ITHACA, N.Y – The No. 21/RV women's lacrosse team welcomed nonconference opponent Rutgers to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday afternoon and showed resiliency, coming from behind to earn a 14-9 victory. Cornell never led in the contest – including two three-goal deficits – until an eight-score run in the second half pushed the team past the Scarlet Knights.
 
Isabel Zachara gave the Big Red its first lead of the day with 18:06 left in the second off of a feed from junior captain Sarah Phillips to make it 10-9. The squad never looked back after that as four more Cornell goals secured the winning result.
 
Eight different Big Red players each found the scoreboard with senior captain Ida Farinholt leading the way with a hat trick to mark a four-goal game streak. Also scoring for the team was Phillips (2), Tomasina Leska (2), Caroline Allen (2), Joey Coffy (2), senior captain Taylor Reed (1) and Grace Paletta (1). Leska has now scored in all nine contests thus far this season, including seven multi-goal outings. Along with her pair of goals, Allen also tallied four assists to total a whopping six points on the day.
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After beginning the second half with the game tied at 6-6, Rutgers went on a little scoring spree, netting three unanswered to potentially set itself up for an upset bid. However, Allen put an end to it with a goal 5:35 into the period that ultimately sparked the comeback effort.
 
Along with Allen and Zachara with her game winner, Leska, Coffy, Paletta and Phillips all contributed goals in the impressive final run down the stretch.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half that ended with both teams heading to the locker rooms with it all knotted up. Rutgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead to open the game and had the momentum in its favor after holding a 5-2 advantage midway through, but Cornell scored three in a row to even it out before both teams exchanged goals once more before halftime.
 
Farinholt notched her hat trick within the first 30 minutes of the match with her game-tying goal right before the half marking her 50th-career point.  
 
Goalkeeper Katie McGahan was once again a standout in goal, making 11 saves against Rutgers' tenacious offense. Devon Kearns stopped eight shots send her way for the Scarlet Knights.
 
Rutgers had held a 14-12 shot advantage following the first period, but Cornell came back in the second to outshoot them, 15-13. The Scarlet Knights also tallied more draw controls in the first (7-6), but the Big Red once again flipped the script and grabbed the lead in the second (7-5).
 
Both teams were efficient on clears with Rutgers going 20-21 while Cornell went 23-24.
 
A big test awaits the team as No. 1 Stony Brook is up next this Tuesday. The game is set to get underway at 5 p.m. at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York.