Game Notes I Live Video (Cornell RedCast subscription required) I Live Stats I 2011 Roster I 2011 Schedule and Results

GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: Colgate at Cornell
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 2 at 4 p.m.
2011 Records:  Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy); Colgate (2-1, 0-0 Patriot)
Series Record: Cornell leads 24-14-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won 10-9, March 3, 2010 in Hamilton, N.Y.

Game #3: Harvard at Cornell
Date/Time: Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m.
2011 Records:  Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy); Harvard (0-1, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Harvard leads 21-10
Last Meeting: Harvard won 10-4, March 20, 2010 in Cambridge, Mass.

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HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 14th season at Cornell (123-81, .603) and 18th overall (144-125, .535) 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 and 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: After opening its 2011 season at home on Saturday against Rutgers, Cornell closes out its three-game homestand to open the campaign with contests against Central New York rival Colgate (Wednesday, March 2 at 4 p.m.) and Ivy League foe Harvard (Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m.). The Big Red has had great success over the years against the Raiders, winning 11 straight contests and five straight at Schoellkopf Field en route to a 24-14-1 lead in the series overall. Cornell and Harvard will then meet in the Ivy opener for both teams and get an early leg up in the Ancient Eight race. The Big Red lost to the Crimson a year ago, but the Big Red finished a game ahead of Harvard in the final standings to earn one of four invitations to the inaugural Ivy League tournament. The Big Red is coming off an 11-7 loss to Rutgers in its season opener.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: Colgate is off to a 2-1 start after knocking off Vermont 20-14 on Feb. 27 in Hamilton, N.Y. The Raiders won a wild 17-15 contest against Stony Brook at home in its opener in Hamilton, N.Y., then hung close with No. 5 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome before falling, 19-14. Colleen Bubnack leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and six assists, while Kate Bergstrom (8-5-13), Courtney Miller (4-7-11) and Katie Sullivan (9-1-10) all have double figures in points thus far. Colgate is scoring on 50 percent of its shots and have won 51 percent of the draws. Miller and Monica White pace the team in draws (13), while Miller has caused a team-best eight turnovers. Both Christina Roa has won a team-best nine ground balls. In goal, Roa has played the vast majority of the minutes with three starts and sports a 15.26 goals against average and a .348 save percentage. Head coach Heather Young is in her fifth season atop the program and has a 42-36 overall mark while guiding Colgate to Patriot League titles and NCAA tournament bids in both 2008 and 2009.

LAST TIME VS. COLGATE: Cornell used a 4-0 run midway through the second half to take the lead and held on for a 10-9 win over Colgate on March 3, 2010, at Tyler's Field. The win was Cornell's 11th straight in the series. Shannon McHugh scored three goals, while Katie Kirk had two scores and Libby Johnson added a goal and an assist for the Big Red, which got goals from seven different players in the win. Kristen Reese and Kyla Dambach combined for time between the pipes, making four saves. The Big Red held a decisive 31-21 edge in shots and a 9-4 advantage in free-position attempts while forcing six bad Colgate clears while advancing the ball 12-of-14 times. The Raiders won 11-of-21 draws and held a narrow 15-14 decision on ground ball wins. Christina Roa was solid against strong Big Red pressure, making nine saves in the cage. She was backed up on the other end by Meghan Lawler's five points (goal, four assists) and three points apiece from Kate Bergstrom (three goals) and Colleen Bubnack (two goals, assist, five ground balls).

THE SERIES: Cornell has won 11 straight games, the program's longest win streak in the series, to improve its advantage to 24-14-1. The Big Red has a commanding 17-6-1 lead in games played in Ithaca. Last year, Cornell won a tight 10-9 decision in Hamilton, N.Y.

BIG RED VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Cornell has a 40-23-2 record all-time against members of the Patriot League, including a 24-14-1 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 2011.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: Harvard nearly upset No. 13 Stanford in the season opener before falling in a shootout, 18-17. Sophomore Danielle Tretault scored a career-high six goals in the win, while classmate Micaela Cyr scored three times. The Crimson, led by fourth-year head coach Lisa Miller, welcome 11 freshmen to a team that finished 2010 with an 8-7 overall record and a 3-4 mark in conference games. It was the second winning season for Miller and first season for the Crimson with at least three conference wins since 2006. Harvard finished tied for fifth in the Ancient Eight, narrowly missing out on a trip to the first Ivy League conference tournament. Among the returners are sophomore Jen VanderMeulen, the team's leading returning scorer who posted 56 goals and eight assists a season ago. Junior Melanie Baskind is also back after scoring 40 points a year ago (32 goals, eight assists) and leading the way with 41 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers. Cyr scored 19 goals andhad  a team-high 36 draw controls. In goal, the departure of Katherine Martino gives an opportunity for junior Kerry Clark or Julia Nagle to take over the starting role.

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: Harvard jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead and never looked back, knocking off Cornell 10-4 in women's lacrosse action on March 20, 2010, at Harvard Stadium. Jessi Steinberg scored three of Cornell's four goals on the day, while Shannon McHugh had a goal and an assist in the loss. Steinberg added three draws, while Tissy O'Connor won four. Kyla Dambach made six saves, including five in the decisive first half to prevent further damage. The Big Red controlled the draw (11-5) and held even in shots (21-21), but three Crimson goals in the final eight minutes did in the visitors.  Harvard goalkeeper Katherine Martino made eight saves, including six after halftime to hold off the Big Red Red. Jen VanderMeulen had three goals and five other players registered multi-point days in picking up the win.

THE SERIES: Harvard leads the all-time series 21-10, with the Crimson winning the last two meetings in what has been a series of runs. The Big Red won 10 straight contests after the Crimson took the first 19 games between the teams. Harvard won last year's meeting 10-4 in Cambridge, Mass.

LAST TIME OUT: Rutgers used a 5-1 scoring run midway through the first half to erase an early Cornell lead and then fought off a late Big Red comeback bid to take the 11-7 victory on Feb, 26, 2011 at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell got two goals each from Jessi Steinberg and Katie Kirk, while Libby Johnson added one goal and one assist. Shannon McHughe and Caroline Salisbury rounded out the scoring for the Big Red. In the cage, Kyla Dambach made seven saves in the loss. Rutgers was led by Marlena Walsh's four goals and one assist, while Stephanie Anderson chipped in three goals. Lily Kalata made 11 saves for the win.

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 32-14 against teams from the Empire State. The Big Red is 11-1 all-time vs. Colgate under Graap.

NEXT UP: After facing Harvard, the Big Red won't be home again until it meets Princeton on April 2 at 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. In between, Cornell will have road games with Loyola (MD), Columbia, North Carolina and Penn, as well as a neutral site contest against Notre Dame.