* Game notes vs. No. 20 Hofstra
* Live stats vs. Hofstra
GAME INFORMATION
Game 3: No. 14 Cornell at No. 20 Hofstra
Date/Time: Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m.
Site: James M. Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, N.Y.
2009 Records: Cornell (2-0, 0-0 Ivy); Hofstra (3-0, 0-0 Colonial)
Series Record: Hofstra leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Cornell won 14-3, March 10, 2008, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: not available for this game
HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 12th season at Cornell (111-63, .638) and 16th overall (132-107, .552) 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. HOFSTRA: For the third straight game to open the 2009 season, the Cornell women's lacrosse will face an undefeated opponent when it battles No. 20 Hofstra on Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m. at the Pride's James M. Shuart Stadium. Live stats of the game will be available on
www.CornellBigRed.com.
Cornell won a stunning 9-8 decision over Rutgers in four overtimes on Feb. 28 to improve to 2-0 on the year. Freshman
Katie Kirk scored her second game-winning goal in as many games, finding the back of the net with 2:10 remaining in sudden-victory to cap a rally from three goals down in the final 15 minutes. Senior
Jessica Wiegand had the game-tying goal with 1:40 left in regulation and added two assists in the victory. Fellow co-captain
Deirdre Lafferty had five caused turnovers and two ground balls in the victory.
Hofstra is a perfect 3-0 and has outscored its three opponents 41-20, with victories over Iona (18-5), Connecticut (12-8) and Brown (11-7). The Pride has jumped on opponents right out of the gates, outscoring teams 23-7 in the first half and outshooting them 58-29. Corrine Gandolfi paces the team with 12 goals and four assists, while Alyssa Ruszkowski has a team-best 10 caused turnovers and nine ground balls. In goal, Mary Cuddihy has posted a solid 6.65 goals against average and a spectacular .559 save percentage in picking up three wins.
SCOUTING HOFSTRA: The Pride brings a perfect 3-0 record, including a 2-0 mark at home, into the contest with the Big Red. High-scoring Hofstra has averaged 13.7 goals per game thanks to a significant advantage in winning draws (37-30). Eight different players have at least three goals, but junior Corrine Gandolfi is far and away the team's top scorer with 16 points on 12 goals and four assists. She also has won seven draws and won four ground balls. Junior Alysse Ruszkowski has a team-best 10 caused turnovers and nine ground balls, while sophomore Katie Hertsch has six draw controls, six ground balls and an assist. In goal, Mary Cuddihy has posted a solid 6.65 goals against average and a spectacular .559 save percentage in picking up three wins. Third-year head coach Abby Morgan has guided Hofstra to a 22-16 record, including a 7-9 mark a season ago. In all, 21 letter winners and nine starters return in 2009.
THE SERIES: Hofstra leads the all-time series 3-2, though the Big Red won last year's meeting 14-3 at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red is 0-2 on the road in the series and has been outscored 27-15 at James H. Shuart Stadium. Both of Cornell's victories have come by at least eight goals.
BIG RED VS. THE COLONIAL: Cornell has posted a 10-4 all-time record against members of the Colonial Athletic Conference, including a 2-3 mark against Hofstra. Cornell has faced Delaware (3-1), Drexel (4-0) and Towson (1-0), but has never met George Mason, James Madison, Old Dominion or William & Mary. This is the only scheduled regular season meeting with a CAA team.
LAFFERTY NAMED IVY LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: 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).
WIEGAND OFF TO GREAT START: Senior co-captain
Jessica Wiegand had an impressive first week of the 2009 season, scoring four goals and adding four assists in two games. She also chipped in five caused turnovers, four ground balls and four draw controls in wins over Colgate and Rutgers. In the 10-7 win over the defending Patriot League champion Raiders, Wiegand had a career-high five points on three goals and two assists, assisting on the game-tying goal and scoring the go-ahead goal. Against Big East foe and unbeaten Rutgers, Wiegand had a goal and two assists while chipping in three ground balls and two caused turnovers in an 8-7 four overtime victory. Wiegand capped a comeback from three goals down with 14 minutes to play with the equalizer with 1:40 remaining in regulation, then found freshman
Katie Kirk in the fourth overtime for the game-winner.
CAPTAIN KIRK: Freshman
Katie Kirk has scored two goals this season, but she has made her scores count. Kirk's two goals have each gone for game-winners to open her career, including a goal 2:10 into the fourth overtime period in an 8-7 win over Rutgers. The freshman midfielder has added an assist, five ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover in two starts.
STEINBERG OPENS CAREER IN STYLE: Freshman
Jessi Steinberg wasted little time getting the Big Red on the scoreboard in 2009, posting the team's first goal of the season en route to a two-goal, two-assist effort in the season-opening win over Colgate. The rookie found the back of the net 6:17 into the contest, giving Cornell a 1-0 lead. She currently ranks second on the team in scoring with four goals and three assists in a pair of starts.
DEFENSE DOMINATES THE DAY: The Cornell defense has been exceptional over the first two games of the season, allowing just 14 goals and sporting a 6.47 goals against average. The Big Red has caused more than twice as many turnovers as its opponents (25-11), with senior co-captains
Deirdre Lafferty (7) and
Jessica Wiegand (5) leading the way, while All-Ivy League defenders
Kelly Hansen (4) and
Tissy O'Connor (4) are both averaging 2.0 caused turnovers per game. In goal,
Kristen Reese has recorded both wins and has a .440 save percentage.
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).
NEW STAFF: Cornell's coaching staff has a new look, as first-year assistant coaches
Suzie Friedrich and
Karrie Moore will be on the sidelines this season for the Big Red. Friedrich comes to Ithaca after serving as five years as head coach at Division III Washington College where she posted a 34-50 mark. A former player at Penn State, the 1985 graduate played on three Final Four teams (1982, 83, 85) and helped her team to a spot in the finals in 1982. Moore spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate where she helped the program to the 2008 Patriot League championship and an NCAA tournament appearance. She was a four-year letter winner at Penn as a goalkeeper.
NEXT UP: The Big Red returns home to face LeMoyne on Wednesday, March 11 at 4 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. It will be the first-ever meeting between the teams.
