GAME 13: Cornell (6-6, 2-2 Ivy) at Penn (7-4, 3-0 Ivy)

Date & Time: Saturday, April 15 - 12:00 p.m.
Venue: Franklin Field - Philadelphia, Pa.
Twitter: @CornellWLax
Cornell Game Notes
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to pick up a signature win and bolster its Ivy League Tournament chances when it meets No. 17 Penn on Saturday, April 15 at 12 p.m. at Franklin Field. 
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Big Red will attempt to snap a 23-game skid against ranked opponents and win its second consecutive contest against the Quakers when it attempts to hand Penn its first Ivy loss of 2023.
• Cornell will be out to snap a four-game skid, including a pair of competitive losses to top 20 teams, a road defeat at No. 1 Syracuse and an overtime defeat to Harvard in its last game.
• Senior Katie Castiello, the team's leading goal scorer with 34, enters the game just one point shy of becoming the 28th Big Red player to reach 100 career points.
• Picked fourth in the Ivy League's preseason media poll, Cornell returns eight starters and 18 letter winners from last season's 8-8 squad. 
• Cornell went 4-3 in Ivy play last spring, making its ninth appearance in 11 all-time (including eight of the past nine) Ivy League Tournaments as the No. 3 seed. 
• Four senior All-Ivy selections return in 2023, with Katie Castiello and Amanda Cramer on attack, Annie Thomas in the midfield and Hilary Hoover on defense.
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN

Overall: Penn leads 31-18, first meeting in 1975
In Philadelphia, Pa.: Penn leads 16-8
Current Streak: Cornell, 1
Last Meeting: Cornell, 13-9 (4/9/2022 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Graap vs. Penn: 11-15 (6-8 on the road)
Series Notes: Cornell has gone 3-5 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 12 meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal, most recently in 2019.
 

A WIN OVER PENN WOULD

• improve Cornell's record to 7-6 on the season.
• push the Big Red's Ivy record to 3-2.
• snap the Big Red's four-game skid.
• be the second straight over the Quakers for the Big Red, narrowing its deficit in the all-time series to 31-19.
• be the 369th in program history (368-316-4 in 51 seasons, .538).
 

LAST TIME OUT

• For the second consecutive season, the Cornell-Harvard women's lacrosse game ended with the road team celebrating a golden goal. 
• This time, it was at the Big Red's expense, but only after a bad bounce canceled out a late Cornell goal and sent the Crimson home with a 14-13, double overtime triumph at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Harvard's Ilana Kofman's attempted pass in from of the crease was deflected by a Cornell defender and found its way past Ellie Horner, who kept the Big Red in the game in the second half with 10 saves, including seven huge stops in the fourth quarter (all on the final eight shots she saw) to allow Cornell to send the game into the sudden victory sessions. 
• She ended with 12 saves on the afternoon along with five ground balls and a caused turnover to spur the defense.
• Amanda Cramer had three goals and an assist, Katie Castiello posted a hat trick to sit on 99 career points, Maggie Pons had a three-point day (two goals, one assist) and Shannon Brazier was credited with three assists to lead a Big Red offense that reached double figures in the scoring column for the 12th consecutive game. 
• Josie Vogel scored twice, as did Caitlin Slaminko, whose free position score with 1:20 left in regulation allowed Cornell to send the game into overtime.

 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• The Big Red has scored double figure goals in all 12 contests this season and has allowed single-digit goals four times.
• Cornell has had two players named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week this season  — goalkeeper Ellie Horner (Feb. 27) and midfielder Shannon Brazier (March 6). 
• Senior Annie Thomas' cousin, Caroline Ramsey, is an All-Ivy field hockey player for the Big Red and a member of the U.S. national team.
• In 34 games, Thomas has 171 draw controls — a mark that already sits atop the school's career charts.
• Thomas had 73 draw controls in 16 games in 2022 to set the single-season school record, surpassing Sarah Hefner's 2014 record of 68.
• Senior captain Amanda Cramer, an honorable mention All-Ivy selection and the team's leading scorer in 2022, is a transfer from Northwestern who mother, Caroline, was a gymnast for the Big Red.
• Sophomore defender Alessia Packard has a sister (Antonia, field hockey) and brother (Charles, men's lacrosse) who are also current varsity athletes for the Big Red.
• Cornell's 218 draw control wins in 2022 were second all-time in a season, just shy of the 222 recorded in 2017. 
• The team's 13.3 goals per game in 2022 ranked second all-time at Cornell (14.2 in 2012).
• The Big Red has qualified for the Ivy League Tournament nine times in the 11 years it has been held.
• Seniors Bridget Babcock, Amanda Cramer and Hilary Hoover will serve as team tri-captains.
• Head coach Jenny Graap has 226 career wins for the Big Red, ranking her 13th all-time among Cornell head coaches in all sports and second among women coaches (behind Andrea Dutcher with 346 volleyball wins from 1974-87).
• In her 26th season, Graap is the longest tenured women's head coach in school history and currently among women's lacrosse coaches in the Ivy League.
 

NEXT UP

• The Big Red remains on the road against a ranked opponent when it travels to meet No. 13 Yale on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. at Reese Stadium.
• Yale won a pair of games against the Big Red a season ago, snapping a  12-game Cornell win streak in the series.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 22-21.