ITHACA, N.Y.— Cornell women's lacrosse will be looking to maintain its unblemished conference record when the Big Red returns home and to Ivy League play this weekend to host Dartmouth on Saturday. The game is Cornell's Community and Coaches vs. Cancer event and will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network and ESPN3. The Community and Coaches vs. Cancer donation page is here.
 
GAME 10: No. 20 Cornell Big Red vs. Dartmouth Big Green
WHEN: April 9, 2016 — Noon
WHERE: Schoellkopf Field
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 8-1 (3-0 Ivy), Dartmouth 5-4 (1-2 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network/ESPN3

GAME NOTES
Cornell
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell suffered its first loss of the season last weekend to No. 1 Maryland, the defending National Champion. Behind four goals from junior Amie Dickson, the Big Red found the back of the net nine times, tied for the most goals the Terps have given up this season. Senior Olivia Matt,yasovszky added a goal at Maryland and leads the team with 18 goals. She shares the points lead with classmate Emily Tripodi, who has four goals and 15 assists. Junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott made seven saves against the Terps and has a 6.75 goals-against average and .464 save percentage.
 
A WIN WOULD...

• Keep Cornell perfect in Ivy League play and atop the conference standings
• Give Cornell a 5-0 record at Schoellkopf Field this season
• Narrow Dartmouth's lead in the all-time series to 30-8
• Match Cornell's win total from last season

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
The Big Green has faced a tough schedule thus far, taking on four nationally ranked opponents. The team came away with an important Ivy League win, 10-9, over No. 16 Penn, but fell decisively to No. 2 Florida, No. 11 Princeton and No. 7/6 Southern California. Dartmouth opened the season with an 18-2 rout of UMass Lowell and has also posted wins over New Hampshire, Boston University and Denver. Last weekend, the Big Green was served a 17-9 loss by Ivy foe Harvard. Senior Jaclyn Leto leads the way for Dartmouth in nearly every statistical category, posting 35 goals, 38 points, 18 ground balls, 29 draw controls and 13 caused turnovers. Junior Taryn Deck leads the team with seven assists to go along with 17 goals of her own. Freshman Charlotte Wahle has played every minute in goal for the Big Green, allowing an average of 11.22 goals per game and posting a .373 save percentage.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH
The Big Green holds a 30-7 advantage in the all-time series, including winning seven of the last eight meetings. The BIg Red's last win over Dartmouth was the last time the Big Green visited Schoellkopf, April 5, 2014, an 11-10 double-overtime victory.  Last season's meeting also went to overtime, with Dartmouth emerging victorious, 10-9, on home turf. Kristy Gilbert had a pair of goals and Emily Tripodi had a goal and two assists as neither team ever led by more than two.
 
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 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.
 
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.

KEEP OUT
As of April 5, through the Big Red's first nine games, Cornell ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 6.67 goals per game. Junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott ranked seventh nationally in goals-against average at 6.75.
 
BALANCED OFFENSE
Sixteen different players have contributed on the scoresheet for the Big Red through the first seven games, with 12 players posting multiple points. Each of Cornell's nine 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 five of those occasions.
 
ELITE COMPANY
With an 8-0 record to begin the season, Cornell was one of three remaining undefeated teams in Division I before its loss to No.1  Maryland. The Terps and No. 7/6 Southern California remain as the only unblemished teams. The Big Red joins No. 6/5 Louisville, No. 3 Florida, No. 18/12 Ohio State and No. 19/14 Massachusetts in teams with just one loss.
 
HOT STREAKS

• Senior Emily Tripodi has a point in eight straight games (4-15–19).
• Junior Catherine Ellis is on a seven-game point streak (9-5–14).
• Junior Kristy Gilbert has at least one goal in each of her last seven games (8-3–11).
• Senior Olivia Mattyasovszky has scored in each of her last six games (15-0–15).
• Junior Joey Coffy has scored at least one goal in four straight games (5-0–5).
• Senior Catie Smith has at least three caused turnovers in four consecutive games.

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 an offensive force so far this season, scoring 18 goals in nine games, including a five-goal outing in a win over Columbia. She has posted multiple goals five times this season. She set new career highs in goals and points just six games in, topping her 10 goals and 11 points 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 (29) and caused turnovers (24). 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 nine games, her 2.67 caused turnovers per game is good for fifth nationally and first all-time in program history.
 
REED ALL ABOUT IT
Sophomore Taylor Reed has been a powerhouse on both sides of the ball so far this season. Her 17 points are a career-high, she's already nearly tripled her assist total from last season and her nine goals tie her career mark. In addition to her offensive prowess, she's picked up a 17 draw controls, caused six turnovers and scooped up 19 ground balls, all career highs.
 
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.
 
FRESH FACES
Cornell has added eight newcomers to the roster for the 2016 season. Tomasina Leska and Sarah Phillips join the Big Red attack, while Hannah O'Reilly, Shannon Bertscha and Christie Raymond will add to the team's depth at midfield. Natalie Paletta and Sarah Nicholson join the team's defense, and Samantha Nielsen will be an option in goal. The Class of 2019 features three high school All-Americans (Leska, Nielsen, Raymond) and two who were invited to try out for the U.S. Women's U19 National Team (Leska, Raymond).
 
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. 8/9 Penn State and Ivy rivals No. 11 Princeton and No. 16/14 Penn. The Big Red visited reigning National Champion Maryland on April 2, travels to Penn State on April 13, plays at Princeton on April 16, hosts 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.
 
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
A team-high 11 players from the Big Red hail from right here in New York State. Cornell has commonly brought in most of its players from the Northeast with a particular focus on New York, which is both the home of Cornell and one of the country's biggest hotbeds of lacrosse.
 
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.
• Junior Amie Dickson is just three assists away from cracking the all-time top 10. Dickson currently sits in 12th with 37 assists, one assist away from tying for 11th.
• Tripodi is now in sole possession of10th all-time with 144 career points.
• Dickson needs four draw controls to tie for seventh all-time, while senior Maddie Kiep needs just two to take over 14th.
• Junior Catie Smith is tied for 16th all-time in caused turnovers with 46. Three more will tie her for 11th.
• With the win over California, junior goaltender Renee Poullott moved into sole possession of third all-time. One more victory will tie her for second.
• Poullott also currently ranks ninth for career saves with 218. She needs five to tie for eighth

UP NEXT
The Big Red will have a challenging week, heading to No. 8/9 Penn State on Wednesday before making the trip to play Ivy rival No. 11 Princeton on Saturday.