Combining heavy Ithaca downpours with a generous portion of talented youth, the No. 14 women’s lacrosse team tried to brew up the perfect recipe to upset No. 4 Princeton. However, even while receiving a combined seven goals from the freshmen and sophomores, the Red (4-3, 1-1 Ivy) fell just short of the victory, losing 9-8 in a double-overtime contest on Scoellkopf Field on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a great game. We came out with a lot of heart and desire,” said junior attacker Allison Schindler. “We proved that we can hang with a top team.”
Princeton’s game-winning goal came with just 14 seconds remaining in the second extra session as the Tigers’ (6-2, 2-0 Ivy) top-two scorers hooked up to preserve the team’s undefeated record in Ivy League play.
Shooting on the run, Lindsey Biles collected her 23rd goal of the season, after catching a pass from Elizabeth Pillion and sneaking the ball by junior goalie Maggie Fava to seal the victory. The assist was Pillion’s team-leading eighth on the season.
“It’s a bummer we lost — we had our chances, but didn’t capitalize,” Schindler said.
Even though Princeton opened up the game’s scoring with Kathleen Miller’s unassisted mark early in the first-half, the Red quickly struck back and led for the rest of the period. Sophomore Margaux Viola served as the catalyst for the Cornell offense, scoring two goals and adding an assist, to help give the Red to a 5-4 halftime lead.
A 3-0 run put Princeton in the driver’s seat early in the second half and the Tigers held on to their two-goal advantage with under nine minutes to play.
The Red fought back, however, behind goals from two first-year players. Amanda Linnertz’s first career score cut the lead in half before Katherine Simmons’ goal with little more than three minutes left forced the game to extra time.
Nonetheless, Cornell, held without a shot throughout overtime, never got the opportunity to pull off the upset before Biles’ game-winner for Princeton.
Fava deserves much of the credit for keeping Cornell within striking distance after halftime. The junior goalie stopped 7-of-12 shots on goal over that span, ending the game with 10 total saves. On the other side, Princeton netminder Sarah Kolodner collected seven saves for the Tigers.
Cornell employed a similar formula against the Tigers — with offensive production coming from many different sources — that had worked in its previous three wins. Five different players got into the scorebook for the Red, including senior Kristin Smith who leads the squad with 18 goals. Schindler also picked up her team-leading sixth assist.
“Everyone’s been a big contributor for us,” Schindler said. “It makes it much harder for other teams’ defenses. Everyone’s a threat and we really work it to our advantage.”
However, against the Tigers, Cornell’s offense was slowed by an inability to control possession off of draw controls, as Princeton enjoyed a 15-6 advantage in that category.
“When we get the draw, we can usually move down the field and score,” Schindler said. “We definitely struggled with that and its definitely something we’re going to focus on in the future.”
Archived article by Scott Reich
Sun Staff Writer