PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Cornell women's lacrosse team rebounded from an eight-goal first quarter deficit to get within two but could not pull off the comeback in a 23-17 loss to the Brown Bears on Saturday afternoon from Stevenson-Pincince Field. With the loss, the Big Red finishes its 2024 campaign at 7-8 and 2-5 in conference action.

Attacker Josie Vogel had a career day for the Big Red with a team-high five goals and three assists, including a first-half hat trick. The junior's eight points are also a career-high, besting her previous best of five set twice this season at Binghamton and versus Jacksonville in Towson. Caitlin Slaminko also had a strong outing with her second hat trick of the season alongside two assists. Bridget Babcock (two goals, one assist), Kylie Gelabert (two goals, one assist), and Alexa Donahoe (two goals) closed out a Big Red offense that had 79 percent (22-28) of its shots on cage. Annie Thomas also had a team-best five draw controls to finish her career with a program-best 233 wins. 

Mia Mascone led a potent Brown offense with six goals, four assists, and a game-high eight draw controls. The senior also finished the regular season with a program-record 98 points. Greta Criqui also had six goals on seven shot attempts to be one of 11 Bears to record a point and secure its third-straight win over the Big Red. 

The opening three minutes went scoreless before Brown struck first on a dodge from Greta Criqui to jump ahead. That early cushion would be short lived, as Slaminko cut towards the cage and fired home her 19th of the year to tie things up at one. But the early back and forth immediately swayed in favor of the Bears with two goals in just over 30 seconds to take a 3-1 lead. Cornell tested Margaret Woodberry immediately after the goal off the stick of Dillyn Patten before making the stop. Gelabert was accessed a yellow card immediately after the stop, giving Brown its first woman-up opportunity. The Bears took advantage with Criqui's second of the day off a behind-the-cage feed from Burton to make it 4-1. That goal sparked three more over 1:36 of game action to build its cushion to six. Cornell finally found the net on a free position for Vogel, scoring her 31st of the season to make it 9-2. Brown had the final goal with 28 ticks left to close a quarter that saw an eight-shot advantage on the cage for the home team. 

Cornell's offense woke up early in the second, as Slaminko tucked home her second of the day into the right side of the net 33 seconds in. The Big Red continued to push the envelope immediately after with a draw control victory by Alexa Donahoe, allowing a hookup between Lucy Dwyer and Vogel for its second goal in less than a minute to inch closer. Cornell was not done to open the second, as a key save by Ellie Horner allowed a trailing Babcock to secure the clear and quickly find Vogel for the hat trick and force a Bears timeout. The break helped stop the bleeding momentarily, with Criqui's scoring her third of the day to get back up by six. Despite the goal, Cornell's offense laid the hammer down with another 3-0 blitz from Vogel, Gelabert, and Patten over about three minutes of action within three. Mascone stopped the run about two minutes later with her 58th of the season to go back up four. Cornell shook the Mascone goal off with another on a connection from Slaminko to a cutting Vogel for her fifth of the half to make it 12-9. Two minutes ticked off with no goals before a Bears foul allowed another free position for the Big Red. Cornell passed on the opportunity but did not go home empty-handed, as Babcock slid through two defenders and fired a diving shot to put Cornell within two. Brown again had the final laugh of the quarter on a connection between Criqui and Mascone just before the horn sounded to retake a three-goal lead into the locker room. 

Both teams opened the second half with a dry spell of two minutes. Cornell was the first to burst through off the shoulders of Babcock on a nifty angled free position shot that slid past Tara Reilly to put Cornell within two. Caitlyn Tully secured the following draw control and drove it into the Brown defense end before a Slaminko turnover gave possession back to the Bears. The turnover bit the Big Red, as Maddie Joyce and Leah Caputo tallied goals over two minutes to jump back up four. Donahoe matched the run by Brown 16 seconds later off a behind-the-cage feed from Vogel to continue the swinging pendulum of momentum. But Brown grabbed the momentum and ran with it after Donahoe's goal with a 4-0 run scattered across three minutes of action to build its cushion back to seven. Cornell did have the last goal of the quarter, snapping a scoreless streak of six minutes from freshman Dylan Madigan to get back within six. But the final 3:39 of game action went by without a score. 

Brown opened the final quarter with the first tally on Mascone's sixth of the day before Slaminko answered 59 seconds later to secure her second hat trick of the year to keep the deficit at six. The Big Red won the following draw control but could do nothing with it, as a turnover by Patten gave possession back and ballooned into back-to-back goals by Criqui and Burton to extend its lead to eight. The cat and mouse game swung back in favor of Big Red with a 3-0 burst from Alexa Donahoe, Mia DiChiara, and Gelabert to pull within five with 5:43 to go. It looked like momentum would continue for the Big Red, with Babcock scooping up the draw control and firing a shot. Newly inserted goalkeeper Tara Reilly stepped up to the challenge with a save and a runout opportunity for the Bears that was cashed in on a shot by Marley Wright to make it 23-17 with 4:32 left. Cornell continued to push the envelope but could not get any closer as the Bears handed the Big Red its fifth consecutive loss to end its 2024 campaign. 

BIG RED NOTABLES

• Brown's 23 goals are the most a Cornell team has surrendered since a 23-7 loss to No. 12 Dartmouth in Ithaca on April 11, 1998. 
• Senior Annie Thomas closes her Big Red career with a program-record 233 draw control victories. The next highest is Sarah Hefner '15 with 159. 
• Junior Kylie Gelabert secured her 20th assist of the year, tying her with Caroline Allen for the 15th most in a season. 
• Cornell logged a .786 shots on goal percentage (22-28) during Saturday's contest, making it the eighth time the Big Red has had a percentage of .700 or higher this season.
• The Big Red tallied 17 goals against the Bears. That total is the most in the series since a 16-8 victory in 2012. 
• Four Cornell players finished the season with 10 or more assists (Gelabert - 20, Babcock - 14, Maggie Pons - 12, Vogel - 12). It's the first time three players have had 10 or more since 2017.