for Princeton, making nine saves on the game.
For Cornell, Charron saved six.
“I think Ashley played well in the cage,” said Graap. “There were times in the second half where she shined a little bit more, stepping out and getting some interceptions.”
Seniors Sarah Fischer and co-captain Rachel Friedman each scooped up four ground balls. The laxers held the ground ball advantage over Princeton 28 to 26, while the Tigers outshot the Red 20 to 16.
“Our defense did an excellent job. The score in the second half was 3-1 Princeton, and if we had kept down their goals in the first half, it would have been a tighter game,” remarked Graap. “I think [sophomore] Annie Berkery played exceptionally well for us all night, and she was really instrumental in carrying the ball down field in transition.”
Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach