VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The Cornell women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 14-9 win over Villanova on Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium. The Big Red won its first game in 713 days thanks to a balanced attack on the offensive side and a gritty defensive effort against a Wildcat team (0-3) playing its third game of the season.

Sophie Ward scored four goals and both Maggie Pons and Katie Castiello recorded a hat trick, with the junior adding an assist to her total and Ward posting five ground balls. Shannon Brazier, Amanda Cramer and Genevieve DeWinter also had multiple-point days with a goal and an assist each, with DeWinter chipping in three draw wins and two ground balls. Karina Schulze caused three turnovers in front of goalkeeper Katie McGahan, who made nine saves and won four ground balls in picking up the win.

Cornell held a 36-27 edge in shots, a 25-14 advantage in ground balls and scored on 4-of-5 shots from the 8-meter arc. The Big Red cleared the ball successfully on 18-of-20 attempts while causing four Villanova turnovers in transition.

Caroline Cumal had two goals and an assist and won eight draws to pace the Wildcats, with Addie Fischer scorching the net three times. Alex Moro made 14 saves, won three ground balls and caused a turnover in the cage. 
 

FIRST HALF

• Maggie Pons and Katie Castiello both scored in the opening minutes to get the Big Red engine revving, with Poms scoring her first collegiate goal 2:06 in and Castiello catching a feed from Genevieve DeWinter and finishing a minute later.
• DeWinter dodged down the middle and ripped a shot past the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 late in the first.
• Katie McGahan made a pair of early saves to keep Villanova off the scoreboard.
• Villanova finally dented the scoreboard off a quick attack after its fourth straight draw win to open the game made it 3-1 with 3:05 left in the first.
• Pons scored her second of the quarter a minute later after the Big Red won its first draw of the day.
• Caitlin Slaminko scored her first goal shortly after when Thomas won the draw, worked the ball around and Castiello fed her down the pipeline.
• Sophie Ward capped the scoring in the quarter after a Villanova turnover, but she beat a defender on the crease and finished to make it 6-1.
• Early in the second quarter, Villanova scored a pair of free-position shots to get within 6-3.
• Cornell answered as Amanda Cramer cashed in one of her own midway through the quarter, the first of four straight by the Big Red to end the half with three coming on free-position shots.
 

SECOND HALF

• Villanova went on a three-goal run to begin the second half to get within 10-6 with six minutes to play in the third, but the visitors ran off three straight of their own.
• Shannon Brazier's goal 90 seconds into the fourth was sandwiched between a pair of Sophie Ward scores to push the Big Red edge back to seven (13-6)with 12:26 to play.
• The Wildcats again went on a three-goal run, but the home team couldn't find the back of the net over the final 6:45 and Cornell added an insurance score with 52 seconds left to cap the scoring.
 

UP NEXT

• Cornell will continue its two-game road swing to open the campaign when it visits Binghamton on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 8-0 and has averaged 17.5 goals per game in those contests.
• Cornell is 4-0 all-time at Binghamton.