Things did not seem to be going well for the women’s lacrosse team (1-3) at all. After losing its first two games by a margin of 10.5 goals, the preseason-ranked No. 12 Red slid out of the top 20. On Friday, Cornell faced Hofstra (2-2), knowing very well that Rutgers (3-1), the Red’s next opponent, had already beaten this squad earlier in the season.
After struggling on the offensive end for much of the game, the Red dropped its first match of the weekend to the Pride, bringing its record to 0-3.
“I think we had big improvements on the defensive side of the game,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86 after the Hofstra loss. “Offensively, we just really didn’t find a great rhythm.”
However, Sunday was a totally different story. Despite not having any seniors on the field because of injuries, the Red played with defensive brilliance to take down Rutgers, 8-6. Junior Kristin Smith had three goals and the Red’s new starting goaltender, sophomore Maggie Fava, had a career-high 10 saves.
“I definitely think that Fava will step up for us this season,” said senior co-captain Jaime Quinn.
In its first game this weekend against Hofstra, the Red seemed to come out slow, which proved fatal against a very fast and athletic Hofstra squad. The Pride scored the first three goals of the contest before junior Kristin Smith picked up the first of her four goals in the contest off a wraparound shot to make it a 3-1 contest. The Pride rebounded before the first half ended however, when Hofstra senior Mary Ramano made it 4-1 with only twenty seconds left.
After the Pride’s Caitlin Connolly made it 5-1 early in the second half, the Red reacted with a bit of an offensive surge. Smith garnered her second goal of the night, while Quinn got her first to cut the deficit to two. This is as close as the Red would get however, as the Pride then proceeded to go on a 3-1 run to give Hofstra the 8-4 lead. Despite a late push by the Red to bring it within two, the game ended with a score of 11-9.
“We normally play a finesse attack,” Graap explained. “But tonight that isn’t what we needed. We needed more one vs. one