ITHACA, N.Y. -- Junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Clark kept the Big Red in the game throughout, but a furious fourth-quarter comeback fell just short as No. 8/7 Princeton held on to top Cornell women's lacrosse 12-11 on Saturday afternoon on Schoellkopf Field. The Tigers improved to 9-1 (3-0 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 8-4 (2-2 Ivy).

Trailing by as many as seven goals in the fourth quarter, the Big Red closed the game on a 7-1 run to get within a goal before it ran out of time. The Big Red scored five times in the game's final 3:15 and eight times total in the fourth quarter, but Princeton's big first half was enough to clinch its ninth consecutive win.

Clark registered 18 saves in her second start of the season to take the hard-luck loss. The 18 stops were the most by a Big Red goalkeeper in a game since Katie McGahan also made 18 stops against the Tigers in 2022. Caitlin Tully had five caused turnovers in front of her and claimed five ground ball victories in front of her as Cornell held the potent Tigers' offense to three goals in the final 30 minutes.

Senior Caitlin Slaminko had three goals and two assists, becoming the 31st player in school history to reach 100 career points (104). Alexa Donahoe and Maggie Pons scored two apiece. Cornell battled throughout despite being out-shot 45-29 and winning only seven of the 26 draw controls.
 
McKenzie Blake scored six goals to lead the Princeton offense, while Sophie Whiteway had two goals and an assist to go along with seven draw controls. She combined with Abigail Roberts (8) for 15 total draw wins. Amelia Hughes was solid in goal, making 12 stops to pick up the victory for the Tigers.

Princeton led 9-1 at halftime and it could have been worse had it not been for 10 saves by Clark as the visitors held a 29-8 advantage in shots and won 10-of-12 draws. Blake scored four times for the Tigers and Hughes made six saves of her own, including five in the first quarter to allow the Tigers to hold a 4-0 lead.

Trailing 10-3 entering the fourth, Cornell went to work nearly right away. Slaminko recorded her 100th career point on a one-timer by Ella Wilmot in transition just 19 seconds into the fourth. Blake responded with her 50th goal of the season less than a minute later, and itr was still 12-6 Princeton despite consecutive goals by the Big Red senior. Dylan Madiga, Alexa Donahoe Slaminko and Gelabert scored over the next 2:17 to cut the deficit to 12-10. The Big Red beat the buzzer on a free-position when Donahoe's blast with 0.4 seconds left found the back of the net, but there was not time to get one more shot to tie.

NEXT UP
• Cornell closes out its home season when it welcomes nationally-ranked Harvard to town for Senior Day on Saturday, April 12 at 12 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Crimson leads the all-time series 26-19 and has won two straight matchups.
• Cornell is 19-7 in the series since 2000 with its last win a 10-9, double-overtime victory in the 2022 campaign.