The women’s lacrosse team suffered a tough 12-10 loss on Saturday at the hands of traditional Ivy League powerhouse No. 6 Dartmouth. Coming off a dramatic victory against No. 16 Princeton just one week before, Cornell (7-3, 3-2 Ivy League) was looking to capitalize on its early season success and make a run at the Ivy League title against the Green.
Unfortunately, a strong second half by the Green eliminated any thoughts about a regular season title. Although the championship is still very much in reach, the Red has a very difficult schedule ahead — with games against Syracuse, Yale and Brown.
The game’s first half was very even, with each team putting up five goals in competitive play. Dartmouth (8-4, 4-0) went up a goal very early in the game, but senior attack Olivia Knotts took a nice pass from senior captain Jessi Steinberg to tie the game, 1-1. The rest of the first half was back and forth, as each team matched the other in intensity and competitiveness and the teams went into the locker room with the game tied, 5-5. In the second half, Dartmouth came out firing, as the Green scored three consecutive goals in the first six minutes of the period. Although Steinberg scored a goal to keep the Red within striking distance, it was unable to do much to slow Dartmouth’s charge — the team scored four more goals to leap ahead, 12-6, with 13:12 remaining in the game. The widening lead spurred a dramatic comeback by Cornell, as the Red scored four consecutive goals to get within two. Two goals by junior attack Caroline Salisbury and one each from senior midfielder Shannon McHugh and Knotts contributed to the comeback. However, when Cornell scored its fourth goal of the second half, only 34 seconds remained in the game. The rally was too little too late, and Dartmouth went on to win the game. Cornell has lost to Dartmouth five consecutive times, as the current class of seniors has yet to beat the Green. Dartmouth is on pace to win the Ivy League regular season title, as the team has not lost a game in League play. Cornell will finish its regular season schedule with games at home Yale (7-21, 1-7) and away at Brown (6-16, 3-5), both North Division rivals for the Red. These games are significant, as the Red needs at least one win to secure a berth in the Ivy League tournament.
Original Author: Nicholas Rielly