GAME 3: Penn State (1-1, 0-0 Big 10) at Cornell (2-0, 0-0 Ivy)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 26 - 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @CornellWLax
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell women's lacrosse team will play its first home game in nearly two years when the Big Red welcomes Penn State to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+,
• When the Big Red opened 2022 with a 14-9 victory over Villanova, it had been 716 days since Cornell had suited up. It's now been 723 days since it has played at home.
• Cornell will attempt to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 2016 following Tuesday's 18-4 win at Binghamton, a game which saw the Big Red hold the Bearcats scoreless over the final 42:58.
• Graduate captain Katie McGahan was a brick wall, making nine saves in picking up her 20th career victory — just the fourth Cornellian to reach that milestone.
• The second of her nine saves on the day pushed her total to 300, the sixth Big Red player to hit that mark.
• She leads a defense that has surrendered just 13 goals this season.
• Cornell will meet a 1-1 Penn State squad that opened the year in the top 25 before a season-opening 12-9 loss at nationally-ranked Drexel.
• The Nittany Lions have a four-game win streak in the series and leads 9-3 since the first meeting in 1972.
• The offense is averaging 16.0 goals during its 2-0 start.
• Sophomore Maggie Pons (5-3-8) and junior Sophie Ward (7-0-7) have combined for 15 points, but 13 different players have recorded at least one point. 
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN STATE

Overall: Penn State leads 9-3, first meeting in 1972
In Ithaca, N.Y.: 1-5
Current Streak: Penn State, 4
Last Meeting: Penn State, 19-9 (2/23/2020 in University Park, Pa.)
Graap vs. Penn State: 3-6 (1-3 at home)
Series Notes: The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 9-3 dating back to the first meeting in 1972 • Penn State has won four straight meetings overall and three consecutive in Ithaca • the last Cornell win came during the 2016 season, a 10-7 win by the Big Red in University Park • the teams met three times in the 1970s (Penn State going 3-0), but didn't resume the series until more than a quarter-century later when Cornell stopped the Nittany Lions 11-9 on the road during a march to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
 

A WIN OVER PENN STATE WOULD

• make Cornell 4-9 all-time against Penn State.
• make the Big Red 3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2016.
• extend its win streak to four games dating back to 2020.
• push Cornell's record to 7-12 all-time against current members of the Big Ten conference.
• be the 357th in program history (356-309-4 in 50 seasons, .535).
 

NEXT UP

• Cornell begins Ivy play when it visits No. 11 Princeton on Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m. at the Class of 1952 Stadium.
• The Tigers lead the all-time series 41-5 and have won six straight.
• The Big Red's last two wins in the series, 2016 (in Philadelphia at the Ivy League Tournament) and 2012 (in Princeton) have both come in overtime.