* Game Notes vs. Princeton
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* Live video vs. Princeton (RedCast subscription required)
* Live stats vs. Princeton
GAME INFORMATION
Game #8: No. 6 Princeton at No. 14 Cornell
Date/Time: Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m.
Site: Schoellkopf Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
2009 Records: Princeton (6-1, 0-0 Ivy); Cornell (5-2, 1-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Princeton leads 28-2
Last Meeting: Princeton won 19-10, March 22, 2008 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats: available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: available at www.CornellBigRed.com
HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 12th season at Cornell (114-65, .637) and 16th overall (135-109, .553) as a head coach ... directed the Big Red to the 2002 Final Four, earning IWLCA National Coach of the Year and Inside Lacrosse magazine's North Coach of the Year ... Inside Lacrosse ad IWLCA Northeast regional coach of the Year in 2006 after leading Cornell to share of first Ivy League title ... Graap is the fifth head women's lacrosse coach at Cornell and has posted the second-highest win total and has a school-record winning percentage.
THE STORY LINE VS. PRINCETON: Perennial Ivy League powerhouse Princeton will provide Cornell's latest challenge as a young Big Red squad attempts to get back on track on Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. Live video of the game will be available throught the Cornell RedCast subscription service, while live stats will also be available at www.CornellBigRed.com. The game will be the second contest of a doubleheader with the men's lacrosse team, who plays Penn at 12:30 p.m. in another key Ancient Eight contest.
Cornell has dropped consecutive road games to teams ranked in the top 20 after opening the season 5-0, including most recently falling 14-2 at reigning national runner-up, No. 3 Penn. The Big Red showed stretches of outstanding play in its other Spring Break loss, a 16-9 defeat at the hands of No. 20 Loyola, despite falling in an early hole.
The Big Red will have to be at its defensive best against a Tiger team that is already tested against some of the nation's top squads and sends waves of talented scorers into its end. Six different Princeton players have reached double figures in scoring so far this season.
Cornell has also used balance on both ends of the field, as seven different players have at least six points and four are in double figures, led by freshman
Jessi Steinberg with 19 points. Defensively, senior
Deirdre Lafferty has been exceptional with 16 caused turnovers, while junior
Tissy O'Connor has also played at an All-Ivy level with a team-high 17 draw controls to go along with 10 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.
SCOUTING PRINCETON: The Tigers improved to 6-1 with a dominant 13-4 win over Temple on Wednesday and now holds wins over No. 7 Virginia, No. 16 James Madison and No. 13 Penn State during its start. The squad's only loss was a 13-12 decision at No. 4 Duke. Princeton's balanced offense has six players who have already reached double figures in points, with senior Holly McGarvie leading the way with 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. Christine Casaceli (15 points), Lizzy Drumm (21 points), Kristin Morrison (14 points) and Kristin Schwab (11 points) Sarah Steele (10 points) have also been key offensively. Defensively, Eric Tochihara has been the primary stater, allowing an 8.71 goals-against average with a .570 save percentage in seven games, including six starts. Longtime head coach Chris Sailer is in her 23rd season on the sidelines for the Tigers. The U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Famer has guided the program to three NCAA titles, 11 Final Fours, 17 NCAA tournament appearances and nine Ivy League titles.
THE SERIES: Princeton has dominated the all-time series, winning 28 of 30 previous meetings, including 21 straight. Cornell last knocked off the Tigers during the 1988 season, an 8-2 Big Red victory. Princeton has won 13 of 14 contests played in Ithaca.
LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS: No. 2 Princeton was as good as advertised and used a long first half scoring barrage to knock off Cornell 19-10 on March 29, 2008, at Class of 1952 Stadium. The loss overshadowed a fine effort by the Big Red, who pressured the Tigers early and made a second half run, but Princeton's powerful offense proved to be too much. The Tigers had six players post at least two goals with four recording hat tricks. Lizzie Drumm notched five goals and an assist to pace Princeton, while Kaitlyn Perrelle made nine saves in goal. Princeton held advantages in shots (34-28) and ground balls (20-15).
Courtney Farrell had four goals and an assist to lead the Big Red offense, while
Katherine Simmons tallied twice and
Charlotte Schmidlapp notched two goals and an assist in the loss.
Kristen Reese had three saves in the second half after relieving
Renee Hughes, who stopped two shots in the first 30 minutes.
GET THAT STREAK OUT OF HERE: Cornell has lost 21 straight games against the Tigers and trails the series 28-2. Only one team, Dartmouth with 23, has handed the Big Red as many consecutive losses in the history of the program.
FRESHMEN GET THEIR TIME: Freshmen lead the team in both scoring (
Jessi Steinberg - 19 points) and ground balls (
Katie Kirk - 16). Steinberg paces the squad in assists (nine) and is third in goals (10), while Kirk is second in draws (14). Additionally, rookie
Shannon McHugh has nine goals, including a team-best two game-winners, and Caroline Helmer has started all seven games with five caused turnovers and five ground balls.
TOUGH STRETCH: The Big Red is in the middle of a stretch of five straight games against ranked opponents (0-2 so far). In all, Cornell will play eight of its last 11 games against ranked squads.
REESE NAMED IVY LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (MARCH 9): Reese was outstanding in the Big Red's 13-10 win at Hofstra, collecting a career-high 14 saves to stone a Pride offense averaging nearly 14 goals per outing. Reese made saves on Hofstra's first three shots to set the tone and made seven saves in each half to help the Big Red remain unbeaten.
LAFFERTY NAMED IVY LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (MARCH 2): Senior co-captain
Deirdre Lafferty spearheaded a defense that surrendered a 6.47 goals against average in opening the season a perfect 2-0, earning her first Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors in the process. Lafferty posted seven caused turnovers and won four ground balls while helping Cornell clear the ball successfully 87 percent of the time in wins over defending Patriot League champion Colgate and unbeaten Rutgers (27-of-31).
McKIE EARNS SPOT ON HAUDENASAUNEE WORLD CUP TEAM: Freshman
Mia McKie has earned a position on the Haudenasaunee Nation's team that will compete in the FIL Women's World Cup in Prague from June 17-27. McKie was a five-year varsity letter winner and three-year captain at Niagara-Wheatfield HS and earned the 2007 Tewaaraton Foundation Award for the Outstanding Native High School Player.
LAFFERTY, WIEGAND NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS: Seniors
Deirdre Lafferty and
Jessica Wiegand have been elected captains of the women's lacrosse team for the 2009 season. The duo will provide senior leadership to a young team that features 13 freshmen and 19 total underclassmen.
ANNUAL DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT HELPS FIGHT AGAINST MS: On December 7, 2008, the Cornell women's lacrosse team hosted the Fourth Annual Dodgeball Tournament to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. The event was held in Cornell's indoor turf facility, the Ramin Room, and was a fun stress-reliever during fall semester study days. The tournament was a great success again this year, with 41 teams participating, representing many of the varsity athletic programs.
IVY LEAGUE TO ADD POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT IN 2010: Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans announced in January that the Ivy League will begin four-team tournaments in spring 2010 to determine the Ivy League's automatic qualifying institutions to the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Lacrosse Championships. The winners of the Ivy League championship will continue to be determined by results of the League's round-robin competitions. Each tournament will include the top four teams in Ivy League regular season round-robin competition and will be hosted by the round-robin winner. The men's tournament will be the season's last weekend (Friday-Sunday, May 7-9, 2010) and the women's tournament will be the preceding weekend (April 30-May 2).
NEXT UP: The Big Red visits No. 16 Dartmouth on April 4 and No. 20 New Hampshire on April 6 before returning to Schoellkopf Field to meet Brown on Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m.
