Women's Lacrosse Faces Massachusetts In NCAA Second Round

ITHACA, N.Y. — Eighth-seeded Cornell women's lacrosse has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after beating Canisius, 15-11, Friday night. The Big Red will take on Massachusetts. The Minutewomen served Princeton a 13-12 overtime defeat Friday afternoon.

NCAA SECOND ROUND: No. 8 Cornell Big Red vs. Massachusetts Minutewomen
WHEN: May 15, 2016 — noon
WHERE: Schoellkopf Field — Ithaca, N.Y.
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 14-4, Massachusetts 19-1
LIVE STATS: NCAA Gametracker
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network (free)

TICKETS
Tickets to Sunday's game are available for $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for children and students with valid ID. Tickets can be purchased at the Schoellkopf Field ticket booths (cash only) on game day begining one hour prior to the game.

PARKING
For Sunday's game, tailgating will be allowed in the upper Crescent lot only for $10 from 9 a.m.-noon on a first-come, first-served basis. Spectator parking is open in the Kite Hill lot, adjacent to Schoellkopf Field, or in the other lots near Bartels Hall. Parking is not available in the Hoy Road Parking Garage due to Law School Convocation, which may also lead to high volumes of traffic on campus. The Department of Athletics encourages fans for Sunday's contest to allow extra time for travel and parking.

GAME NOTES
Cornell

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell's win over Canisius was its first NCAA Tournament win since 2002. The Big Red earned an automatic bid and a chance to host after beating Penn in the Ivy League Tournament Championship last weekend. The Big Red's success in 2016 has been built on a solid defense—led by junior Catie Smith, who has set the single-season record for caused turnovers—and a balanced offense, which features six players with more than 30 points. Cornell moved up significantly in both polls this week, taking over the No. 13 spot in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll and the No. 10 spot in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

A WIN WOULD...

Advance Cornell to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 2002
Keep the Big Red undefeated in home Tournament games
Give Cornell a 4-3 record all-time in Tournament games

ABOUT NO. 17 MASSACHUSETTS
Masscahusetts (19-1, 9-0 Atlantic 10) advanced to the second round after a thrilling overtime win over Princeton. The Minutewomen earned the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after steamrolling through the conference and winning their eighth straight league championship. The team's only loss was a one-goal decision, falling 9-8 to Boston College. UMass ranks third in the nation in scoring offense, led by Erika Eipp's 92 points (40g, 52 a). The Minutewomen are just as strong on the other side of the ball, ranking fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 6.60 goals per game. Sam Walters and Aileen Kelly evenly split time in net, with Walters posting a .478 save percentage and 7.00 goals-against average and Kelly recording a .504 save percentage and allowing an average of 6.16 goals per game.

THE SERIES VS. MASSACHUSETTS
The Big Red and the Minutewomen have met twice before, with Cornell winning both. The last meeting between the teams was the 2003 ECAC Championship with the Big Red taking a 14-8 win in Ithaca. The teams' only other meeting was also at Schoellkopf Field, a 10-6 Cornell win on March 12, 2000.

EIGHT IS GREAT
Cornell posted its best start in program history, beating Binghamton on March 29 to post a season-opening record of 8-0, surpassing the 1987 squad's 7-0 mark.

100 (AND 150) CLUB
After setting a new school record for assists on March 9 at 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.

KEEP OUT
As of May 14, Cornell was 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 7.33 goals per game. Junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott ranked 12th nationally in goals-against average at 7.38.

BALANCED OFFENSE
Seventeen different players have contributed on the scoresheet for the Big Red, with 14 players posting multiple points. Seventeen of Cornell's 18 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 seven of those occasions. Six players have recorded 30 or more points on the season.

HOT STREAKS

Sophomore Joey Coffy has scored at least one goal in 13 straight games (22-5–27).
Junior Amie Dickson is on an 11-game goal streak (24-7–31).

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.
Poullott earned the honor again on April 25 after posting 10-save performances against national powerhouse Syracuse and Ivy rival Harvard. She helped the team hold the Crimson to just three goals.

MATTYASOVSZKY MAKING HER MARK
Senior attacker Olivia Mattyasovszky has proven to be a force this season, scoring 32 goals in 18 games, including a five-goal outing in a win over Columbia. She has posted multiple goals eight times this season. She set new career highs in goals and points just six games in and has tripled her goal production from last season.

SMITH GETS STINGY
With two caused turnovers against Penn on April 30, junior Catie Smith set the single-season program record with 35 caused turnovers. She leads the Ivy League in the statistic and ranks 10th nationally in caused turnovers per game. She also leads the team with 33 ground balls. 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.

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 11 games (24-7–31), including four-goal performances at No. 1 Maryland and at Harvard. She added two goals and two assists in the Ivy Tournament Championship win over Penn, including netting the game-winner.

REED ALL ABOUT IT
Sophomore Taylor Reed has been a powerhouse on both sides of the ball so far this season. Her 31 points are a career-high and she's tripled her assist total from last season. Her six points (5-1–6) in the Ivy Tournament earned her Most Outstanding Player. She's also picked up a 28 draw controls, caused 11 turnovers and scooped up 29 ground balls on the season, all career highs.

ELLIS EXCELLING
Junior Catherine Ellis has continued to be an offensive dynamo this season, posting multiple points on occasions, including a season-high five points (2-3–5) against Dartmouth on April 9. She also recorded a hat trick and added an assist on March 23 against California and scored the game-winning overtime goal in the Ivy Semifinal. She recorded her 100th career point in the Ivy Tournament Championship.

COFFY IN THE CLUTCH
Midfielder Joey Coffy has had a breakout sophomore campaign, putting up 30 points (25-5) including a career four-goal performance in the win over nationally ranked Penn State. She also ranks second on the team with 41 draw controls.

KIEP QUICK ON THE DRAW
Senior defender Maddie Kiep has served as Cornell's primary draw specialist this season and leads the team with 46 raw controls, a career high. She had a career day in the Ivy Tournament Championship, recording nine draw controls, tied for the second-most in a single game in program history.

REGIONAL ALL-AMERICANS
As a result of their stellar seasons, sophomore midfielder Joey Coffy and junior defender Catie Smith were named IWLCA First-Team Regional All-Americans on May 13 while junior goalkeeper Renee Poullott earned second-team honors. With their first-team nods, Coffy and Smith are eligible for national All-American selection.

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.

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 114.
Junior Amie Dickson has cracked the all-time top 10 in assists and has taken over ninth with 44.
Tripodinow sits eighth all-time with 160 career points.
Dickson is tied for sixth all-time with 103 draw controls, while senior Maddie Kiep is now in a tie for ninth with 92.
Junior Catie Smith is ninth all-time in caused turnovers with 61.
With the win over Penn State, junior goaltender Renee Poullott moved into sole possession of second all-time in career wins. She now has 28.
Poullott also currently ranks fifth for career saves with 279. She needs just two to tie for fifth.

UP NEXT
A win over Massachusetts would allow the Big Red to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals to play the winner of the Maryland-Johns Hopkins matchup next weekend. If the Blue Jays and the Big Red both come away with wins, Cornell would host the Quarterfinal, but if the Terrapins win, the Big Red would travel to College Park, Maryland.

Print Friendly Version