Game Notes I Live Stats (link to come) I Women's Lacrosse Information Center I 2010 Roster I 2010 Schedule I 2009 Statistics I 2009 Results I Cornell Women's Lacrosse History

GAME INFORMATION
Game #1: No. 20/18 Cornell at Rutgers
Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 28 at 12 p.m.
Site: RU Turf Field, Piscataway, N.J.
2010 Records: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy); Rutgers (0-0, 0-0 Big East)
Series Record: Cornell leads 12-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won 8-7 (3 OT), Feb. 28, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats: Available at www.ScarletKnights.com
Live Video: Not available

HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 13th season at Cornell (118-70, .628) and 17th overall (139-114, .549) 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.

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THE STORY LINE VS. RUTGERS: The Cornell women's lacrosse team will open its 40th season of competition when it visits Rutgers on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 12 p.m. at the RU Turf Field. Live stats courtesy of Rutgers will also be available at www.ScarletKnights.com.

After a 9-7 season in 2009, the Big Red return eight starters and 14 letter winners into a promising new campaign. Ranked No. 18 in the latest Inside Lacrosse media poll and No. 20 in the IWLCA coaches' poll, Cornell has had tremendous success in both season openers and games against Rutgers. The Big Red is 12-1 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, including last year's thrilling 8-7 triple overtime victory at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell is also 10-2 in season-opening contests under head coach Jenny Graap that includes a 10-7 triumph at Colgate in 2009.



SCOUTING RUTGERS: Rutgers got a jump start on the Big Red in opening the 2010 season, getting out on the turf for its first game against Temple on Wednesday. The Scarlet Knights return three of their top five scorers from last year's 7-9 team (3-4 Big East), including second-team All-Big East and first-team IWLCA first-team all-region pick Brooke Cantwell. Cantwell scored 32 goals a season ago. Emily Penn, a second-team IWLCA all-region selection, had a team-high 33 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. Head coach Laura Brand-Sias is in her eighth season directing the Scarlet Knights and has posted a 58-55 record leading into the Temple game.

THE SERIES: Cornell has had great success over the years against Rutgers, holding a 12-1 advantage in the all-time series. The early years featured as each of the first seven meetings were Big Red victories in games decided by four goals or more, starting with a 12-2 triumph in 1992. While Cornell has won five of the six meetings since 2004, four of those contests have been decided by two goals or less, with four being decided by a single goal and two coming down to overtime. The Scarlet Knights recorded its lone win in the series in 2007 with an 11-10 victory in an extra session, while Cornell won last year's game 8-7 in overtime.

BIG RED VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell has posted a 22-18 all-time record against members of the Big East Conference, including a 12-1 mark against Rutgers. Cornell has faced Georgetown (0-2), Loyola (2-1), Notre Dame (3-6) and Syracuse (5-8), while never having met Cincinnati, Connecticut or Louisville. Villanova also plays Division I women's lacrosse, but competes in the Patriot League. Cornell and Villanova have never met. This is the first of three scheduled regular season meetings with Big East teams, as the Big Red will play Loyola on March 13 and Syracuse on April 21.

BIG RED IN SEASON OPENERS: Cornell looks to open the 2010 season much the same way it has opened virtually every other year under head coach Jenny Graap ... with a win. The Big Red is 10-2 in season openers under Graap, outscoring its opponents 147-95. Cornell is 21-18 all-time to begin its 39 seasons.

O'CONNOR, HALE, JOHNSON NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS: Seniors Tissy O'Connor and Morgan Hale and junior Libby Johnson have been elected captains of the women's lacrosse team for the 2010 season. The trio will provide leadership to a young team that features 19 freshmen and sophomores on a 26-player roster.

NEW FACES MAKE 2010 DEBUT: Nine freshmen could make their collegiate debuts on Saturday against Rutgers. Morgan Axenfeld, Christie Fredericks, Courtney Gallagher, Lauren Halpern, Kate Ivory, Kelly Lang, Veronica Lizzio, Caroline Salisbury and Margaret Szczerbicki are all expected to suit up for the contest after joining the squad in the fall.

O'CONNOR A RETURNING ALL-AMERICAN: Senior Tissy O'Connor  became Cornell's 16th All-American, earning second-team IWLCA honors when the team was announced in May of 2009. O'Connor was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy honoree and a first-team all-region pick after pacing the team in draw controls (43) and ranking second in ground balls (30) and caused turnovers (19). The 43 draws was good for third in the Ivy League and ranks second all-time in a season at Cornell.

JOHNSON AN IWLCA ALL-REGION PICK: Junior Libby Johnson was named to the IWLCA second-team all-region squad. A second-team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore, Johnson finished 2009 as the team's leader in points (38) and goals (29). She added 19 ground balls and 12 draw controls to the cause, scoring on 45 percent of her shots overall and 60 percent of her free-position attempts (9-of-15).

HELMER MAKES CUT AT U.S. WOMEN'S TEAM TRYOUTS: Sophomore Caroline Helmer and former captain Deirdre Lafferty '09 were among 64 players who survived the first cut for inclusion on the 2009-10 U.S. women's developmental team. Both Lafferty, a midfielder, and Helmer, a defender, were among more than 150 players in the Stars & Stripes Division vying for spots at the U.S. team tryouts over Memorial Day Weekend at Cedar Lane Sports Park in Bel Air, Md. The developmental team practices against the national team, developing talent and preparing the senior team for international play. Helmer showed great potential as a freshman, starting in 10 of the team's 16 contests and recording 14 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and a pair of draw controls.

BIG RED, DEFENDING NCAA CHAMP NORTHWESTERN PLAY IN RUSTY RED CLASSIC: Cornell and defending national champion Northwestern met in the Rusty Red Fall Lax Classic on Oct. 18 at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, N.Y. The event provided underprivileged youth with the opportunity to see women's lacrosse played at the highest level, learn from some of the nation's best players and get excited about the opportunities the sport has to offer with a free clinic and an autograph session after the game. The Rusty Red Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Cornell lacrosse former tri-captain Joe Lizzio, helps youth programs across the United States. Lizzio, a former managing director at Citigroup, went from Wall Street to Italy where he now owns the Stefano Berti Vineyards and Winery. Rusty Red Wine was developed by Lizzio, who donates all profits from the sales of this wine to help to endow scholarships for underprivileged children and to fund community athletic projects in needy neighborhoods. Lizzio's daughter, Veronica, is a freshman midfielder on the Big Red women's lacrosse team.     

WOMEN'S LAX SUMMERS IN EUROPE: The Big Red women's lacrosse team went on a 10-day tour of Europe from June 2-11, 2009 that featured trips to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Cornell played a semi-professional team and the Austrian and Czech national teams in preparation for their competition at the 2009 FIL Women's World Cup. The Big Red won all three matches, improving its record to 12-3 all-time on foreign tours.

IVY LEAGUE ADDS POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT IN 2010: Former Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans announced last 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).

UP NEXT: The Big Red will remain on the road to meet Colgate on Wednesday, March 3 at 4 p.m at Tyler's Field in Hamilton, N.Y. The Big Red has won 10 straight meetings between the teams with the average scoring margin being 6.8 goals and now leads the all-time series 23-14-1 dating back to the first meeting in 1974.