Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – With a berth in the Ivy League Tournament already clinched earlier in the week, it would have been easy for the Big Red women's lacrosse team to overlook Brown on Saturday and instead look ahead to next weekend's postseason.
 
That didn't happen, though, as the Big Red roared out to a 6-1 lead early in the game and powered through to a 16-8 win over the Bears at Stevenson Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
“We had some games with Yale and Binghamton where we didn't always bring 60 minutes of energy and intensity, and we looked at this game today as one where we wanted to show our consistent effort and the passion that we have to play lacrosse,” Cornell head coach Jenny Graap said. “The goal for today was to not take an opponent lightly in the Ivy League, but also to be thinking about Cornell lacrosse and what we want it to represent.”
 
Senior midfielder Katie Kirk had a first-half hat trick to lead Cornell, eight other players scored in the first half alone, Caroline Salisbury and Shannon McHugh had hat tricks as well, and freshman Carly Gniewek made eight second-half saves in net.
 
“We trust everybody,” Kirk said of the varied offense. “There's no go-to player. It's not like a high school or college team that has that one all-star player. Granted, we have players like that, but we trust everybody else to step up as well.”
 
Cornell (11-4, 5-2 Ivy League) finishes out its regular season tied for second in the Ivy League and will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend's Ivy League Tournament. The Big Red will face second-seeded Dartmouth in the tournament, which will be played at top seed Penn. Brown (6-8, 1-6) saw its season come to an end Saturday.
 
The win for Cornell was its 13th consecutive victory against the Bears dating back to 2000. Cornell is 7-0 in true road games in 2012, and the Big Red eclipsed 10 wins for the first time since 2006.
 
Brown scored the game's first goal less than a minute in, but Shannon McHugh won the ensuing draw control and set up Cornell for its first offensive possession. A pass to Katie Kirk resulted in the senior getting fouled inside the fan, and Kirk took advantage of a free position opportunity by going to the top right corned to tie the game at 1-1 and start a 6-0 run.
 
After Cornell turned the ball over on its next three positions, the team took advantage of another free position shot, again by Kirk. Sneaking in from the left side all alone, Brown had no choice but to commit a shooting space violation. Kirk again made the Bears pay, beating goalie Isabel Harvey after making a couple fakes on the free position attempt.
 
Less than a minute later, Amanda D'Amico made it 3-1 when she took a pass from Chelsea Rowe. Rowe got fouled on her way out of bounds, and she restarted play by leading a pass to an open D'Amico in the offensive zone. D'Amico charged right at the net and scored her 14th goal of the year.
 
Chelsea Rowe, playing in her first contest in nearly two weeks, got the fourth Cornell goal on a nice cutting move. Kirk found Rowe slashing toward the cage, and Rowe made her first shot of the day count. The goal, her eighth of the year, was her first since April 14.
 
Kirk completed her had trick just 17 minutes into the game in a man-up situation. Lauren Halpern had the ball set up behind the net, and a cutting Kirk shot immediately after receiving a pass. The shot went high and just under the crossbar, making it a 5-1 advantage for the Big Red.
 
“We really looking to move the ball against them, and I think we did that well,” Kirk said. “We looked mainly for the open person, and I was in the right spot at the right time.”
 
Kelly Lang, who scored four goals against Binghamton on Tuesday, scored the Big Red's sixth goal on Saturday. A bad pass in the Cornell offensive zone led to the ball bouncing around inside the fan, and Lang came up with the ground ball. With a nice lane to the goal, Lang shot immediately, and her attempt low and right got past Harvey to make it 6-1.
 
McHugh got the seventh Big Red goal on a low bouncing shot from way out on the right side. Olivia Knotts gave it to McHugh from behind the net, and McHugh's attempt went low and bounced twice before sneaking past Harvey.
 
Caroline Salisbury used her excellent power to make it 8-2 and force a goaltending change for the Bears. Salisbury drove the ball past Harvey from the right side from about the same spot as McHugh's goal, but Salisbury's shot was a rocket that stayed high and made Cornell's lead its largest of the game to that point.
 
Freshman Lindsay Toppe earned her first goal less than 60 seconds later thanks to a nice feed by Jessi Steinberg. After Steinberg drew a yellow card by bringing the ball right in front of the crease, she decided to pass down low to Toppe instead of taking a free position shot. Toppe didn't hesitate, getting the ball past new goalie Kellie Roddy to make it 9-2.
 
After Brown scored the game's next two goals, Lauren Halpern capitalized on a free position attempt. Another Brown yellow card gave the Big Red a man-up situation, and Halpern snuck in front of the net and forced another shooting space violation on the Bears. Her goal made it 10-4 and was the fifth time this season Cornell had reached double digits in the first half.
 
A flawless transition by the Big Red with under 30 seconds remaining in the half resulted in Knotts' lone goal. After a caused turnover by Claire MacManus and a ground ball by Ali O'Neil, Halpern sprinted up the field for the clear, found Salisbury to her right, and Salisbury whipped a pass to Knotts right in front of the net. Knotts found twine with a mere two seconds showing on the clock, and it was 11-5 at halftime.
Once the second half began, Cornell switched goaltenders, inserting Gniwek in placeo f starter Kyla Dambach. Gniewek was terrific, earning a career-high eight saves in just 30 minutes and allowing only three goals and lowering her goals against average to 7.35.
 
“She did a great job in the net for us today,” Graap said. “I'm very impressed. It's really important for us to get Carly Gniewek going as we head into the Ivy Tournament.”
 
The defense was bolstered throughout by the efforts of MacManus. Picking up a career-high seven ground balls, MacManus was constantly frustrating the Bears by getting to loose balls first.
 
“Claire MacManus was by far the standout in the backfield today with seven ground balls,” Graap said. “That was a really solid performance.”
 
McHugh earned her second goal of the game four minutes into the second half when D'Amico had the ball near the goal and had it checked away. The ball bounced to McHugh, who picked it up and got the ball past Roddy to make it 12-5.
 
It was nearly 10 minutes before Cornell scored again, but Rowe and Toppe combined for a terrific passing play to increase the lead to 13-6 with 17:26 remaining in the game. Toppe had the ball above the 12-meter line, and Rowe slice into the center of the fan. Toppe lofted a pass into Rowe, and the sophomore midfielder made her shot count.
 
Salisbury scored her second of the day and 40th of the year, bringing the score to 14-7, when she sprinted straight up the middle of the offensive zone and got the ball through Roddy.
 
The Big Red's 15th goal came courtesy of Shannon McHugh, giving her a hat trick. Sarah Hefner got the play started when she took a check to the head, causing a Brown yellow card and a Big Red man-up situation. Hefner restarted play and dished off to McHugh, who cut up the middle of the fan and buried the ball in the net.
 
A tremendous individual effort gave Caroline Salisbury her eighth consecutive hat trick. Coming into the fan from the right side, Salisbury beat two defenders but ran too far past the goaltender to take shot. Instead, she looped back around to the right and curled back down to the goal, this time shooting and getting the ball behind Roddy.
 
With its regular season now complete, the Big Red will be begin the postseason with the Ivy League Tournament at Penn next weekend. Cornell will be the No. 3 seed based on its head-to-head record against Harvard, and the Big Red will face the second-seeded Dartmouth Big Green on Friday.