Box Score (PDF)
 
VESTAL, N.Y. --- Cornell women's lacrosse made history Tuesday afternoon, beating Binghamton, 14-5, at the Bearcats Sports Complex for the Big Red's eighth straight win, marking the best start to a season in program history.
 
Once again, Cornell (8-0, 3-0 Ivy League) was led by a balanced offense and a suffocating defense. Nine different players scored for the Big Red, 11 recorded points and seven put up multiple points. Junior Amie Dickson and senior Olivia Mattyasovszky each scored three goals, while senior Emily Tripodi added three assists and junior Kristy Gilbert chipped in a goal and two assists. In addition, the defense once again kept the opponent mostly at bay, led by junior Catie Smith who set a new career high with six caused turnovers while also picking up five ground balls. Junior goaltender Renee Poullott made five saves in the win.
 
After Smith controlled the game's first draw, Dickson opened the scoring just 16 seconds into the game, burying a free-position shot.
 
The Bearcats (4-6, 0-0 America East) were denied on their own free-position chance moments later, holding them off the board and giving possession back to the Big Red.
 
With about 25 minutes to go, Mattyasovszky received a feed and fired a quick shot but Binghamton goalkeeper Emma Jehle grabbed it to keep Cornell's lead at one.
 
Dickson's second free-position opportunity led to Cornell's second goal of the day at 23:19. Dickson didn't take the shot, but sent a pass behind the net. Tripodi fed senior Shelby McNeilly in front, and McNeilly tucked away her third goal of the season.
 
Sophomore Joey Coffy made it 3-0 less than a minute later, getting the ball at the arc and powering through a handful of defenders and finishing high. Dickson then added her second of the day with 21:10 left. Tripodi sent a pass over the top of the net, and Dickson corralled it, patiently picking her spot and firing past Jehle.
 
After Binghamton called a timeout, the Bearcats won the draw control and scored a quick goal, with Rebecca Golderman getting Binghamton on the board with 20:37 to go in the first.
 
Junior Kristy Gilbert, who was tied for 40^th nationally for free-position goals per game entering Tuesday's contest, added another from the fan, bouncing her shot past Erin McNulty, who had entered the game in relief of Jehle.
 
The Bearcats generated a scoring chance at the other end with about 17 minutes to play in the first, but Poullott knocked it away with her stick. Binghamton, however, did find the back of the net with 15:19 left in the first, with Jacqueline Kennedy sending in a bouncing shot.
 
With about 11:40 to go, Smith intercepted Binghamton's attempt to clear at the restraining line, and sent a pass back in. Junior Catherine Ellis drew a free-position chance, but her shot went wide.
 
The Bearcats got another back on their own free-position shot, with Golderman cutting the deficit to two with 9:06 left in the half.
 
After Smith caused her fifth turnover of the half, Coffy picked up the ground ball and sprinted into the Binghamton end, feeding junior Catherine Ellis, who put away her shot to push Cornell's lead back to three with 1:30 left in the half.
 
With time running down in the half, Binghamton possessed the ball, but Coffy stripped it and passed off to classmate Taylor Reed. With three seconds remaining, Reed sent a high feed across the goal mouth to Mattyasovszky, who made a highlight-reel leaping play to catch the pass and one-time her shot past McNulty as she fell to the ground.
 
Mattyasovszky then opened the scoring in the second half with 27:54 to go, again firing immediately as the ball hit her stick, this time on a pass from Tripodi from behind the net. Just 50 seconds later, Reed found senior Jessica Schwab in front of the net, and Schwab fought through a pair of defenders in close to turn and beat McNulty and give Cornell a 9-3 lead.
 
Mattyasovszky got her third with 22:13 to go. Gilbert got the ball at the right side of the arc and connected with Mattyasovszky, who completed her third hat trick of the season.
 
With 18:26 to go, Gilbert tacked on another assist, finding Ellis, who put away her second of the afternoon to increase the Big Red advantage to 11-3.
 
Sophia Racciatti netted Binghamton's first goal of the half with 13:50 to go. But the Big Red tacked on another just over a minute later as Dickson notched her second hat trick of the season.
 
Golderman tacked on her third of the day on a free-position shot with 8:02 to go to make it 12-5. Poullott then made a big save on another Bearcats attempt from the fan, which resulted in a Big Red possession and a free-position attempt for the Big Red, which junior Meredith Baker capitalized on for her first goal of the season and second career goal. Freshman Hannah O'Reilly added Cornell's 14^th of the day and her third of the season on another free-position shot with 2:17 to go.
 
The Big Red will now prepare for its biggest challenge of the season, as the team readies to travel to defending National Champion No. 1/1 Maryland for a 7 p.m. game Saturday.