No. 20 Women’s Lacrosse Closes Road Slate At Harvard

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— Now in a three-way tie for first place in the Ivy League, Cornell women's lacrosse has just two regular season games remaining. The Big Red's first challenge awaits in Cambridge on Saturday against fourth-place Harvard. The game will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network and ESPN3.

GAME 14: No. 20 Cornell Big Red at Harvard Crimson
WHEN: April 23, 2016 — 3 p.m.
WHERE: Harvard Stadium
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 10-3 (4-1 Ivy), Harvard 7-5 (3-2 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: GoCrimson.com
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network/ESPN3

GAME NOTES
Cornell | Harvard

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is coming off its first back-to-back losses of the season after playing three consecutive games against ranked opponents in six days. With its focus on Ivy League play the rest of the way, the Big Red will continue to rely on its stingy defense, which has ranked in the top 10 nationally all season, and its balanced offense, which boasts five players with more than 20 points. Senior Emily Tripodi leads the way with 25 points, including 19 assists, while classmate Olivia Mattyasovszky holds the team lead in goals with 23. Junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott boasts a 6.91 goals-against average.

A WIN WOULD...

Be Cornell's fourth win over Harvard in the last five meetings
Narrow Harvard's lead in the series to 23-15
Be head coach Jenny Graap's 198th career win

ABOUT HARVARD
The Crimson currently sits in fourth in the Ivy League and is vying to hold onto a spot in the conference tournament. Like Cornell, Harvard's defense has been its highlight, while it's relied on a balanced attack up front, with six players recording 15 or more points. All of the Crimson's five losses have come to ranked opponents, including a pair of narrow one-goal decisions to Ancient Eight foes Princeton and Penn. Harvard posted dominant nonconference wins over Hofstra, St. Mary's (Cal.) and Holy Cross while rolling over Dartmouth, Columbia and Brown in league play. Sophomore Julia Glynn leads the Crimson in points with 37 on 19 goals and 18 assists while junior Marisa Romeo leads in goals with 25. Senior Kelly Weis has shouldered most of the work between the pipes, posting an 8.64 goals-against average and .468 save percentage.

THE SERIES VS. HARVARD
The Big Red and the Crimson have met every year since 1980, and Harvard holds a 23-14 advantage in the series, winning the first 19 meetings between the programs. Cornell's first win came in 1999 and the Big Red have gone 13-4 against the Crimson since. Last season, Cornell rallied from an 8-4 deficit to come all the way back and beat Harvard, 10-9, on April 18, 2015, at Schoellkopf Field. Catherine Ellis sparked the comeback, scoring three straight to bring the Big Red back within one and finishing the day with five goals.

EIGHT IS GREAT
With eight seniors leading the way, Cornell posted its best start in program history, beating Binghamton to begin the season 8-0, surpassing the 1987 squad's 7-0 mark.

100 (AND 150) CLUB
After setting a new school record for assists in the 9-8 win over Colgate, senior co-captain Emily Tripodi reached another milestone, posting her 100th career helper in a 10-2 win over Brown on March 26. Then, with an assist against Syracuse on April 19, she became the 10th player in program history to reach 150 career points.

BEST IVY START
With a 12-5 win over Dartmouth on April 9, Cornell moved to 4-0 in Ivy League play, its best conference start in program history.

KEEP OUT
As of April 21, Cornell was tied for seventh nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 6.85 goals per game. Junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott ranked eighth nationally in goals-against average at 6.91.

BALANCED OFFENSE
Seventeen different players have contributed on the scoresheet for the Big Red through 13 games, with 13 players posting multiple points. Each of Cornell's 13 games have seen at least five different players score for the Big Red, with the team getting goals from at least eight different scorers on six of those occasions.

SILVER LININGS
Despite suffering its first loss of the season, Cornell had a number of positive accomplishments at No. 1 Maryland. The Big Red scored the first goal, marking the first time all season the Terps had surrendered the game's first tally. Cornell's nine goals also tied for the most Maryland has given up in 2016. On the other side of the ball, the Terps recorded a season-high 17 turnovers, 12 of which were directly caused by the Big Red.

HOT STREAKS

Junior Catherine Ellis is on an 11-game point streak (13-10–23).
Sophomore Joey Coffy has scored at least one goal in eight straight games (14-2–16).
Junior Amie Dickson is on a six-game goal streak (13-2–15).

IVY WEEKLY HONORS

Junior goaltender Renee Poullott was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 29 after holding then-No. 19 Albany to just five goals in a 9-5 victory. Poullott made eight saves and posted a .615 save percentage in the win, while also tying a career-high with five ground balls and causing a turnover.
Junior defender Catie Smith was recognized as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on March 14. Smith caused a career-high five turnovers in a 9-8 win at Colgate and picked up five ground balls. She added four more ground balls and another caused turnover in the 14-7 win over Columbia.
Smith earned the honor a second time on April 4 after setting a new career high with six caused turnovers at Binghamton before adding four ground balls and three caused turnovers at No. 1 Maryland.

MATTYASOVSZKY MAKING HER MARK
Senior attacker Olivia Mattyasovszky has proven to be a force so far this season, scoring 23 goals in 13 games, including a five-goal outing in a win over Columbia. She has posted multiple goals six times this season. She set new career highs in goals and points just six games in and has already doubled her goal production from last season.

SMITH GETS STINGY
Junior defender Catie Smith has been an integral cog in the Big Red's defensive success thus far this season, with team highs in ground balls (33) and caused turnovers (32). She posted a career-high six ground balls in the win over Yale and set a new career mark of six caused turnovers in the victory at Binghamton. Through 12 games, she ranks first in program history for single-season caused turnovers per game with 2.58.

DAZZLING DICKSON
Since her return to the lineup, junior Amie Dickson has been, as predicted, a key contributor in the Big Red midfield. Dickson has points in each of her last six games (13-2–15), including a four-goal performance at No. 1 Maryland and a two-goal, two-assist day at Dartmouth. She's also added nine draw controls over that span.

REED ALL ABOUT IT
Sophomore Taylor Reed has been a powerhouse on both sides of the ball so far this season. Her 21 points are a career-high, she's already nearly tripled her assist total from last season and her 13 goals have also surpassed her career mark. In addition to her offensive prowess, she's picked up a 19 draw controls, caused eight turnovers and scooped up 25 ground balls, all career highs.

COFFY IN THE CLUTCH
Sophomore midfielder Joey Coffy has helped provide an offensive spark this season, scoring Cornell's first goal of the game on four occasions. She also has a game-winner and posted a four-goal performance at Penn State.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Junior attacker/midfielder Amie Dickson has been named an honorable mention Preseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse. Dickson was named First-Team All-Ivy at the conclusion of the 2015 season after leading the Ivy League with 59 points and 31 assists.

FORMIDABLE FOES
This season, the Big Red will face off against five opponents currently ranked in the national polls: No. 1 Maryland, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 14 Penn State and Ivy rivals No. 10 Princeton and No. 17 Penn. The Big Red visited reigning National Champion Maryland on April 2, Penn State on April 13 and Princeton on April 16, hosted Syracuse on April 19 and closes the regular season with a home matchup against Penn on April 30.

FAMILY TIES
Freshmen Natalie Paletta and Sarah Phillips both have ties to the Cornell Athletics Department. Natalie's father, Steve Paletta, was a men's lacrosse Second-Team All-American, captained the Big Red to a national runner-up finish in 1987 and was named First-Team All-Ivy. Natalie's mother, Christine, was a member of the Cornell gymnastics team from 1986-88. Sarah's father, Andy Phillips, and uncle, J.D. Phillips, were teammates of Steve Paletta's. Sarah's grandfather, John Phillips, also played lacrosse at Cornell.

MEET THE CAPTAINS
Seniors Emily Tripodi and Brittany Marriott have been chosen to be co-captains for the 2016 season. Marriott will be serving as a captain for the second consecutive season after she was chosen to lead the team as a junior with Lindsay Toppe.

RECORDS WATCH

Senior co-captain Emily Tripodi is the new program record holder for career assists, recording two in a 9-8 win over Colgate on March 9 to better Courtney Farrell's record of 91 set in 2008. She now has 108.
Junior Amie Dickson is just one assist away from cracking the all-time top 10. Dickson currently sits in11th with 39 assists.
Tripodi is now in sole possession of10th all-time with 150 career points.
Dickson has taken over seventh all-time with 99 draw controls, while senior Maddie Kiep has moved into 14th with 75.
Junior Catie Smith is 9th all-time in caused turnovers with 53.
With the win over Penn State, junior goaltender Renee Poullott moved into sole possession of second all-time in career wins with 24.
Poullott also currently ranks eighth for career saves with 236. She needs 22 to tie for seventh.