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ITHACA, N.Y. – An early lead fell apart and a comeback fell short for Cornell women's lacrosse on Saturday as visiting Penn came to Schoellkopf Field and left with a tight 11-10 victory.

Cornell (6-2, 2-1 Ivy League) had a 3-0 lead early in the game and controlled possession, but the Quakers (5-2, 3-0) stormed back to take an 8-7 advantage at halftime and keep the Big Red to just three goals in the second half.

No. 18 Cornell managed to keep No. 8 Penn to a mere three goals in the final 30 minutes as well, and the Big Red rallied for two goals in the final 6:03, but two yellow cards in the game's final 93 seconds stopped any chance for a game-tying goal. Penn played keep-away as the clock expired.

Jessi Steinberg led the way offensively with five goals and one assist for six total points. The game was Steinberg's fourth this year scoring at least four goals.

“Obviously Jessi Steinberg played really well,” coach Jenny Graap said, “but simultaneously we became more of a one-person team, which we haven't been this whole year.”

Also factoring in with multiple goals was Chelsea Rowe, whose two scores came on free position shots. Kyla Dambach played most of the first half in goal and made two saves, while Courtney Gallagher saw action in the final 33 minutes and recorded five saves.

Things looked great for the Big Red in the early minutes, as the team controlled possession and did not allow Penn to get hold of the ball for nearly 10 full minutes. Cornell scored three goals in that time span – one each by Olivia Knotts, Rowe and Steinberg – and held a 3-0 lead.

But the Quakers followed by showing why they are a highly ranked team and scored eight of the game's next 11 goals. Penn went on a four-goal run late in the half and forced a goalie change while taking an 8-6 lead.

Rowe scored her second free position goal in the half to make it 8-7 at the break, and Steinberg's fourth goal on four minutes into the second half again brought Cornell within one at 9-8.

After that, though, the Big Red went cold. Penn scored the game's next two goals to take an 11-8 lead, and Cornell went 20 full minutes without finding twine. Finally, with 6:03 to go, Caroline Salisbury got her only goal on a free position shot to make it 11-9. Steinberg followed with her fifth goal just 24 seconds later to threaten the Quakers, but the Big Red could not complete the late comeback.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday at No. 14/19 Princeton. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.