NEW YORK – Faced with a three-goal halftime deficit, the women's lacrosse team scored six unanswered goals to complete a comeback for a 14-11 win at Columbia on Saturday afternoon. Seniors Catherine Ellis and Amie Dickson each had five points for the Big Red with five goals and five assists, respectively. 

It took less than 90 seconds for Columbia to net its first goal, converting on a free-position in the early going to take the 1-0 lead. Cornell then maintained possession for over five minutes and seemed poised to score but the Lions then made it 2-0 when Lindsey Ewertsen drove from behind the net and bounced a shot past senior Renee Poullott.

But a big save from Poulott 10 minutes into the half kept the deficit at two and the ensuing possession proved fruitful for Cornell when sophomore Tomasina Leska drove along the bottom of the 12-meter line to beat two defenders and fire the ball past Gedin to make it 2-1.

Dickson lofted a ball to Joey Coffy at the top of the arc and then the junior dashed right through two defenders and fired a shot into the far right part of the net for the 2-2 score midway through the first half.

After combining for four goals in the first 20 minutes of play, the teams then exploded for nine goals in the final 10 minutes of the half.

After Coffy fired a shot from distance that was saved, sophomore Sarah Phillips picked up the ball behind the net then quickly fed senior Catherine Ellis right in front for the finish to make it 3-2.The Big Red's first lead of the game didn't last long, with the Lions pulling the goal back less than a minute later but Cornell then used free-position goals just 24 seconds apart from Reed and Ellis to gain a two-goal lead. Yet the Lions weren't done scoring in the opening stanza either, as the hosts ran off five un-answered goals to close out the first half with an 8-5 lead.

Faced with its biggest halftime deficit of the season, the Big Red came out and got the first goal off the opening draw when Leska converted a free-position goal 1:37 in. Ellis then responded to another Lions score with two goals to make it 9-8, eight minutes into the second half. Another pair of Lions goals could've dampened the spirits, but the Cornell defense then went lights out from then on. Cornell answered the pair from the Lions with a pair from Big Red seniors as Kristy Gilbert and Ellis both found the back of the net to make it 11-10 with 14:03 to play.

The Big Red then bested Columbia's five-goal stretch to close the first half with six-straight of its own. First freshman Caroline Allen got her second of the year to tie it up before three-straight free-position conversions from Reed, Leska and Gilbert closed out the comeback for Cornell.

Poullott and Bedin both finished with nine saves while Ellis led the Big Red with five goals and Dickson assisted on five goals. Reed and Gilbert each finished with two goals. while Reed added four ground balls and senior Catie Smith picked up six.

The teams entered the game with identical 3-1 overall records and 1-0 records in Ivy League play but only Cornell could move to 4-1 and 2-0 in Ancient Eight play.

Cornell returns to Schoellkopf Field on Wednesday evening to host the University of Albany in a 5 p.m. matchup.