GAME 11: Penn (3-7, 0-2 Ivy) at Cornell (6-4, 2-1 Ivy)

Date & Time: Saturday, April 9 - 12:00 p.m.
Venue: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @CornellWLax
 

STORY LINES

• Just a game out of first place in the Ivy League standings, the Cornell women's lacrosse team will face perennial conference power Penn on Saturday, April 9 at 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Big Red will attempt to return to the win column after having its three-game win streak snapped on Sunday, dropping a 10-9 contest to No. 23 Jacksonville at USA Lacrosse's Tierney Field.
• Cornell enters the weekend with a 2-1 conference mark, a game behind unbeaten Yale (3-0) and tied with Brown and Harvard — Princeton is also 1-0.
• Amanda Cramer (23-6-29), Katie Castiello (15-9-24), Genevieve DeWinter (18-5-23), Sophie Ward (20-1-21), and Shannon Brazier (12-6-18) lead nine players that have reached double figures in scoring this season for a balanced, but explosive, offense averaging 14.8 goals per game and reaching double digits in nine of 10 contests.
• Senior goalkeeper Katie McGahan (6-4, 11.39 GAA, .484 save percentage) is averaging 9.1 saves per game.
• Cornell's defense has been the difference in its success, surrendering 15.8 goals in four defeats vs. just 8.5 in its six wins.
• The Quakers are an uncharacteristic 0-2 in conference play and have lost three straight, though it enters the contest with consecutive wins over the Big Red.
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN

Overall: Penn leads 31-17, first meeting in 1975
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Penn leads 14-8
Current Streak: Penn, 2
Last Meeting: Penn, 11-10 (3/23/2019 in Philadelphia, Pa.)
Graap vs. Penn: 10-15 (4-7 at home)
Series Notes: The teams have split the last four meetings after Penn claimed 12 straight from 2007-16 • prior to that, the Big Red had an 8-1 stretch from 1998-2006 • six of the past 11 meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal, including the last meeting in 2019.
 

A WIN OVER PENN WOULD

• make Cornell 7-4 on the season.
• improve the Big Red's Ivy record to 3-1.
• snap a two-game skid against the Quakers and narrow their lead in the all-time series to 31-18.
• make Cornell 5-2 in its past seven contests.
• cut the Quakers' lead in the all-time series to 31-18.
• be the 361st in program history (360-306-4 in 50 seasons, .540).
 

LAST TIME OUT

• Jacksonville used a 6-0 run in the second half and held off a late Cornell rally as the 23rd-ranked Dolphins earned a 10-9 victory at Tierney Field at the USA Lacrosse facility. 
• Katie McGahan made 12 saves in goal to lead a Big Red defense that held a powerful Jacksonville attack to two first half goals, including a six-save second quarter that allowed the Big Red to go into halftime with a 4-2 edge. 
• Both Amanda Cramer and Kylie Gelabert scored two goals and added an assist with Genevieve DeWinter adding two scores for the Big Red. 
• Grace Faircloth caused three turnovers and won four ground balls and Annie Thomas won five draw controls.
• The numbers were nearly even across the board, with the Dolphins holding a 35-28 edge in shots and a 12-11 draw control advantage, including 10-5 in the second half. 
• Lauren Craft, Molly Brock and Madeline Cloyd each had two goals for the Dolphins, while Grace Hobson was credited with three assists. 
• Brock added six draw wins, while goalkeeper Paige Pagano made 11 saves, including seven in the decisive second half. 
 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Graduate student Katie McGahan enters the weekend with 380 saves, good for fourth all-time at Cornell.
• McGahan in also third in career wins (24).
• In its past seven games, Cornell has posted three of the top 10 single-game totals for draw controls — the 22 at UConn ranks No. 1 all-time, while the 21 at Princeton is No. 2 and 19 vs. Columbia sits ninth.
• Junior Annie Thomas has a cousin, Caroline Ramsey, who is a All-Ivy field hockey player for the Big Red.
• In just 16 career games, Thomas has 101 draw controls — a mark that already ranks ninth in school history.
• Thomas has 61 draw controls in just 10 games in 2022 to rank No. 4 all-time in a single season, just seven shy of Sarah Hefner's 2014 record of 68.
• Currently at 14.8 goals per game, the Big Red is outpacing its current school record (14.2 in 2012).
• Senior Gillis Frechette is also member of the Big Red women's hockey team and will join the squad at the conclusion of the winter season.
• Senior Ashleigh Gundy was named the inaugural recipient of the IWCLA's Tina Sloan Green Award that recognizes teams or individuals working to promote equity and inclusion. Following the murder of George Floyd, Gundy created a documentary titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" featuring athletes from Cornell, Brown, Yale, Michigan, George Washington, and Colgate who candidly discussed their experiences as black student-athletes, the intersection of race and sport, and the systematic flaws embedded in the criminal justice system. The film also features Khalil Muhammad, a Harvard Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy, who helped viewers explore the intersection of race and criminal justice in modern US history.
• The Big Red has qualified for the Ivy League Tournament eight times in the 10 years it has been held.
 

NEXT UP

• The Big Red will welcome fifth-ranked Syracuse to Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m.
• The Orange leads the all-time series 18-5 and has won 13 consecutive matchups between the schools.
• Cornell's last win was a 9-4 victory on April 19, 2006 at Schoellkopf.