ITHACA, N.Y. – Coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss at Dartmouth, women's lacrosse will return to Schoellkopf for the first time in three weeks on Saturday. The Big Red will welcome nationally ranked Princeton in a matchup that will have huge implications for the Ivy League regular season title.
 
Cornell Big Red (8-3, 3-1 Ivy League) vs. #14/15 Princeton Tigers (8-3, 3-0 Ivy League)
Saturday, April 11, 2015 | 3:00 PM | Ithaca, N.Y. – Schoellkopf Field
Live Stats | Live Video (ILDN)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
Cornell
 
Big Red Headlines
Cornell returned East after an extremely successful two-game swing through the West Coast that witnessed the squads most impressive play of the season. Unfortunately, the red-hot squad was cooled down by the Big Green of Dartmouth who had been struggling mightily on the season. Cornell dropped its first Ivy League matchup of the season on Saturday, falling 10-9 in overtime in Hanover. It looked as though the Big Red would take control midway through the second half when Olivia Mattyasovszky and Lindsay Toppe scored back-to-back over a 22 second period to break a 4-4 deadlock. Dartmouth would answer with a three-goal run just minutes later to take its first lead of the contest. Jaclyn Leto would score the lone goal in overtime to stun the Big Red and wrap-up Dartmouth's first victory of the season. Toppe would finish with a hat-trick, while Emily Tripodi would lead the team with four points (1g-3a).
 
Tiger Headlines
Princeton has gotten off to another traditionally strong start to the 2015 campaign. The Tigers enter the weekend tied for the top of the League standing with Penn with an undefeated 3-0 record in Ivy play. Overall, Princeton has an identical record to Cornell with both teams possessing 8-3 records. The Tigers have hit a little bump in the road over recent contests; however, the squad can hardly be faulted for the losses due to the strength of schedule. Princeton dropped a heartbreaker to Delaware by a 12-10 margin two weekends ago; the Blue Hens have been garnering Top-20 votes throughout the season. The Tigers outlasted Yale 7-5 over the weekend, but again Princeton found itself on the losing end when it dropped a contest against unanimous No. 1 Maryland by a 18-10 final on Wednesday.
 
The Series Against Princeton...
Princeton has dominated the overall series with the Big Red. Cornell trails the series with a 4-33 record against the Tigers all-time. Two of those victories have come during the Jenny Graap tenure in 2012 and 2010.
 
Last Season's Matchups...
Cornell dropped a pair against the Tigers last season with the second loss coming in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament. The matchup during the regular season was a tight one in N.J., with Cornell holding a lead deep into the second half. The Tigers equalized to take the game to overtime and scored three times in the extra time to eek out a 10-7 victory. The Ivy League Tournament was a different story, as the Tigers raced out to a 6-1 lead at the break in a 12-5 win.
 
Signature Win
With the dominating performance against Stanford, Cornell notched a signature win to add to its increasingly impressive resume. The Big Red leapt out to an early 5-0 lead and put together a decisive second half to pull away for the win. Cornell now is ranked 10th in the competer rankings by Lax Power, while its RPI is now 23rd.
 
Historic Offensive Output
Cornell recorded 22 goals earlier in the season against Binghamton to equal the program's all-time record for single-game scoring. The Big Red did one better on Sunday against Cal, scoring 23 goals in break the program record, which it had equaled three times previously. The team also equaled the 2012 Big Red as the only two teams in program history to score two 20+ goal games in a single season. Overall, there have been seven 20+ goal games in the program's 44 year history: March 20, 2012 at Jacksonville (22-13), March 13, 2012 vs. Canisius (21-7), May 1, 1994 vs. Rutgers (22-11) and a pair of 20-6 victories over Stanford in 1999 and the other in 2002.
 
Scoring Punch
Cornell leads the Ivy League as the top scoring offense. The squad has averaged over 14 goals per game and checks in with 163 on the year, already eclipsing last season's goal total. Not surprisingly, the Big Red has registered the most shots and most shots on goal with 333 and 259 respectively. Possession has been the key, as Cornell has dominated the ball over vast stretches this season.
 
Fast Starters
Cornell has made a habit of starting quickly in games this season. The Big Red has held a lead at halftime in 10 of 11 games this year, trailing just Syracuse at the break. The Big Red has outshot opponents 190-112 in the opening 30 minutes - 143-76 in shots on goal - while the team has nearly doubled up opponents 83-47 in first half scoring. Cornell has led at the half in all four of its Ivy League contests this year.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Junior Emily Tripodi collected her second Ivy League weekly award over the last four weeks when she was named Ivy League Co-Offensive Player for the Week on Monday. She had an excellent week tallying a League-high 11 points in the two contests. She kicked off the week with a career performance against the nationally ranked Cardinal. She tallied her second hat-trick of the season, while she tied a season-high with four assists. She added a team-high four points (1g-3a) against Dartmouth.
 
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 them. With her three additional assists on Saturday,  she now sits at 23 helpers for the season and  82 for her career; trailing the top spot in program history by 9. In addition to being an excellent creator for others in the attacking third, 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 15.
 
Toppe Marks
Lindsay Toppe has been hot as wildfire in recent matchups, recording 19 points over her last four games despite facing constant rotating double-teams from opposing defensive units. She currently leads the team in goals with 33 on the season, while she is second on the team in scoring with 40 points. Her presence has opened up the offensive zone for her teammates, as three other players have collected 30+ points already this season. Toppe continues to lead the Ivy League with 78 shots, while she is second for goals and tied for second in points.
 
Dynamic Dickson
Sophomore Amie Dickson has really enjoyed a breakout during the 2015 campaign. She has already quadrupled last season's total point output of 10, pumping in a career high eight points in the big win over California. She had another big game at No. 5 Syracuse, finishing with a team-high five points on one goal and four assists. Dickson now sits at 22 goals and 24 assists on the year, after the one goal and three assist performance against Stanford. 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 (46) and assists, while she is tied for eighth in goals. She is also fourth in the League with 38 draw controls.
 
Up Next
Cornell will wrap up non-league play when it welcomes #11/12 Penn State to Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, April 14, for a 5 p.m. opening draw.