ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell will wrap-up regular season play this weekend when it travels to Philadelphia to take on Penn on Sunday. The game will be preview of the Ivy League Tournament as the two teams are on a collision course for the opening round after securing the middle seeds with wins this past weekend.
 
Cornell Big Red (9-5, 4-2 Ivy League) at No. 14/12 Penn Quakers (11-3, 5-1 Ivy League)
Sunday, April 26, 2015 | 1:00 PM | Philadelphia, Pa. – Franklin Field
Live Stats | Live Video (ILDN)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
Cornell
 
Big Red Headlines
Cornell snapped its losing streak with a an exciting come-from-behind victory in the team's final home game of 2015 against Harvard. Trailing 8-4 with under 19 minutes remaining, sophomores Catherine Ellis, Amie Dickson and Kristy Gilbert sparked the comeback. The trio combined to score the next six goals to take a 10-8 lead with under three minutes remaining. The Crimson answered with a goal and possessed the ball with under one minute left, searching for the equalizer. Sophomore net minder Renee Poullott provided the late game heroics. She intercepted a pass to quell the rally, but the ball was turned over on a late clearing attempt. A foul set up the Crimson with one final chance from 10-yards out with 3.1 seconds left, but Poullott stood tall to deny the final shot to preserve the victory. Ellis finished with five goals, while Dickson posted a game-high six points (2g-4a).
 
Quaker Headlines
Penn has enjoyed another strong season in 2015. The Quakers enter the season finale with a 11-3 record overall and a 5-1 mark in Ivy League play. The Quakers lone League loss came against Princeton last week in a 9-7 defeat at Franklin Field. All three of the squad's losses this season have come against ranked opponents; falling 12-7 to No. 1 Maryland and 9-8 in overtime against No. 6 Northwestern. The Quakers boast the League's top goal scorer in Tory Bensen who has tickled the twine 43 times this season. Nina Corcoran (17g-27a-44pts), Iris Williamson (26g-4a-30pts) and Lely DeSimone (23g-3a-26pts) provide complimentary scoring. Penn strength is certainly on the defensive side, as it enters the weekend ranked fourth in NCAA Division I, allowing less than seven goals per game.
 
The Series Against Penn...
Cornell trails the overall series with Penn 15-26 all-time. The teams first met in 1975 with Cornell taking an 8-7 victory at Penn. Cornell has fared evenly against Penn under Jenny Graap. The Big Red is 8-9 against the Quakers, including a 4-4 mark at Franklin Field.
 
Last Season's Matchup...
Cornell wrapped up Ivy League play last year against the Quakers as well. The Big Red fell 10-8 to Penn at Schoellkopf, as Penn locked up the second seed for the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell got off to a hot start, scoring the first two goals of the game to jump out to the early lead. Penn answered with eight of the next nine tallies, including a seven goal run to take control of the game. Trailing 10-4, Cornell launched a furious rally with 20 minutes remaining, but ultimately came up just short in the loss. Toppe finished with three goals and an assist.
 
Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Sophomore goalkeeper Renee Poullott took home her second co-defensive player of the week award from the Ivy League on Monday after her game-saving performance in the victory over Harvard, which solidified Cornell's berth to the postseason. She made a crucial caused turnover with under one-minute left and then made a game-saving stop with under 3.1 seconds remaining on Crimson junior Alexis Nicolia. She finished with six saves in the game. She also posted a solid 10 save performance against No. 12 Penn State earlier in the week.
Senior Stars
Sarah Hefner
Hefner has made an immeasurable impact in the midfield over her illustrious career. She has cemented herself as the greatest player in the draw control circle in the 44-year history of the program. Hefner broke the program's single-game record for draw controls with 10 against Albany during her sophomore campaign. Last season, she absolutely obliterated the single-season program record by an astounding 17, after securing 68 draw controls. She passed Jaimee Reynolds to become the program's all-time leader in controls when she secured three in a historic victory over Cal earlier this season. She currently sits at 156 for her career. Also a steady contributor in the offensive zone, she has reached double-digits in goals each of the last three seasons, currently sitting at 48 for her career. Hefner was an Honorable Mention All-Ivy selection her sophomore year, while she was named Second Team All-Ivy last season.
 
Claire MacManus
MacManus is one of the most gifted athletes to ever put on a Cornell jersey. A multi-sport athlete, she has been a four-year starter on both the varsity women's soccer and lacrosse teams. A stalwart on the backend, her physicality and agility have been pivotal cog in Cornell's improved defense over the last few seasons. She was a Second Team All-Ivy selection a season ago, recording 15 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. This season she has tallied 18 grounders and nine caused turnovers. She currently sits at 70 ground balls and 38 caused turnovers for his career. Unafraid to get into the offensive act as well, she has chipped in four goals and two assists over her four years.
 
Lindsay Toppe
Toppe will go down as one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the program. She topped the 40-goal and 50-point marks in each of her  final three seasons, earning First Team All-Ivy and First Team IWLCA All-Northeast Region honors both years. She tied a career-high with 47 goals last season en route to being named Ivy League Attacker of the Year in 2014. The national pundits recognized Toppe's splendid play, as her named appeared in the Top-50 Watch List for the Tewaaraton Award coming into the 2015 campaign. Despite facing constant double-teams, she did not miss a beat, entering play today with an Ivy League best 42 goals and 49 points. She equaled a single-game career-high with seven goals in the Big Red's historic victory over Cal earlier this season. In her last outing against nationally ranked Penn State, she tallied four times to break the program record for career goals. Toppe enters play today with 147 career goals and 10 game-winners – both program records – while she has totaled 183 points, which ranks third all-time.
 
Electrifying Ellis
Catherine Ellis has been an offensive dynamo during 2015 campaign. With her five goal effort against Harvard, she now sits at 36 on the season. She currently ranks second on the squad and sixth in the League, while she has totalled 44 points overall.
 
Scoring Punch
Cornell leads the Ivy League as the top scoring offense. The squad has averaged nearly 14 goals per game and checks in with 193 on the year, well exceeding last season's goal total. Not surprisingly, the Big Red has registered the most shots and most shots on goal with 401 and 308 respectively.
 
Fast Starters
Cornell has made a habit of starting quickly in games this season. The Big Red has held a lead at halftime in 11 of 14 games this year, trailing just Syracuse, Penn State and Harvard at the break. The Big Red has outshot opponents 228-152 in the opening 30 minutes - 169-108 in shots on goal - while the team has far outpaced opponents 97-66 in first half scoring. Harvard was the first Ivy League opponent to hold a lead at halftime against the Big Red this season. Cornell had outscored its first five League opponents.
 
Fine Feeds
Junior attacker Emily Tripodi has established herself as one of the best creators in the history of the program. Her exceptional vision and lacrosse instincts allow her to quickly diagnose how to best exploit defenses. She added an assist on Saturday against Harvard to bring her total to 27 for the season and  86 for her career. She trails the top spot in program history by five. In addition to being an excellent creator for others in the attacking zone, she has put an added onus on creating her own looks this season. She added her second hat-trick of the season against Stanford and already has posted a career-high for goals in a season with 16.
 
Between the Pipes
Renee Poullott has been quite solid in recent contests, after hitting a bump in the road against Columbia and No. 5 Syracuse earlier this season. She played a solid game against the potent Nittany Lion attack, finishing with 10 saves in the contest. She made a pair of game-saving plays against Harvard forcing a turnover and making a huge stop at the horn to preserve the victory over the Crimson. She is tied for eighth with 14 wins all-time.
 
Dynamic Dickson
Sophomore Amie Dickson has really enjoyed a breakout during the 2015 campaign. She has already more than quadrupled last season's total point output of 10, pumping in a career-high eight points in the big win over California. She came up huge down the stretch over the weekend, finishing with two goals and four assists, including the final two goals in the Big Red's comeback. Dickson now sits at 24 goals and 29 assists on the year. She also has made significant contributions throughout the stat sheet, proving to be an excellent two-way player in the midfield. She led the squad with five draw controls and two caused turnovers in the Stanford match. Dickson currently leads the Ivy League in points (53) and assists, while she is 13th in goals. She is also tied fourth in the League with 42 draw controls.
 
Up Next
Cornell will head to its fourth consecutive Ivy League Tournament where it will again face Penn for the second time in as many weeks in the opening round.