JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Cornell scored less than a minute into the season and led wire-to-wire, kicking off the 2025 campaign with a 14-8 victory at Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon at Rock Stadium. The Big Red opened at 1-0, while the Dolphins slipped to 0-3 on the year.

Ella Wilmot (three goals, three assists) and Caitlin Slaminko (four goals, two assists) both had six-point days and Josie Vogel chipped in a hat trick to lead the Big Red offense. Ellie Horner (two saves, three goals allowed) and Mackenzie Vlark (six saves, five goals allowed) split time in goal, while Ellie Bergin won six draws for the visitors. The Big Red was successfully clearing the ball on 16-of-17 opportunities while forcing five failed clears to add possessions.

Jacksonville had plenty of positives despite the loss, earning a 15-10 advantage at the draw circle and winning the ground ball battle (16-11) while cashing in on five free-position opportunities. Both Brigid Manning and Madison Plitt scored twice, while Abby Moran won six draws and Kaila Stasulli claimed four draws and caused a pair of turnovers.

The Big Red scored twice in the opening 90 seconds of the game and had three different scorers in the first eight minutes as part of a 3-1 lead. Cornell never let the Dolphins back in the game, taking a 7-3 lead into halftime with a 13-7 edge in shots. Slaminko had two goals and an assist and Wilmot tallied a goal and two assists, with Dillyn Patten also scoring two to round out three multi-point scorers after 30 minutes. Bergin won three draws for the Big Red.

Much like the first half, Cornell drew blood quickly coming out of halftime with Kylie Gelabert finding Josie Vogel just 40 seconds in to make it 8-3. A 3-0 run by Jacksonville got the home team within two goals early in the third.

That would be as close as the home team would get, as Alexa Donahoe stopped the run, followed in short order by consecutive goals from Slaminko and Wilmot. When Wilmot knotted her third and final goal early in the fourth, Cornell again led by six (12-6). Jacksonville never got closer than four goals, and a pair of Big Red scores in the final five minutes closed it out.

NEXT UP
Cornell will visit nationally-ranked Syracuse on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m.