Game Notes I Live Stats I Live Video (info to come)

GAME INFORMATION
Game #14: No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 2 Dartmouth
Date/Time: Friday, April 30 at 4 p.m.
Site: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
2010 Records: Cornell (5-8, 4-3 Ivy); Dartmouth (10-3, 5-2 Ivy)
Series Record: Dartmouth leads 25-6
Last Meeting: Dartmouth won 9-6, April 10, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.

Game #15: No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 1 Penn/No. 4 Princeton
Date/Time: Sunday, May 2 at TBA
Site: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
2010 Records: Cornell (5-8, 4-3 Ivy); Penn (12-3, 7-0 Ivy)/Princeton (6-9, 3-4 Ivy)
Series Record: Penn leads 21-15/Princeton leads 28-3
Last Meeting: Penn defeated Cornell, 15-6 (2010); Cornell defeated Princeton, 11-8 (2010)

HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 13th season at Cornell (123-78, .611) and 17th overall (144-122, .541) 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 AT THE IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to capture its fourth NCAA tournament bid after qualifying for the inaugural Ivy League championship beginning on Friday, April 30. The Big Red, seeded No. 3 in the four-team tournament, will battle Dartmouth in the first round. The winner of that contest will meet the winner of top-seeded Penn and fourth-seeded Princeton on Sunday, May 2. The last time one of the four participants didn't win at least a share of the Ivy title was 1992, when Harvard won the crown outright.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH: Perennially one of the top teams in the Ivy League and in all of Division I, Dartmouth brings a 10-3 overall record and a No. 10 national ranking into the tournament. Under the direction of head coach Amy Patton, Dartmouth opponents are scoring just 7.2 goals per game and the Big Green in outscoring opponents by more than five goals per game. Leading the offensive charge is Greta Meyer, who has scored 30 goals with 22 assists. Six other players have reached double figures in goals, including Sarah Plumb, who has 19 goals and 12 assists. Plumb also paces the team in caused turnovers (24) and is second in ground balls (23) and draw controls (23). In goal, Julie Wadland has a .468 save percentage and an impressive 7.21 goals against average while starting all 13 contests. Since picking up a narrow 9-6 win over the Big Red on April 10, Dartmouth has gone 2-2 with losses to Penn and Princeton.

THE SERIES: Dartmouth holds a commanding 25-6 lead in the all-time series, though the Big Red is 3-6 in the last nine. Four of the last 10 meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal.

SCOUTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME POTENTIAL OPPONENTS: A Cornell win against Dartmouth would pit the Big Red in a championship matchup against either Penn or Princeton. Penn has won four straight Ancient Eight titles, going 28-0 in conference play over that span, while the Tigers have claimed the Ancient Eight title nine times since 1993. Penn is ranked No. 5 nationally at 12-3 overall behind the play of Tewaaraton Trophy candidate Ali DeLuca (36 goals, 19 assists) and a trio of All-ivy candidates in Erin Brennan (24 goals, 17 assists), Giulia Giordano (23 goals, 17 assists) and Courtney Lubbe (18 goals, 16 assists). Giordano also paces the team in ground balls (28) and caused turnovers (17), while Ali DeLuca has a team-best 30 draws. In goal, Emily Szelest sports a 6.74 GAA and a .442 save percentage. Head coach Karin Brower Corbett, the 2007 national coach of the year, has directed the Quakers to a pair of Final Four appearances, including a spot in the national title game in 2009. For Princeton, Lizzy Drumm leads the offense with 30 goals and 39 points, while Kristin Morrison has posted 36 points (23 goals, 13 assists). Lindsey deButts has a team-high 34 ground balls, 37 draw controls and 23 caused turnovers. In goal, Erin Tochihara has started all 15 contests and has posted a 10.53 goals against average and a .488 save percentage. Head coach Chris Sailer became the second women's lacrosse coach in history to secure 300 wins when her Princeton squad knocked off Georgetown 15-14 in overtime on March 29. She already has been elected to the national lacrosse hall of fame.

THE SERIES: Princeton has a dominant 28-3 edge in the all-time series, though Cornell snapped the Tigers' 22-game win streak between the teams with an 11-8 victory in New Jersey on April 3. Penn leads Cornell 21-15, including wins in each of the last four meetings.

LAST TIME OUT: On a cold and rainy Senior Day, it was a sophomore that put the Cornell women's lacrosse team into next weekend's Ivy League tournament, as Jessi Steinberg tallied six goals to lead the Big Red to a 12-5 victory over Yale at Schoellkopf Field. In addition to Steinberg's productive day, the Big Red got three goals and one assist from Katie Kirk, as well as two goals and one assist from Libby Johnson. Tissy O'Connor also registered one assist for Cornell. Caroline Helmer was again outstanding with four ground ball wins, two draws and a caused turnover. In between the pipes, senior Kristen Reese made the start before giving way to Kyla Dambach, who finished the day with six saves and just three goals allowed. Yale (6-9, 3-4 Ivy) was led by Jessica Sturgill's three goals, while Devon Rhodes and Kaitlyn Flatley each tallied once. All five Bulldog scores were unassisted. Whitney Quackenbush finished the day with six saves in the loss. Cornell held the edge in shots (22-16), ground balls (17-9) and draw controls (10-9).

HELMER, STEINBERG EARN IVY WEEKLY HONORS: A pair of sophomores played huge roles in helping Cornell earn a spot in the inaugural Ivy League championship tournament and were honored for their efforts by sweeping the conference's weekly awards. Caroline Helmer was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, while Steinberg captured Offensive Player of the Week accolades for the second time this year. Helmer won nine ground balls and caused four turnovers while limiting a pair of talented offensive players in two games this past week. She held the nation's eighth-leading scorer, Tee Ladouceur, scoreless with just one shot in a 7-6 loss to No. 10 Syracuse. She caused three turnovers and won a career-best five ground balls in the narrow defeat. Against Yale in a contest where the winner advanced to the Ivy playoffs and the loser went home, Helmer won four ground balls and a pair of draws and caused a turnover. Steinberg was dominant in the win or go home situation against Yale, outscoring the Bulldogs all by herself with six goals in a 12-5 victory. She got the team off on the right foot with the team's first three goals en route to four first-half scores.

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.

O'CONNOR, STEINBERG ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: Senior Tissy O'Connor and sophomore Jessi Steinberg are on the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List for the national player of the year in women's lacrosse. O'Connor was on the initial list released in February, while Steinberg's play in the first half of the season got her added in March.

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 closes out the 2010 season when it faces No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday, May 8 at 4 p.m. at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Va.