On April 5, in junior goaltender Mackenzie Clark’s second start of the season, she made 18 saves against No. 8/7 Princeton for a 0.600 save percentage.
Unfortunately, Clark’s effort at the crease and an eight-goal fourth quarter by the Red were still not enough. Princeton was able to best Cornell with a final score of 12-11 on Saturday.
Princeton now stands at 9-1, 3-0 Ivy and are ranked No. 4 in the country. For Cornell, it is now 8-4, 2-2 Ivy and ranked fourth in the Ivy League.
“I am incredibly proud of Mackenzie Clark and her ability to lead the defensive unit against Princeton,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “She had an outstanding game between the pipes.”
The Red struggled on the draw control, winning only seven while Princeton took 19. The Tigers put up four points in the first period, with no answer from Cornell.
“We got off to a bit of a slow start, and Princeton had the upper hand in the first quarter especially with draw control,” Graap said. “On the draw control I think we really struggled to gain possession and ultimately take shots.”
Princeton’s McKenzie Blake led the team with six goals. Blake is a keystone of the Tigers’ offense — in 2024 her 67 season goals had her claim the No. 3 all-time record by a Tiger.
In the second quarter, Princeton continued its domination with five more goals to Cornell’s one. Cornell’s solitary score was netted by senior attacker Maggie Pons, assisted by senior attacker Josie Vogel.
The Red were also 0-3 on free position shots that it got thanks to fouls.
“Our executions on the eight meter were not strong; we were 0-3 and that was another part of the story of the first half,” Graap said.
To start the second half, Pons was able to find the back of the net and slowly the Red began to fight its way back. Cornell held the Tigers to one goal and were able to get another before the final quarter, with the score at 10-3, Princeton.
Coming back from a seven point deficit is no easy task, but Cornell played a hard fought game. Its comeback began with junior attacker Ella Wilmot scoring thanks to an assist from senior captain and midfielder Caitlin Slaminko.
The Tigers were quick to answer, with McKenzie scoring off a free position shot and gaining her 50th goal of the season. 34 seconds later, Slaminko scored an unassisted goal to take the score to 11-5.
After some back and forth between the two teams, Slaminko took control thanks to a free position shot and found the back of the net. Not soon after, Princeton’s Colette Quinn found her tenth goal of the season.
With another 34-second turnaround, the Red answered with a goal from sophomore attacker Dylan Madigan. 23 seconds later, Cornell crashed down on the goal again as Slaminko connected with senior midfielder Alexa Donahoe to score the Red’s eighth goal of the game.
In the last two minutes of play, Cornell scored three goals coming from Slaminko, senior attacker Kylie Gelabert and Donahoe at the last second. In the end, the Tigers narrowly escaped Cornell with a final score of 12-11.
While the offense came to fight in the final quarter, Princeton’s 45 shots to Cornell’s 29 made the fatal difference.
With more than half of the season under its belt, the Red will finish the season playing three more Ivy teams — two of which are ranked. Each of these matches will be crucial to deciding standings for the Ivy League Tournament in May.
“These are all important conference games,” Graap said. “We have to stand true to our formula of preparing well and starting games with more momentum and more guts.”
Up next, No. 24 Harvard will visit Ithaca to take on the Red at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 12.
Coverage of the matchup will be available on ESPN+.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
