ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's lacrosse team dropped its first Ivy League contest of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling short in a 12-11 double overtime defeat to Princeton on Schoellkopf Field. The loss moves the Big Red to 10-4 on the season, while it now sits at 5-1 in Ancient Eight play.

Senior keeper Renee Poullott finished with a career-high 15 saves, including four during a woman-down situation in the first overtime period. Poullott's performance also pushed her over the 400 career save mark, making her the second player in program history to eclipse that number in the NCAA era.

Senior tri-captain Catherine Ellis, senior Kristy Gilbert and sophomore Sarah Phillips each finished with three goals while senior Amie Dickson paced the Big Red offense with four points on three goals and one assist.

Junior Ida Farinholt opened the scoring 2:42 into the game, taking a quick dish from classmate Taylor Reed – who had been awarded a free-position attempt – and slotting it into the top left corner past Ellie DeGarmo.

Princeton (11-3, 5-1 Ivy) and Cornell then traded goals goals before Olivia Hompe scored two, 47 seconds apart to finish off three-straight for the visitors and grab a 4-2 lead with 9:40 to play.

An unassisted tally from Phillips pulled Cornell back within one but two more from Princeton over the final 7:31 gave the Tigers a 6-3 lead at the break.The three-goal deficit became four on a low free-position shot from Kathryn Hallett just 56 seconds into the second half.

Down but not out, Cornell flicked a switch and scored three straight to pull within one. Senior tri-captain Catie Smith did well to jump into the transition game and help the Big Red push forward.

Dickson converted from the eight-meter arc and then set Gilbert up a few minutes later. The seniors played a give-and-go with Gilbert finding Dickson at the top left of the arc then Dickson drawing in a defender and dishing it off for the low shot past DeGarmo. Ellis' unassisted bid with 19:48 to play pulled Cornell yet again within one.

Phillips answered another Princeton goal to keep Cornell in striking distance and then Dickson fed Ellis coming around the net for a shot over the top of the defense to tie it up, 8-8.

Ellis' third goal of the afternoon again pulled Cornell even with Princeton, 9-9, with 6:22 left to play and then Phillips' third goal just over a minute later gave Cornell a one-goal lead.

Gilbert's free-position conversion with 4:00 left gave Cornell a two-goal cushion but Princeton staged its own dramatic comeback. After pulling within one with 2:37 left, Princeton forced a turnover and Hompe drove and cut through three defenders to beat Poullott – and the clock – high and tie the game with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation.

Facing a woman-down situation in the first overtime period after being whistled for a yellow card, Poullott came up huge for Cornell with four saves to force another extra period.

Nearing the end of the first three minutes of the second overtime, Hompe found Colby Chanenchuk coming around the net. Chanenchuk was able to beat Poullott to the post and score with 4.2 seconds left to win it.

Princeton edged Cornell in shots (39-37) and also won the ground ball (20-15) and draw control battle (17-9). DeGarmo finished with 14 saves for the Tigers.Sophomore Hannah O'Reilyl finished with four ground balls for Cornell while classmate Tomasina Leska picked up three and also added an assist. 

Cornell will close out the regular season on Saturday, April 29 when it hosts Harvard for a noon matchup on Senior Day.

UPDATE: With the results of the other Ivy League games played on Saturday, Cornell has now clinched a spot in the postseason conference tournament. The seedings will be determined with the results of the games played on April 29.