Game Notes I
Live Video (Colgate subscription needed) I
Live Stats
GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: No. 20/20 Cornell at Colgate
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 3 at 4 p.m.
Site: Tyler's Field, Hamilton, N.Y.
2010 Records: Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy); Colgate (1-2, 0-0 Patriot)
Series Record: Cornell leads 23-14-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won 10-7, Feb. 25, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats: Available at www.GoColgateRaiders.com
Live Video: Available at www.GoColgateRaiders.com
HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach
Jenny Graap is in her 13th season at Cornell (118-71, .624) and 17th overall (139-115, .547) 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. COLGATE: The Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to even its record when it meets Central New York rival Colgate on Wednesday, March 3, at 4 p.m. at Tyler's Field. Live video and live stats courtesy of Colgate will also be available at www.GoColgateRaiders.com.
After dropping its season opener at Rutgers 8-6 on Sunday afternoon, the Big Red will be out for its 11th straight victory over Colgate when the programs meet. Cornell had the possession and shot adavantage against the Scarlet Knights, but couldn't generate enough offense despite two-goal efforts by
Libby Johnson and
Olivia Knotts. Sophomore
Shannon McHugh had a strong opener with a goal, an assist, four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Senior goalkeeper
Kristen Reese made six saves in the loss. The Raiders, meanwhile, have dropped consecutive games against ranked teams by a cumulative 34-12 score. Colgate played Cornell tough a season ago before the Big Red escaped with a 10-7 victory at Schoellkopf Field.
SCOUTING COLGATE: Colgate has opened the season 1-2 after a 17-7 loss at No. 14 Penn State and have now lost two straight, both to ranked teams. The Raiders opened the year with a narrow 10-9 triumph at Stony Brook, then fell at No. 6 Syracuse 17-5. Meaghan Lawler (3-6-9) and Courtney Miller (8-0-8) pace Colgate in scoring, while Christina Roa has 30 saves in her three starts in goal. Head coach Heather Young is in her fourth season directing the Raiders and has posted a 32-29 record, including winning the 2009 Patriot League Coach of the Year honor with back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.
THE SERIES: Cornell has won 10 straight games, the program's longest win streak in the series, to improve its advantage to 23-14-1. The Big Red has a commanding 17-6-1 lead in games played in Ithaca. Last year, Cornell won a 10-7 decision at home.
BIG RED VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Cornell has a 39-23-2 record all-time against members of the Patriot League, including a 23-14-1 mark against Colgate. Cornell has also faced Bucknell (11-1-1), Lafayette (4-8) and Lehigh (1-0), while never having met American, Holy Cross or Villanova. This is the only scheduled game for Cornell against a Patriot League team in 2009.
REVIEWING THE RUTGERS GAME: The Cornell women's lacrosse rallied from several deficits but could never gather the lead and dropped an 8-6 decision to Rutgers in its season opener on the RU Turf Field on Feb. 28. The Big Red held a 20-14 edge in shots, but Scarlet Knight goalkeeper Lily Kalata had 10 saves to help the home team to the victory. Kristen Anderson had a game-high three goals and an assist in the victory for Rutgers, while Lindsey Watts scored twice. For the Big Red, sophomore
Olivia Knotts and junior
Libby Johnson each scored two goals, while
Jessi Steinberg had a goal and an assist. Both
Shannon McHugh and
Kaitlyn Giles won three ground balls, with McHugh adding a team-best four draw wins.
Lindsey Kane and Caroline Helmer also had three caused turnovers apiece as Cornell forced 19 Rutgers turnovers on the day. Goalkeeper
Kristen Reese made six saves in the loss.
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.
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 begins a three-game homestand on Saturday, March 6 when it meets Hofstra at noon at Schoellkopf Field as part of a doubleheader with the men's team. The Big Red men will meet Army at 3 p.m.
