Game Notes I Live Video (RedCast subscription needed) I Live Stats

GAME INFORMATION
Game #4: Columbia at Cornell
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 10 at 4 p.m.
Site: Schoellkopf Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 Records: Columbia (2-0, 0-0 Ivy); Cornell (1-2, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads 13-0
Last Meeting: Cornell won 11-8, March 14, 2009 in New York, N.Y.

Game #5: No. 17 Loyola at Cornell
Date/Time: Saturday, March 13 at 3 p.m.
Site: Schoellkopf Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 Records: Loyola (2-3, 0-0 Big East); Cornell (1-2, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads 2-1
Last Meeting: Loyola won 16-9, March 18, 2009 in Baltimore, Md.

HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 13th season at Cornell (119-71, .626) and 17th overall (140-115, .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. COLUMBIA AND LOYOLA: After opening the 2010 home schedule last Saturday with a narrow 12-10 loss to Hofstra, the Cornell women's lacrosse continues its three-game homestand when it faces unbeaten Columbia on Wednesday, March 10 at 4 p.m. before serving as host to nationally ranked Loyola on Saturday, March 13 at 3 p.m. Both contests will take place on historic Schoellkopf Field. Live video of both contests will be available as part of the RedCast subscription service.

The Big Red will be looking to bounce back from its home opening loss by trying to take its Ivy opener for the sixth straight year. Five of those seasons have come against the Lions, who are 0-13 all-time against the Big Red. Cornell will then face a Loyola team ranked No. 17 nationally this week.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA: Columbia is off to a perfect 2-0 start that includes home wins over both Monmouth (18-13) and Bucknell (16-8). The high-scoring Lions are scoring 17.0 goals per game and are scoring on 50 percent of their shots through two contests. Columbia has jumped on opponents early, outscoring its foes 18-7. Three different players have scored 11 points in the first two games, with Gabrielle Geronimos tops the goal scoring charts with 10 markers, while Brittany Shannon scored nine to go along with two assists. Kacie Johnson leads the team with five assists. Karlee Blank has registered a 10.65 goals against average and a .488 save percentage. Sarah Avallone has won seven draws and six ground balls, while Taylor Gattinella has eight ground balls and six draws. Eighth-year head coach Kerri Whitaker has a 48-60 overall record, but is just 2-47 in Ivy play.

THE SERIES: Cornell has dominated the series with wins in all 13 meetings. The Big Red has scored in double figures in each contest and has won 10 of the meetings by seven goals or more. Last year, Cornell topped the Lions 11-8 in the Ancient Eight opener for both teams in New York City.

SCOUTING LOYOLA: Loyola brings a 2-3 record into a contest at Delaware (March 9) before visiting the Big Red. The Greyhounds hold a  win at Virginia and a one-goal loss at Penn State while playing a tremendously difficult early schedule. Despite the three early losses, goalkeeper Kerry Stoothoff has posted a strong 9.56 goals against average and a tremendous .548 save percentage while winning 12 ground balls. Gavin Grace leads the way with 14 goals and 18 points, while Emily Gibson has nine goals and 13 points to go along with 10 ground balls, 10 draw controls and 10 caused turnovers. Abby Rehfuss has four goals and five assists on offense, while winning a team-best 17 draws and adding 11 ground balls and six caused turnovers. Former All-American and second-year head coach Jen Adams sports a 13-9 record since taking over the Loyola program in 2009.

THE SERIES: The Big Red has won two of three previous meetings, thought the Greyhounds won last year's meeting 16-9 in Baltimore, Md.

BIG RED VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell has posted a 22-19 all-time record against members of the Big East Conference, including a 2-1 mark against Loyola. Cornell has faced Georgetown (0-2), Notre Dame (3-6), Rutgers (12-2) 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 second of three scheduled regular season meetings with Big East teams, as the Big Red will play Syracuse on April 21 after Cornell opened the season with an 8-6 loss at Rutgers.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: The Big Red women's lacrosse has had great success against lacrosse programs from New York State under the tutelage of head coach Jenny Graap. Cornell is 31-13 against teams from the Empire State, including 1-1 this season. The Big Red is13-0 all-time vs. Columbia.

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).

NEXT UP: Cornell hits the road for a pair of contests, first at Harvard in a key Ivy League contest on Saturday, March 20 at noon, then heads to Florida on Wednesday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. to meet the Gators.