VESTAL, N.Y. -- A sunny afternoon was just what the doctor ordered for Cornell women's lacrosse, as it raced out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back, taking down in-state rival Binghamton, 15-7, on Tuesday from the Bearcats Sports Complex. With the win, Cornell is now 5-1 on the season and keeps its undefeated record in Vestal intact at 6-0. The defeat puts Binghamton at 4-5 on the year and extends its losing streak to three consecutive games.

Junior attacker Josie Vogel lit up the scoreboard, tying her career high with four goals alongside an assist. Kylie Gelabert also had a career day, as the former Section V standout found the back of the net twice and added five assists on the afternoon. Those five helpers shattered her previous career-high of two set earlier this season against Virginia and Dartmouth. The career trend also rubbed off on senior Lucy Dwyer, recording her first career hat trick and her first two assists of her Big Red career. Bridget Babcock (two goals, one assist) and Sophie Ward (one goal, two assists) closed out the multi-point club for a Big Red offense that doubled up the Bearcats in both shots (36-18) and shots on goal (27-13). Seniors Hilary Hoover and Annie Thomas locked down the draw control circle for the Big Red with nine combined wins, one more than Binghamton had all game.

Olivia Muscolino paced the Bearcats offense with three goals and two assists for her fifth hat trick of the season. Kristen Scheidel also had a solid day for Binghamton with two goals and a team-high five draw control wins, while the Big Red offense made netminder Sofia Salgado post a career-high 12 saves in the loss.

Cornell's offense got it going rather quickly, with Sophie Ward finding a cutting Gelabert for the first goal to push Cornell ahead early. Vogel would then answer the bell 44 seconds later, absorbing the contact and sliding it into the left portion of the net past Selgado to push the Big Red up 2-0. Binghamton answered about two minutes later on an unassisted goal by Muscilino to cut the Big Red's lead in half. Binghamton would win the draw control before Caitlin Tully knocked possession out of Gabriella Meli's grasp just to the left of Horner, allowing Alexis Reinhardt to scoop up the ground ball and take off towards the Bearcats end. And after working some clock, Cornell got the look they wanted, as Dwyer buried a pass from Vogel for her first goal of the season to put Cornell back ahead. That possession by the Big Red provided a spark for the Big Red on both sides of the coin, as Vogel and Ward tacked on two more, and the Big Red defense held the Bearcats shotless to hold a 5-1 lead after the opening 15. Binghamton's 11:06 of game action without a shot is the longest the Bearcats have failed to test an opposing goalkeeper this season. 

The Big Red tacked on another one to open the second from Dillyn Patten, who took a pass from Gelabert and fought through three defenders in her face for her eighth goal of the season to jump up by five. Binghamton stopped the 4-0 run over a minute later off the stick of Kristen Scheidel to end its scoreless streak at over 13 minutes and get back within four. That goal started to wake up the Bearcats offense, as it pushed the envelope to try and cut more into the deficit. But the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week in Horner stood tall, making three consecutive saves to keep the Bearcats at bay. Her third save allowed the Big Red to reset and find the back of the net off another behind-the-cage feed from Gelabert to Babcock to go ahead by five. Mia DiChiara added herself to the scorers' sheet two minutes later to put Cornell ahead, 8-2, heading into halftime. 

The second half opened with a goal from each team, as Vogel and Muscilino scored for their respective sides to keep the cushion for Cornell at six. Madison Murphy would take a pass from Muscolino and push it past Horner to try and get a spark that the Bearcats wanted. But with nearly four minutes of game action without a goal and four shots combined, Gelabert broke the scoreless streak with her second of the day after being alone shaded to the left of Salgado to go back up by six. Gelabert's goal once again sparked another Big Red run, as an immediate off-the-draw goal by Babcock turned into a 3-1 run to end the quarter, with the other two goals coming from Vogel and Dwyer to give Cornell its largest lead of the game going into the fourth at 13-5. Cornell also doubled up Binghamton in shots on goal in the period (8-4). 

Switching to the final frame did nothing to slow down Cornell's high-octane offense, scoring 20 seconds into the fourth from Alexa Donahoe to make it a nine-point cushion. That lead eventually ballooned to ten less than a minute later, as Annie Thomas' fourth draw control victory of the day allowed the Big Red to have three chances at Selgado. The third was a success, as Dwyer and Gelabert played hot potato to secure the first career hat trick for the senior with 13:12 to go. Binghamton added the two final goals of the game, but it was not enough to mount a comeback for the Bearcats, who dropped its tenth game in the last eleven meetings against the Big Red.

BIG RED NOTABLES

• Senior attacker Lucy Dwyer scored her first career hat trick during Tuesday's contest and her first goal since an 18-4 victory over Binghamton at the Bearcats Sports Complex on Feb. 22, 2022. 
• Senior defender Annie Thomas secured four draw control victories, putting her five away from becoming the first Big Red women's lacrosse athlete to eclipse 200 career draw controls.
• Josie Vogel's four-goal performance extends her goal streak to 21 consecutive games and her points streak to 20 straight contests. 
• Cornell's defense tied its season-high with ten caused turnovers and recorded 18 or more turnovers against a non-conference opponent for the first time since having 21 in an 18-15 victory over UAlbany to open its 2023 campaign.
• Sophomore midfielder/defender Caitlin Tully earned her first career start for the Big Red, logging a caused turnover and earning one draw control win. 
• Since the first matchup in 2012, Cornell has scored double-digit goals in all eleven games against the Bearcats. 

UP NEXT
The Big Red will return home this Saturday for its final home game in March, hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions from Schoellkopf Field. The first draw is slated for 1 p.m. with Christian DeGuzman and Carrie Ginacola '02 on the call on ESPN Plus.