ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's lacrosse team will attempt to start Ivy League season with consecutive wins when it visits Columbia on Sunday, March 23 at 12 p.m. at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• The Big Red sports a perfect 27-0 all-time record against Columbia dating back to the very first meeting between the programs in 1997.
• That success has really been true of its New York State opponents, as the Big Red holds a 163-85-3 (.655) mark all-time against in-state foes and added to that success this week against Binghamton (20-9).
• Cornell improved to 6-2 on the year with Tuesday's non-league win over the Bearcats, a game that featured single-game school records for draw controls (Ellie Bergin, 13) and assists (Maggie Pons, six).
• Cornell's offense has been explosive, averaging 15.0 goals per game (16th nationally) with seven of its eight contests in double figures and two games with 20 or more goals.
• Cornell's offense has also been deadly accurate, as its .494 shooting percentage is fourth in Division I and leads the Ivy League.
• The Big Red ranks eighth nationally in assists per game (8.5) and is seventh in points per game (23.5) after its first eight contests.
• Head coach Jenny Graap's team returns five of its top six scorers, a veteran defense composed of four seniors, and its top two goalkeepers.
• Cornell, picked sixth in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, is coming off a 7-8 campaign (2-5 Ivy) a season ago.

GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at Columbia
DATE & TIME: Sunday, March 23 at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium - New York, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 6-2 (1-0 Ivy); Columbia 3-4 (0-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 27-0
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

A WIN OVER COLUMBIA WOULD ...
• move the Big Red's record to 7-2 on the season and 6-1 in its past seven games.
• make Cornell 28-0 all-time against the Lions.
• push Graap's career record at Cornell to 241-169 (.588). and to 261-213 overall (.551).
• be the 383rd in program history (382-335-4, .532).

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA
• A 5-0 blitz to close out the first quarter gave Cornell women's lacrosse the jolt it needed to defeat the Columbia Lions, 13-5, at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Five Big Red athletes had multi-point outings in the win for Cornell, headlined by two goals and two assists from senior Maggie Pons. 
• Senior captain Bridget Babcock also put together a strong performance with two goals, one assist, and a team-high five ground balls. 
• Kylie Gelabert (two goals), Dillyn Patten (two goals), and Sophie Ward (two goals) rounded out the top performers in a game that saw a combined 43 shots on goal from both sides. 
• Junior Ellie Horner was also a brick wall in the cage for Cornell, securing a season-high 14 saves and scooping up two ground balls to earn her fourth win of the year in between the pipes for the red and white.
• Columbia's Cecelia Messner led the charge for the Lions with her third hat trick of the year, and Sophie Zachara had the other two goals in the loss.



MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Josie Vogel's 127 points rank 20th all-time at Cornell and are one from 19th, two from 18th, three from 16th and six from 15th.
• Vogel is one goal from becoming the 16th player ever at Cornell to reach 100 career goals.
• Three Big Red players are within striking distance of joining 28 Big Red players at the 100-point plateau for their careers — Kylie Gelabert enters the weekend with 99, Maggie Pons has 96 and Cailtlin Slaminko has 91.
• With 45 and 44 assists, respectively, Pons (5) and Gelabert (6) are on the verge of becoming the ninth and 10th players in school history with 50 helpers
• Senior Ellie Horner is two wins away from becoming the fifth Big Red goalkeeper with 20 career wins in the cage and needs one more to jump into the top five all-time at Cornell.
• Horney needs 10 saves to jump to ninth on Cornell's career saves list with her 249, and would move to eighth with 13 stops.

LAST TIME OUT
• After a slow start, the Cornell women's lacrosse team scored the final four goals of the first half and set some records along the way to a 20-9 victory over Binghamton at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Senior Maggie Pons matched a single-game record for assists with six and sophomore Ellie Bergin's 13 draw controls established a new Big Red mark. 
• The team's 21 draw controls is tied for the third-best in school history, while the 20 goals (ninth), 14 assists (third) and 34 points (fourth) also rank among the best totals ever at Cornell.
• Clinging to a 7-5 lead late in the first half, Dillyn Patten scored four times in the final 3:27, including twice out of the stick of Ella Wilmot over a 35-second span, to make it an 11-5 Big Red lead at the break. 
• Wilmot led nine multi-point scorers with five goals and two assists, while added a goal to her assist total to match Wilmot's seven points. 
• Kylie Gelabert had a four-point day (two goals, two assists) to push her career number to 99.
• Olivia Muscolino had three goals and an assist to lead the Bearcats, while Marisa Tancredi had two goals and an assist. 

NOTES TO KNOW
• Three Big Red players are within striking distance of 100 career points — seniors Kylie Gelabert (99), Maggie Pons (96) and Caitlin Slaminko (91).
• The Big Red has reached double figures in goals in seven of its eight contests this season with a pair of 20-goal games.
• Cornell set team records for goals (24), assists (17) and points (41) in the Big Red's 24-7 victory over Niagara, while its 21 draw controls were tied for the third-most in school history.
• Kylie Gelabert recorded seven goals, two assists and nine points in the win over Niagara, scoring goals on all seven shot attempts. The seven goals and nine points were both one shy of the Big Red single-game records.
• Ella Wilmot's eight-point effort (three goals, five assists) against the Purple Eagles left her one short of the single-game school record for assists and her points total good for ninth all-time.
• Cornell's offense has put at least 70 percent of its shots on target in seven of eight games this season and over 80 percent four times.
• In six contests against unranked opponents in 2025, the Big Red offense is averaging 17.2 goals and the defense has allowed just 8.7 goals and posted a .435 save percentage.
• The Big Red is 6-0 this season when leading at the half, keeping up its wild success when leading at the break under head coach Jenny Graap '86 (193-21, .902).
• In eight games this season, junior Ella Wilmot (17 goals, 17 assists) has nearly tripled her career scoring total entering the campaign (12 points).
• Another big trend under Graap — Cornell is 193-25 (.885) when holding opponents to fewer than 10 goals in a game and 92-2 (.979) when that is six or fewer.
• Senior Josie Vogel was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic At-Large All-District Team after sporting a 3.70 GPA in Government.
• Sophomore defender Julia Ramsey in a two-year letter winner on the field hockey team where she already ranks sixth in school history in career assists (21). Her sister, Caroline '24, is a two-time All-American, Cornell's all-time leading scorer and a member of the Team USA in field hockey.
• One of Ramsey's cousins was Annie Thomas '24, Cornell's all-time leader in draw controls (233).
• Junior midfielder Dillyn Patten joined the England Women's Senior Performance Squad this past December.
• The England Women's Field Lacrosse Team is ranked third in the world and won the Women's European Lacrosse Championship 2024. 
• Patten's sister, Kendall '24, played soccer for the Big Red, as did her mother, Corinne (Cantrall) Patten '92.
• The Big Red has qualified for the Ivy League Tournament 10 times in the 14 years it has been held.
• Senior defender Alessia Packard has a sister (Antonia '25, field hockey) and brother (Charles '24, men's lacrosse) who are recent Big Red graduates and varsity athletes.

THE CAPTAINS
• The Big Red is led by three captains this season: seniors Caitlin Slaminko and Lucy Dwyer along with junior Caitlin Tully. 
• Slaminko returns as a two-time captain, while Tully and Dwyer take on the role for the first time.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
• The matchup with Niagara on Feb. 25 was Cornell's 250th all-time game against fellow New York state schools.
• Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 163-85-3 (.654).
• The Big Red has five New York teams on its schedule during the 2025 season – Syracuse (L, 18-10), Colgate (15-6), Niagara (24-7), Binghamton (W, 20-9) and Columbia.

NOTES ON JENNY GRAAP '86
• Jenny Graap '86 ranks as the 12th active winningest Division I women's lacrosse coach with her 261 career victories. Directly ahead of her in 11th is Joe Spallina of Stony Brook who entered the season with 283 victories.
• Her 28 seasons on the Big Red sidelines makes her the third-longest tenured coach at their school entering the 2025 season, behind only Duke's Kerstin Kimel (1996) and North Carolina's Jenny Levy (1996).
• Graap ranks fourth on the Ivy League's all-time wins list, behind only Princeton's Chris Sailer (433 from 1987-2022), Penn's Karin Corbett (273 from 2000-present) and Harvard's Carole Kleinfelder (259 from 1979-2003) as of March 19.
• In her 28th season, Graap is the longest tenured women's head coach in school history (in any sport) and is currently the Dean among women's lacrosse coaches in the Ivy League.
• Graap's 240 career wins (and counting) for the Big Red ranks her 12th all-time among Cornell head coaches in all sports and second among women coaches (behind Andrea Dutcher with 346 volleyball wins from 1974-87).

HALL OF FAME
• Jessi Steinberg '12 was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame this past fall.
• A three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection and a three-time IWLCA Northeast All-Region pick, she graduated with the fourth-most points (177), third-most goals (136) and eighth-most assists (41) in school history. 
• Steinberg's senior season total of 65 points was also the third-best single season ever at Cornell.
• The two-time Big Red team captain was the leading scorer for the Israeli national team that competed at the 2017 FIL World Cup and again competed in 2022.

IVY PRESEASON POLL
• The Big Red was chosen sixth in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll announced in February.
• Cornell finished with a total of 54 points, just behind Harvard (71) and Brown (62) for the coveted fourth spot that will yield a spot in the Ivy League Tournament.
• Yale (125 points, 13 first-place votes), Penn (107 points, two first-place votes) and Princeton (104 points, one first-place vote) were chosen in the top three after making the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
• Dartmouth (54) and Columbia (17) rounded out the field.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red remains on the road for a weekend swing through New England beginning with a conference battle against Dartmouth on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m. at Scully-Fahey Field.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Dartmouth leads the all-time series 33-12, though the Big Red has won three straight and six of the last nine meetings between the squads, including a 15-13 shootout last season in Ithaca.