Game Notes I Live Stats I Live Video I 2011 Roster I 2011 Schedule and Results I 2011 Statistics
GAME INFORMATION
Game #13: Cornell at No. 18 Syracuse
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m.
Site: The Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
2011 Records: Cornell (5-7, 3-4 Ivy); Syracuse (7-7, 5-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Syracuse leads 9-5
Last Meeting: Syracuse won 7-6, April 21, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Television: Time Warner Cable Sports
HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 14th season at Cornell (128-87, .595) and 18th overall (149-131, .532) 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 closing out the 2011 Ivy League schedule with a pair of wins, the Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to end the regular season the same way when it visits No. 18 Syracuse on Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Big Red will attempt to claim its first-ever victory in the Carrier Dome when it makes the short trip in a game that will be televised locally and throughout the state on Time Warner Cable.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED: Cornell is 5-7 (3-4 Ivy) in 2011, though five of its losses have come against top 20 teams. Led by junior Tewaaraton Trophy candidate
Jessi Steinberg (34-4-38) and two-year captain
Libby Johnson (18-7-25), the Big Red offense is scoring 9.3 goals per contest and averaging nearly 28 shots per game. Sophomore
Kate Ivory paces the defense in ground balls (29) and caused turnovers (22), while Steinberg has a team-best 22 draws, with
Katie Kirk (20-3-23) has won 18. In goal,
Kyla Dambach (11.03 GAA, .379 save percentage) and
Courtney Gallagher (8.12 GAA, .382 save percentage) each have seen significant time between the pipes. Head coach
Jenny Graap '86 is in her 14th season at her alma mater and has directed the program to a 128-87 record over that span, including three NCAA tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance and an Ivy League title.
SCOUTING THE ORANGE: The high-scoring Orange bring in a 7-7 record and a 5-1 mark in Big East play after topping both Louisville (11-10) and Cincinnati (20-3) last week at the Carrier Dome. Five different players have at least 25 points this season, led by Michelle Tumolo (18-28-46) and Tee Ladouceur (28-8-36). Liz Hogan is one of the nation's top goalkeepers, posting a 10.23 goals against average and a .468 save percentage with a team-high 22 ground balls to go along with nine caused turnovers. Head coach Gary Gait is in his third season on the Orange sidelines and has posted a 39-15 overall record.
LAST TIME VS. SYRACUSE: The Cornell women's lacrosse team gave No. 10 Syracuse all it could handle, but a late goal by Tegan Brown gave the Orange a 7-6 victory on April 21, 2010 at Schoellkopf Field. The Cornell defense did a fantastic job all night against a high-powered SU offense that entered the game scoring 14 goals per contest, holding its Central New York rival to half of its average. Two of its superstars, Tee Ladouceur (30 goals, 31 assists) and Halley Quillinan (31 goals, seven assists), were held scoreless and Christina Dove, who entered the game averaging nearly five points per game, was held to a pair of scores. The Big Red held a 6-5 edge with less than 11 minutes to play after All-America candidate
Jessi Steinberg capitalized on a 1-on-1 move to put Cornell up, but Dove tied it up with 8:06 left and Brown then scored what proved to be the game-winner just 44 seconds later.
THE SERIES: Syracuse leads the all-time series 9-5, including winning the last four contests. Syracuse won last year's contest 7-6 in Ithaca. The Orange is a perfect 6-0 in games played in Syracuse.
BIG RED VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell has posted a 23-23 all-time record against members of the Big East Conference, including a 5-9 mark against Syracuse. Cornell has faced Georgetown (0-2), Loyola (2-3), Notre Dame (4-6) and Rutgers (12-3), 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 last of four scheduled regular season meetings with Big East teams, as the Big Red lost to Rutgers 11-7 in the 2011 season opener and fell to No. 7 Loyola 14-8 on March 11. The team then dropped Notre Dame 6-5 in double overtime in Lutherville, Md. on March 20.
LAST TIME OUT: Yale jumped out to a lead less than a minute into the game, but was then swamped by 13 straight Cornell goals as the visitors ran away for a 14-3 victory over the Bulldogs on April 23 at Reese Stadium.
Jessi Steinberg scored four goals,
Shannon McHugh scored three times and the Big Red had nine players find the back of the net at least once. Cornell's defense was as impressive as its offense, allowing just 11 total shots, forcing 10 caused turnovers, forcing six bad clears and dominating the draw circle (16-3). McHugh won three draws,
Ali O'Neil collected four ground ball wins and
Cacki Helmer caused four turnovers. In goal,
Kyla Dambach made three saves and allowed just one goal in the first 30 minutes before giving way to backup
Courtney Gallagher in the second half. Adrienne Tarver scored all three of Yale's goals and took five of the team's 11 shots in the loss. Kaitlyn Flatley posted five caused turnovers and Fielding Kidd won three ground balls. In goal, Erin McMullan prevented worse damage by making 10 saves, including nine in the second half.
NOTING THE BIG RED
• Cornell will be looking for its first-ever win at the Carrier Dome (0-6).
• Head coach
Jenny Graap '86 is in search of her 150th career victory as a collegiate head coach. The 2002 IWLA national coach of the year has a 149-131 record in 18 seasons combined at George Mason and her alma mater.
• Junior
Jessi Steinberg ranks among the top 10 all-time at Cornell in several categories, including goals per game (2nd, 2.31), points per game (5th, 2.87) and draw controls per game (7th, 1.54).
• The Big Red traditionally is a team that finishes strong. After opening the 2010 season 2-6, Cornell finished 3-4 with losses to four top 10 teams by three goals, including No. 10 Syracuse (L, 7-6). In 2008, Cornell finished with six wins in its last eight regular season games. The 2004 team brought a 3-9 record into a contest against No. 14 Syracuse, then upset the Orange 13-12 in three overtimes. That started a stretch of three straight wins to close the year.
• Cornell returned three All-Ivy players this season, with first-teamer
Jessi Steinberg joining second-teamer
Libby Johnson and honorable mention pick
Cacki Helmer.
• Cornell played in the first-ever Ivy League lacrosse tournament game when it met second-seeded Dartmouth in the semifinals on April 30, 2010 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The third-seeded Big Red dropped a 10-8 contest to the eventual tournament runner-up.
20-20-20: Sophomore
Kate Ivory is closing on on becoming the third Big Red player in school history to record at least 20 ground balls, 20 caused turnovers and 20 draw controls in the same season. Ivory enters her final two games needing to win three draws, having already reached the mark in ground balls (29) and caused turnovers (22). Four-time All-American Jaimee Reynolds hit the milestone in each of her four seasons (1999-2000-2001-2002), while Cari Hills hit 20 in each category in 1998.
JOHNSON JUMPS INTO TOP 10: Senior
Libby Johnson's 40 career assists is already eighth on the school's career list and enters the week needing just two points to move into the top 10 on the school's all-time scoring list. She has scored 128 points in her four seasons, just shy of Ginny Miles' 130, good for 10th all-time.
STEINBERG HITS 100: With a four-goal effort against Princeton, junior attack
Jessi Steinberg crossed the 100-point mark for her career. She became the 18th player in school history to hit that milestone and joined classmate
Libby Johnson (128 points). Steinberg has since lifted that total to 111 points.
HELMER, JOHNSON, STEINBERG NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS: Senior
Libby Johnson and juniors
Jessi Steinberg and Caroline Helmer have been named team tri-captains for the 2011 season. The trio of captains will be expected to provide leadership for a roster that includes 14 freshmen and sophomores.
NEXT UP: The Big Red closes out the 2011 season when it faces No. 3 Florida at Schoellkopf Field on Sunday, April 1 at 12 p.m.
