PRINCETON, N.J. – In its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the #12/9 women's lacrosse team used a scoring run of six unanswered goals to top #15/14 Notre Dame, 12-7, on Friday night at Princeton's Sherrerd Field. Cornell now advances to face a familiar foe in Princeton in Sunday's second round.

Senior goalkeeper Renee Poullott finished with 10 saves while senior Amie Dickson had four points on two goals and two assists. Junior Taylor Reed and senior Catherine Ellis both record three goals while junior Ida Farinholt had three points on two goals and one assist.

The win gave Poullott a program record 41 career wins.

Senior Kristy Gilbert controlled the opening draw but it was Notre Dame that jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Ninety seconds after Notre Dame went up by two, the Irish attempted a clear only to run into Dickson on the left wing. Dickson determinedly forced a turnover and then took the ball all the way to the net, lacing a shot into the upper right corner on the run.

Reed then tied it up with 18:07 to play in the first half. With her back to the net, Reed took a pass from Farinholt and then worked the defender before turning and ripping a shot past Samantha Giacolone.

Cornell had three solid chances to score in the first 20 minutes of the first half but senior Ellis' free-position dinged the post and sophomore Tomasina Leska's met Giacolone's stick as did Farinholt's in-close shot from the left side of the arc.

But thanks to settled goaltending from Poullott – four saves in the span of 11 minutes, including two on doorstep attempts – Cornell's deficit was never more than two goals. Farinholt's hard-fought play inside the eight-meter earned a free-position with 10:12 to play and the midfielder buried it into the top left corner of the net to make it 4-3.

The teams traded goals – including a free-position conversion from Gilbert – and then each team's goaltender came up with big, point blank saves to keep the score 5-4, Notre Dame, as the first half ticked under five.

Cornell didn't want to settle for a one-goal deficit at halftime, though, and capitalized on a woman-up opportunity with 1:39 to play when Ellis turned and fired off a pass from Dickson.

A big save from Poullott on a free-position with just seconds left sent Cornell and Notre Dame into the break tied at five apiece.

Another save from Poullott in the early going of the second half was key and on Cornell's possession back the other way, Reed gave the Big Red its first lead of the game when she surged through three defenders and rifled the ball home.

It took Cornell just 12 seconds to find the net again. Senior tri-captain Catie Smith controlled the draw and alertly found Farinholt near the restraining line. Farinholt and Ellis then combined for a 2-on-1, with Ellis finishing off a pass from Farinholt for her second of the game. It was then Farinholt who scored Cornell's fifth-straight goal of the game – cutting in and finishing a pass from Dickson off a free-position – to give the Big Red the largest lead of the game for either team.

An up free-position from Dickson pushed Cornell's lead to four before Notre Dame halted the Big Red rush with two goals before another Cornell free-position made it 10-7 with 6:35 to play. Another up goal from sophomore Sarah Phillips and another spectacular individual effort from Reed gave the game its final, 12-7, score.

Cornell held the final edge in shots (32-25), ground balls (16-13) and draw controls (14-7). Reed had a game-high four ground balls while Smith had a game-high four draw controls.

Giancolone finished with seven saves for Notre Dame.

Cornell (13-5) will face Ivy League foe Princeton on Sunday at 1 p.m.The Tigers are the overall five seed in the NCAA tournament after topping the Big Red in last Sunday's Ivy League Tournament Championship game, 12-9, to earn the conference's at-large bid.