Game Notes I Live Stats I Live Video (Dartmouth subscrption needed) I 2011 Roster I 2011 Schedule and Results I 2011 Statistics
GAME INFORMATION
Game #10: Cornell at No. 19 Dartmouth
Date/Time: Saturday, April 9 at 12 p.m.
Site: Scully-Fahey Field, Hanover, N.H.
2011 Records: Cornell (3-6, 1-3 Ivy); Dartmouth (7-2, 3-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Dartmouth leads 26-6
Last Meeting: Dartmouth won 9-6, April 10, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.
HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP '86
Cornell head coach Jenny Graap is in her 14th season at Cornell (126-86, .594) and 18th overall (147-130, .531) 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: The Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to get back on the right track and snap a three-game skid against ranked opponents when it meets No. 19 Dartmouth on Saturday, April 9 at 12 p.m. in Hanover, N.H. With eyes on earning a spot in the Ivy League tournament for the second straight season, the Big Red has three conference games remaining to make a run and needs to capture all three for its second straight winning conference season and its ninth over the last 12 years.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED: Cornell is 3-6 (1-3 Ivy) so far in 2011, though four of its losses have come against top 20 teams. Led by junior Tewaaraton Trophy candidate
Jessi Steinberg (25-2-27) and two-year captain
Libby Johnson (15-5-20), the Big Red offense is scoring nearly nine goals per contest and averaging more than 28 shots per game. Sophomore
Kate Ivory paces the defense in ground balls (24) and caused turnovers (18), while Steinberg and
Katie Kirk (14-2-16) each have a team-best 18 draws. In goal,
Kyla Dambach (11.97 GAA, .349 save percentage) and
Courtney Gallagher (9.11 GAA, .406 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 126-86 record over that span, including three NCAA tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance and an Ivy League title.
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: Dartmouth is off to a 7-2 start (3-0 Ivy) and brings a four-game win streak into the contest. Its only losses have at Boston University and Duke, while it has won contests against Syracuse and New Hampshire. Leading a balanced offense is Kat Collins (19-8-27), Greta Meyer (17-6-23) and Sarah Plumb (15-7-22). Plumb also paces the team with 16 draw controls. Kelsey Johnson paces the squad in ground balls (20) and Shannie McKenzie had a team-leading 13 caused turnovers. In goal, Kristen Giovanniello is posting a 8.00 goals against average and a .544 save percentage while playing every minute in goal. Head coach Amy Patton, in her 19th season, has guided the Big Green to more than 200 victories, 10 NCAA tournament appearances, eight Ivy League titles and four NCAA final fours.
LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: The Cornell women's lacrosse team answered every Dartmouth run, but ran out of time in a 10-8 loss to the Big Green on April 30, 2010 at Franklin Field in the first-ever Ivy League Lacrosse Tournament game. The Big Green scored two goals just nine seconds apart more than midway through the second half to break an 8-8 tie, then took advantage of several Cornell turnovers late to advance to face the winner of Friday evening's contest between Penn and Princeton. Dartmouth took the lead five times, only to see the Big Red knot the score each time. It took Kirsten Goldberg's tally with 12:48 to play to give the second-seeded Big Green the lead for good. Sarah Plumb won the ensuing draw and capitalized with a goal less than 10 seconds later to add some insurance. For the second time, Cornell and Dartmouth played a relatively even game, but Dartmouth was able to capitalize on more mistakes. The Big Red turned the ball over 14 times to just 10 times for the Big Green, while turning it over on the clear three times, including twice in the second half that each resulted in Dartmouth goals. The Big Green also won the battle on the ground, 18-10.
THE SERIES: Dartmouth holds a commanding 26-6 lead in the all-time series, including a pair of wins last season. Four of the last 11 meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal.
LAST TIME OUT: No. 12 Princeton used a seven-goal run to close the first half of play and then held off a furious comeback attempt by the Big Red women's lacrosse team to take a 15-10 victory on April 2 at Schoellkopf Field.
Jessi Steinberg tallied four goals for the Big Red, three of which came in the second half, to surpass the 100-point mark for her career, while
Katie Kirk found the back of the net twice.
Libby Johnson was the only other Cornell player with multiple points, finishing with one goal and two assists. Princeton's Sarah Lloyd matched Steinberg's performance with four goals, while Charlotte Davis, Lizzy Drumm and Cassie Pyle tallied two goals apiece. In net, Erin Tochihara stopped 10 shots to pick up the win.
TOUGH STRETCH COMING: The Big Red has traditionally played one of the nation's toughest schedules, and this year is no different. Cornell has already played five top 20 team this season (No. 7 Loyola, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 4 Penn, No .12 Princeton) and is scheduled to play its three of its next five contests against nationally ranked teams. In all, five of the seven teams it plays this season in non-conference action are ranked among the top 14 teams in the country.
ALL-TIME VS. RANKED FOES: Cornell is 45-115 all-time against teams ranked in the IWLCA poll, including 1-4 this season. The Big Red topped No. 14 Notre Dame 6-5 in overtime on March 20 after falling to No. 7 Loyola 14-8 on March 11 in Baltimore, Md., then dropped consecutive games on the road to top five teams in No. 5 North Carolina (14-5) and No. 4 Penn (10-6) before falling to No. 12 Princeton, 15-10. Under head coach
Jenny Graap, the Big Red is 34-68 against teams in the top 20.
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 joins classmate
Libby Johnson (123 points).
STEINBERG NAMED IVY OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (March 21): After helping Cornell women's lacrosse to a 6-5 double overtime win over No. 14 Notre Dame on March 20, Big Red junior
Jessi Steinberg was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. With Cornell down 4-0 at the half, Steinberg scored two goals in the second half, including the game-tying goal with 8:19 remaining, to cap the four-goal comeback and send the game into overtime. With 18 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, Steinberg tallied her 16th goal of the season, finding the back of the net off a pass from
Kelly Lang. Steinberg's first goal of the second half broke the team's scoreless streak of 40:09 to open the game, giving Cornell momentum to mount the comeback. She also won two key draw controls in the victory.
STEINBERG ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: For the second straight year, Cornell attacker
Jessi Steinberg has been named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list, joining an elite group of 48 players nationwide who are candidates for the 2011 national player of the year. The annual list is made up of the top lacrosse players across all three divisions of collegiate lacrosse. The watch list will eventually be whittled down three more times until the top ten male and female Tewaaraton Award Finalists are named in May of 2011.
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: Cornell returns to action when it plays host to Brown on Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
