BOSTON – Senior goalkeeper Renee Poullott proved to be the difference maker for the women's lacrosse team on Sunday afternoon, making 10 saves, and junior Taylor Reed converted a free-position shot with 1:52 to play to help push the #11/11 Big Red past the #4/5 USC Trojans, 11-10, in a neutral site matchup at Boston University's Nickerson Field.

The win moves Cornell to 5-1 on the year while USC bumps to 6-2. Senior Amie Dickson had four assists and one goal to go with a game-high five draw controls while classmate Catherine Ellis scored three goals and assisted on one other.

It was Reed that scored the game's first goal, too, as the midfielder gave the Big Red its first lead 2:22 into the opening stanza. After USC responded to tie the game, Cornell then used four unanswered goals – from Dickson, senior Kristy Gilbert, Ellis and freshman Caroline Allen – to hold a 5-1 lead midway through the first half.

The Trojans would add three more goals before halftime – two of which came on free-position conversions – but Ellis added two more of her own and completed her hat trick with 2:28 remaining to give Cornell a 7-4 lead at the break.

With the first two goals of the second half – thanks to Reed and sophomore Sarah Phillips – the Big Red found itself with a 9-4 lead with 26:48 to play.

USC, though, flicked a switch and began to chip away at the Cornell lead, with Michaela Michael and Kerrigan Miller pulling the Trojans back within three with over 25 minutes to play. Phillips gave Cornell another four goal lead a few minutes later but Michael's fourth goal of the game with 16:16 to play pulled the Trojans back and started off a run of four unanswered goals.

The teams battled back-and-forth for seven minutes but neither squad was able to sustain offensive flow to find a lead.

Then, with 1:52 left on the clock, Reed fired off a free-position shot that went through the legs of Gussie Johns – and the Big Red defense did the rest – to give Cornell the win. Senior Catie Smith had three caused turnovers and picked up a team-high three ground balls for Cornell.

The Trojans outshot the Big Red (25-19), picked up more ground balls (18-15), and won the draw control battle (13-10) but Poullott's 10 saves proved to be the difference in the win. 

Johns finished with five saves while Michaels finished with four goals, one assist, three caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Cornell will travel to Yale next weekend to battle the Bulldogs in an Ivy League matchup on Saturday, March 25.