ITHACA, N.Y. -- A battle of two teams receiving votes in the latest IWLCA poll comes into view this weekend from Schoellkopf Field when Cornell women's lacrosse hosts the Penn State Nittany Lions in a Saturday afternoon showdown.

GAME INFO:
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
DATE and TIME: Saturday, March 16, at 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (5-1, 2-0 Ivy League), Penn State (4-4, 1-0 Big Ten)
SERIES RECORD: Penn State leads, 11-3
BROADCAST: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com

MATCHUP HISTORY
- Saturday's game will be the 15th all-time meeting between the Big Red and the Nittany Lions. 

- Penn State has had Cornell's number over the past few matchups, taking the last six head-to-head, including a 13-10 win in University Park last season. Three of those games have been decided by three goals or more at the final whistle.

- Cornell's offense has struggled to find the back of the net over the 14-game series, averaging 8.57 goals per game. Despite the trend, the Big Red has scored ten or more goals in four out of the last five. 

- The Nittany Lions have had their offense rolling during its six-game winning streak over the Big Red, with ten or more goals in five contests.

A WIN OVER PENN STATE WOULD
- Give Cornell a 6-1 record through seven contests for the first time since 2017.

- Snap a six-game losing streak to the Nittany Lions and give the Big Red its first victory over PSU in Ithaca since a 13-12 win in double overtime on March 13, 2013. 

- Hand Jenny Graap her 254th victory as a head coach and 233rd at the helm of the Big Red.

- Secure the 375th win in program history (374-326-4 in 52 seasons, .534).

LAST TIME OUT: VOGEL, GELABERT RECORD CAREER DAYS AS BIG RED DEFEATS BINGHAMTON IN VESTAL
The Big Red was firing on all cylinders on Tuesday, racing out to a 5-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes to clinch a 15-7 win over Binghamton from the Bearcats Sports Complex. Cornell doubled up the Bearcats in both shots (36-18) and shots on goal (27-13) while also dominating the draw circle with a season-high 18 wins compared to eight for Binghamton. The Big Red's victory over the Bearcats also kept its undefeated record in Vestal intact at 6-0. 

Junior classmates Kylie Gelabert and Josie Vogel paced the red-hot Cornell offense, combining for six goals and six assists in the victory. Vogel's four goals tied her career-high set earlier this season against Le Moyne, while Gelabert doubled up her previous single-game assist mark of two set twice this season against Virginia and Dartmouth. Lucy Dwyer rounded out the career outings with her first goal since 2022, which turned into her first career hat trick alongside the first two assists in her senior season for the Big Red. Bridget Babcock (two goals, one assist, team-high three ground balls) and Sophie Ward (one goal, two assists) closed the multi-point party for Cornell. Ellie Horner also earned the win in net for Cornell with five saves for her fifth win of the year. 

Cornell set the tone on both ends of the field in the opening 15, ripping off seven shots on goal while holding Binghamton to one attempt. Five of those found the back of the net from three players to push Cornell into the second with a 5-1 cushion. Binghamton would begin to wake up in the second, snapping its scoreless streak of over 13 minutes to get within four before testing Horner with three consecutive shots. The reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week was a brick wall in the cage, making three saves to stifle the Bearcats offensive push before Babcock scored off a feed from Gelabert to put Cornell up six heading into halftime. Binghamton would get as close as five in the third quarter before Cornell used a 6-3 goal run over the final 25 minutes of game action to return to Ithaca with its 10th win in 11 tries over its in-state rival. 

Annie Thomas also had a successful day in the draw circle, snagging four wins to put her five away from becoming the first Cornell women's lacrosse player in program history to have 200 career draw controls. Cornell's defensive unit also had a solid performance, matching its season-high in caused turnovers (10) and forcing a non-conference opponent to commit 18 or more for the first time since its 2023 season opener against UAlbany. 

INSIDER: PENN STATE
- Penn State comes into Saturday's game at 4-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions will also look to extend its season-long winning streak to three straight games. 

- PSU has already matched up once against an Ivy League opponent this season, falling 18-13 to Princeton in University Park on Feb. 24.  

- The Nittany Lions are coming off a hard-fought 9-7 road victory over Lehigh on Tuesday afternoon, which extended its all-time mark over the Mountain Hawks to 29-0. 

- Emma Kelly earned the star of the matchup for Penn State, recording her second career hat trick off the bench on five shot attempts. Graduate student Kara Nealon also had two assists in a game that saw the Nittany Lions double up Lehigh in shots on goal (20-10) and force the Mountain Hawks into a season-high 23 turnovers. Both teams stayed deadlocked at three apiece until a goal by PSU's Kristin O'Neill with 6:53 to go in the second eventually stretched into a 3-0 run that carried over into the third quarter, giving the Nittany Lions the cushion it needed to take a win back to State College. 

- Kristin O'Neill has been the juggernaut for the Penn State offense in 2024, logging a team-high 21 goals, with eleven coming via free position attempts. Gretchen Gilmore (16-2-18) and Meghan Murray (12-0-12) are the other Nittany Lions to push above ten goals this season. 

- Senior Kayla Abernathy leads a powerful draw control unit with 24 on the year. Abernathy is one of four athletes to have ten or more draw control victories alongside O'Neill (15), Murray (15), and Lauren Saltz (11). 

- Freshman Sydney Manning has been the leading goalkeeper, posting a .408 save percentage on 140 shots faced in seven games this season.

- The second quarter has been where Penn State's offense has turned up the pressure this season, ripping off 77 total shots, with 52 being on target compared to 49 and 34 for their opponents. 

- Penn State has made not turning the ball over a habit, averaging just 11.12 per contest. That metric is first in the Big 10 and second across DI women's lacrosse, sitting just behind Notre Dame (10.50). For perspective, Cornell is 15th in the country in that department with 12.50/game heading into Saturday.

-The Nittany Lions offense has taken advantage of the free position, sitting 19th in DI with a .540 conversion percentage (34-63).

- Missy Doherty is in her 14th season directing PSU. The 1997 Maryland graduate has put together a 141-96 record since 2011 and posted ten or more wins nine times in University Park. PSU is coming off a strong 2023 season with its first season of ten or more wins (11-7) and a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018.

UP NEXT
Cornell begins its stretch of three straight games away from Ithaca, returning to Ivy League action against Princeton University on Saturday, March 23, at noon from Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium. Game action will be available on ESPN Plus. NBC Sports Philadelphia, and SNY.