Women's Lacrosse Upsets No. 15 Stanford

The women's lacrosse team defeated No. 15 Stanford (11-4), 12-9, yesterday on Schoellkopf Field to finish the season strong after Saturday's heartbreaker at Yale. It was the 400th game in program history. With the victory, the Red (9-5) remains unbeaten against the Cardinal all-time, with a 5-0 series record.

"I'm really pleased with the effort," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "I felt that we were intense on ground balls, hustling, and it just seemed like we played with a lot of passion."

Stanford got on the board early, scoring 48 seconds into the game. However, the Red quickly responded and mounted an impressive run. Sophomore Lindsay Steinberg got the offense started for the Red, as she intercepted a pass in the offensive zone, and beat the lone defender back for the score. Senior Sarah Averson added a tally of her own soon after, as junior Jamie Quinn found Averson all alone in front of the net. Junior Kate Hirschfield put the laxers up by two, connecting on a shot right in front of the net.

After the Cardinal called timeout to try to regroup, the Red continued to add to its lead. Sophomore Julia Hughey connected on a pass from Steinberg, who added her second tally of the day soon after on a free position shot. Averson extended the lead to 6-1 after taking a pass from freshman Allison Schindler.

"Part of strategy against Stanford was to transition down quickly, move the ball quickly, and throw the feed quickly," Graap commented. "They play a zone defense, which is a little different defensive look, and we just wanted to attack them in transition when they were vulnerable and before they had time to set it up."

Stanford went on a run of its own, scoring the next three goals to cut the Cornell lead to 6-4 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. Steinberg answered right back, though, as she hit the back of the net with a shot through traffic. The Cardinal closed the gap again with 30 seconds left in the half.

In the opening minute of the second half, Stanford's Sarah Bach cut the lead to 7-6, as she dropped a shot into the net from the left side while falling down. Steinberg added her fourth goal of the game four minutes later on a shot from the top of the arc, but Stanford connected on a free position shot to cut Cornell's lead to one.

The Red never let the Cardinal get any closer, as it jumped ahead with a four-goal spurt in the middle of the half. Sophomore Annie Berkery started the run, causing a turnover while Stanford changed goalies. Both teams sprinted down field, and Schindler fed Steinberg for her fifth goal of the game before the new Stanford goalie could get settled.

Steinberg tallied her second assist of the day with 13 minutes left in the game, as she fed the ball to sophomore Kristin Smith, to give the Red a 10-7 lead.

"Steinberg ... was not only good scoring goals, but she had assists today, and she was hustling in the ride, getting stick checks and tackling back on people," said Graap. "I really think this was one of the most outstanding games she's played in her career."

Stanford gave the Red a scare in the closing minutes of the game, as it tacked on two more goals to bring the score to 12-9. The Red's defense kept the game from getting any closer, as junior goalie Ashley Charron making some clutch saves late in the game.

"Stanford's a great team and they never died, fighting right until the end. I think the defense did a good job under pressure." said Graap.

Charron finished the day with seven saves.

In addition to her career-high five goals and two assists, Steinberg scooped up a career-high six ground balls and caused two turnovers, while senior co-captain Rachel Friedman led the team with seven ground balls.

Women Laxers Face Brown in Must-Win

The women's lacrosse team will try to snap its three-game skid tomorrow at Schoellkopf Field at 3 p.m., when it takes on Brown. The Red (7-4, 2-2 Ivy) lost a tough match to No. 11 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday, while the Bears (4-6, 2-1) defeated Boston College earlier in the week. With only four games remaining in the regular season, this weekend's contest is a must-win for the Red as it seeks a berth in a third-straight NCAA tournament.

"We have to get back on track mentally. We're really kind of down, we just lost three tough games. We had chances to win all of them and we didn't win," said head coach Jenny Graap '86.

Wednesday night marked the return of two starters for the laxers in senior co-captain Erica Holveck and junior Kate Hirschfield. Both made their presence known on the field, as Hirschfield recorded a goal and an assist, and Holveck provided good speed in the transition game and saw more attack time.

Going into the half down by four, the Red burst out of the gate in the second with a torrent of shots and put up two straight goals to cut the Orangewomen's lead in half. Senior Sarah Averson brought the Red within one with nine minutes left in the game, but Syracuse ended the game with three straight goals to win its 12th straight contest at home.

Brown comes into tomorrow's contest having won three of its last four games. The Bears are led by senior Bekah Rottenberg, who leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 10 helpers. Junior Christine Anneberg has scored a team-high 20 goals, while in net, sophomore Julie Southard has a 11.11 goals against average and a .459 save percentage. Cornell came away with a 13-9 win last season, and holds a three-game winning streak against the Bears.

With two of its remaining four games against teams ranked in the top 20, the Red needs to get back on the winning track and gain some momentum going into the postseason.

"I think it's important to get back in a groove and into a positive mode. [We have to have] fun out there and enjoy ourselves and not be overwhelmed with frustration," commented Graap.

The Red will most likely be without senior Sarah Fischer for tomorrow's game, however. Fischer, second on the team in scoring with 18 goals and seven assists, did not play against the Orangewomen, and her scoring touch will be missed.

"[With Fischer out] what you're seeing now is more middies getting into the offensive end. Erica Holveck and Katie Lavin get more attack time because we bump the midfielders up a little bit and let them come into the attack," said Graap.

Next weekend, the Red plays its final road game when it travels to New Haven, CT to take on Yale in a contest that will be televised on the College Sports TV Network. The laxers' next home game will be April 28 against Stanford, with Harvard coming to town May 3 to cap off the regular season.

W. Lacrosse Drops a Pair

The women's lacrosse team was handed two one-goal losses this weekend by No. 11 Ohio State, 11-10, on Friday in Ithaca, and yesterday by No. 13 Dartmouth, 7-6, in Hanover, N.H. This is the first time that the Red (7-3, 2-2 Ivy) has dropped consecutive games since the 2000 campaign. With the win, Dartmouth (7-2, 4-0 Ivy) remains the only unbeaten team in conference play, as Yale upended Princeton, 7-6, on Saturday.

Friday, the Red jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game's opening 10 minutes. Senior Sarah Averson started off the scoring, netting a goal off a free position shot. Sophomore Lindsay Steinberg scored 29 seconds later, getting the ball off the draw control and beating Ohio State goalie Erin Forquer from the left side. Senior co-captain Erica Holveck finished off the scoring run, as she ran down the center of the offensive zone to notch her second goal of the season.

Ohio State battled back, netting the next five goals. The Buckeyes' first two goals came on low shots from Ashley Evans and Regina Oliver. Evans added her second tally, as she ran in on net off a free position to tie the game at three after 20 minutes. Caroline Weatherill and Tracey Bounds added to more scores to give Ohio State its first lead of the game.

"I have to give Ohio State a lot of credit, they went hard to the net and they took good shots.," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "It was a different style of lacrosse than what we've seen from this point. They didn't seem to be looking to pass the ball very much, and there weren't a lot of creative feeds, it was really just the one-on-one to the net."

The Red held the Buckeyes scoreless for the remainder of the half, and added a goal of its own with a minute to go, as Averson weaved through the defense and hit the back of the net for her second goal of the game.

Averson scored the Red's next goal in the second half to tie the game, as sophomore Julia Hughey fed the ball from down low as Averson cut through the middle of the offensive zone. The Buckeyes came right back a minute later to reclaim the lead, but the Red scored four goals in the next six minutes to take a 9-6 lead with nine minutes left in the game.

The Buckeyes mounted a furious comeback that started with Oliver's free position goal. Evans and Oliver added their third goals of the game to tie the game at nine.

"Regina Oliver is an incredible athlete; she's very fast. Our markup with Erica Holveck marking Oliver was very sound, Holveck held Regina to one goal for most of the game," said Graap. "Holveck had to come off the field [in the closing minutes of the half] with a concussion because Regina Oliver ran her over, it was just a physical thing. Regina's a strong kid, and overall the game was very rough."

With the score tied at nine, the contest went into overtime, and neither team was able to score in the first three-minute period. Junior Jaime Quinn received a pass from freshman Allison Schindler, and beat Forquer on a high shot to give the Red the lead a minute and a half into the second overtime period. The Buckeyes answered immediately, as Shannon Wilson drove hard to the net and beat junior goalie Ashley Charron.

"Overtime is a tricky thing, because it's two three-minute intervals, and I think when we scored, maybe we felt like 'Ok, we won it, it's over,' instead of playing defense the whole way through," said Graap.

With time winding down, Oliver sped down the field, and found an open Alexia Vogler in front of the net, who beat Charron with only two seconds left in the second overtime.

"There was just so much pushing and physical contact out there that people were getting hurt. We didn't have a very deep bench, and we were getting banged up, and I think that was a factor going into the overtime," said Graap.

Averson netted four goals for the Red to go with four ground balls and five draw controls. Charron made six saves in net, while Forquer stopped nine for the Buckeyes.

Yesterday, the Red faced an equally tough team in Dartmouth. However, the laxers were without Holveck due to the injury she sustained against Ohio State.

"Whenever one of your senior leaders goes down, it requires the underclassmen to really step it up a notch," said Graap.

Once again, the Red took the early lead, with sophomore Jessica Williams scoring off a feed from Schindler, and Quinn connecting on a free position shot. Katieanne Christian added a free position goal and an unassisted goal to tie the game at two. Quinn added her second of the contest with 10 minutes to go in the half to give the Red a one-goal going into halftime.

The Green dominated the second half, scoring the next four goals to go up by three with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Rather than crumble under the pressure, the Red responded with a valiant comeback.

Quinn scored the Red's first goal of the half with only 1:31 remaining in the game. Lana Smith of Dartmouth answered right back with under a minute to go to extend the Green's lead to three.

Steinberg came back with an unassisted goal with 34 seconds left, and Schindler put one in with eight seconds left on a free position shot. The Red was unable to win the ensuing draw, and the Green came away with the win.

After beating Dartmouth for the first time in 10 years last season, the Red came up just short of beating the Green in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.

The Green dominated the Red in draw controls winning 13, while Cornell only won two. The laxers scooped up six more ground balls, but turned the ball over four more times than the Green.

Charron made nine of her 12 saves in the first half, with Devon Wills making four saves for Dartmouth.

Princeton Ends Women's Lacrosse Winning Streak

On a rainy Friday night on Schoellkopf Field, the women's lacrosse team battled defending national champion Princeton, and the Tigers came away with a 9-2 victory. The loss was the Red's (6-1, 2-1 Ivy) first in regular season play in more than a year. Cornell fell to the Tigers (6-3, 2-0 Ivy), last March 30, 16-12, at Princeton.

"We were really fired up coming into the game, we really wanted to beat Princeton. Maybe we focused too much on that, and lost track of the fundamentals and the composure you need to win a big game," said head coach Jenny Graap '86.

The two teams battled fiercely for the first seven minutes of the game, with both defenses holding firm against the attack. Princeton struck first, as Alex Fiore caught a pass from Whitney Miller from behind the net, and shot it past junior Ashley Charron. Elizabeth Pillon added another score for the Tigers two minutes later, as she weaved through the defense to get the shot on net.

Miller added a tally of her own on a one-timer, and Theresa Sherry hit the back of the net to give Princeton a 4-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the half.

The Red got on the board a minute later, as junior Jaime Quinn caught a high pass from senior Sarah Fischer and one-timed it past Princeton goalie Sarah Kolodner.

The Tigers claimed a 6-1 halftime lead as both Sherry and Miller scored for the second time in the half. The Red had a good scoring chance near the end of the half, as a Cornell attacker was unable to convert on a quickstick shot.

Quinn added her second tally of the game two minutes into the second half on the same exact play as her first goal. Sophomore Julia Hughey fed the ball from behind the net, and Quinn dropped it down past Kolodner to cut the Tigers' lead to four.

Princeton came back with its seventh goal three minutes later, as Leigh Slonaker picked up a ground ball in front of the net and shot it in past Charron. Pillion and Sherry notched their second and third goals, respectively, to cap off the scoring with 15 minutes left in the game.

"I think the tougher teams play intensely all the time, and our schedule up to this point has been fairly easy, so we came in undefeated," said Graap. Princeton has had a few losses, but they had played four top teams in the nation, and I think that experience was really on their side."

The Red's offense was unable to solve Kolodner, who was solid in net for Princeton, making nine saves on the game.

For Cornell, Charron saved six.

"I think Ashley played well in the cage," said Graap. "There were times in the second half where she shined a little bit more, stepping out and getting some interceptions."

Seniors Sarah Fischer and co-captain Rachel Friedman each scooped up four ground balls. The laxers held the ground ball advantage over Princeton 28 to 26, while the Tigers outshot the Red 20 to 16.

"Our defense did an excellent job. The score in the second half was 3-1 Princeton, and if we had kept down their goals in the first half, it would have been a tighter game," remarked Graap. "I think [sophomore] Annie Berkery played exceptionally well for us all night, and she was really instrumental in carrying the ball down field in transition."

Athletic Dept. Holds Ticket Lottery

With the men's hockey team advancing to its first Frozen Four in 23 years, hundreds of fans gathered at Lynah Rink yesterday afternoon for a chance to buy tickets for the event, which will take place at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo next week.

Earlier in the week, the athletic department announced that student and general season ticket holders would be able to enter a lottery for the right to buy three-game packages for the entire event.

"We had between 1000 and 1500 responses total. The total responses included more than season ticket holders," said athletic ticket office manager Gene Nighman. "We have a database of all the students who had a line number, and a list of general season ticket holders who renew every year, so we compared the names on the e-mails to the database."

Members of the men's hockey team came up to the announcer's booth during practice to draw names from two pools of names: one for student ticket holders and one for general ticket holders. A total of 25 names were drawn from each pool, and each person chosen had the opportunity to buy two tickets.

Those who were not in attendance were contacted and will have until 5:00 p.m. on Monday to respond.

"There are so many tickets being sold out early, and they do that for a reason. Five-hundred tickets, they go fast. By the time you get through the players and everybody who's associated with that, there's not many tickets," said men's hockey head coach Mike Schafer '86. "But knowing Cornell fans, they're resourceful. There are lots of ways of getting tickets that will just continue all week."

The drawing was completely random, meaning there was no advantage for having a high number in September's ticket line.

"Getting a high line number was the reward for getting to the line early [in September.] For this, I think we did it a fair way, with a drawing only for people that had season tickets," explained Nighman.

Five alternates were also drawn from each pool at the end, and those people will have the opportunity to buy tickets should the people who were selected in the initial drawing decide not to buy tickets.

Junior Mike Maas was one of the many students attending yesterday.

"I've already bought tickets on the eLynah.com message board," he said. "I'm here today to see if I can get better seats first. I don't think my chances are very good in the lotto, but I don't care since I already have five tickets."

Sophomore Alyssa Keese also secured tickets on eBay, but entered the lottery in hopes of getting better seats.

"I think my chances of winning are very small, I think they should have allotted more tickets for students," she said. "My friends and I are really excited [for next week], we can't wait to go."

For people who did not win the lottery, many avenues of acquiring tickets remain. As of last night, there were over 80 listings on eBay, with prices ranging from $100 to $900. In addition, many people have been able to obtain tickets through the message boards on eLynah.com and USCHO.com.

"I know a lot more fans want to go, and there definitely should be," junior center Ryan Vesce said. "I think they should keep looking for tickets because I think there's going to be a few after the first game on Thursday."

Underclassmen Contribute to Women's Lax

While the women's lacrosse team's veterans have been making waves all season, the freshmen and sophomores are ready to make a splash of their own for the No. 7 Red.

As key reserves last season, the sophomores have moved into the starting lineup and are already making an impact. After arriving on the East Hill in the fall, the freshmen have stepped up to the college game and have produced some impressive performances already this season.

"I'm very pleased with how the sophomores have done as a class. They're a cohesive group, they get along and support each other really well," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "The freshmen class is another example of a group that gets along well towards each other and they've been embraced by the rest of the team."

At midfield, sophomore Lindsay Steinberg has emerged as a serious scoring threat to complement the senior duo of Sarah Fischer and Sarah Averson. Making the first start of her career during the season opener against Notre Dame, Steinberg recorded a career-high four goals. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by the opposition, as she was marked by Rutgers' best defender in the very next game.

Classmate Julia Hughey has also enjoyed tremendous success at midfield, winning the majority of the draw controls she has taken this year. As a starter this season, she also provides more speed and size at the midfield, and was the only letter winner in last year's freshmen class. After suffering an injury during practice over spring break, Hughey returned to the lineup in last weekend's game against Penn.

"Being a part of the starting lineup this season was a big transition in that last year I spent the opening minutes of the game on the sidelines," said Hughey. "Those first few minutes usually set the tone of the game, so now that I am part of the starting team, I feel a lot more pressure to perform. Yet I am also much more confident this year because I was given the opportunity to see some playing time in many of last season's games."

Also in the midfield, sophomore Jessica Williams has been a consistent starter this year, and has great potential on the offensive end. As she is integrated more into the offensive unit, Williams' scoring will increase thanks to her incredible shot.

Sophomore Kristen Smith is one of the fastest players on the team and has gotten substantial playing time this year after seeing limited action as a freshman. She is one of six players with 10 or more points this season.

On the defensive end, sophomore Annie Berkery has improved a great deal since last season and is developing into a solid force in the backfield. She has shown her hard work in the offseason in her conditioning and fits well within the defensive unit.

As the biggest of the four classes with nine members, the freshman class has spent the season's first several games adjusting to the college game and has fit in well with the rest of the team.

"I think that freshmen year is always a transition. A lot of these women were stars on their high school teams, and now they come into a really established program and they have to raise their intensity up a level," commented Graap. "You see that certainly with our freshman goalkeeper Maggie Fava. Maggie is a goalie who is improving by leaps and bounds, and is getting used to the faster paced shots and [improving her technique]," she continued.

Fava has seen playing time in four games so far this season behind junior starter Ashley Charron, and is gaining a lot of confidence in net.

Classmate Allison Schindler has started in the team's last two games, and has not disappointed. Against Columbia, she tied a school record with nine ground balls, while chipping in a goal and two assists. She is fifth on the team in scoring with four goals and a team-high eight assists.

"On the field, [Allison] is a just a natural in terms of understanding where to pass the ball and movement, she's very creative, and very skilled in that regard. She just sees the field well," said Graap.

The Red's upperclassmen have gone to great lengths to make sure the freshmen are fitting in well with the team and at Cornell.

"Our upperclassmen and all the girls on the team have been so awesome in helping the freshmen adjust to college lacrosse and college life. They've helped us with scheduling classes, introducing us to new people, and have always been there to help us in any situation. They have made the transition into college so much easier for all the freshmen, and they've really made us feel apart of team," said Schindler.

The Red's underclassmen certainly provide depth at every position, and will only to continue to improve this season and in their years to come at Cornell.

Women Laxers Extend Winning Streak to Five

The women's lacrosse team came away with three wins over spring break on its first road trip of the season, besting Fairfield 17-4 (1-3), Delaware (2-4) 19-4, and Columbia (4-2, 0-1 Ivy) 15-1. The Red (5-0, 1-0 Ivy) did not allow a single first-half goal in all three contests, while the offense put up double-digit goals for the fifth straight game this season.

"Our defense was outstanding in all of the games," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "We played really consistently at both ends of the field. It was also good to give experience to so many players."

Last week, seniors Sarah Averson and co-captain Erica Holveck were named Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for their performances against Notre Dame and Rutgers. The pair continued their great play throughout the road trip.

Averson had another big game against Fairfield, recording five goals and an assist, and she began the scoring in the opening minute. The laxers put up 10 goals in the first half, while the Stags only managed to put two shots on net.

Freshman Maggie Fava came in to replace junior Ashley Charron in net for the second half, and the Red continued to dominate at both ends of the field, scoring five more goals before Fairfield got on the board with 13 minutes left in the game.

"Maggie faced her first shots against Fairfield, and she was nervous. I was really pleased with her performances in the games later in the week, she showed more poise and confidence," commented Graap.

Sophomore Kristin Smith posted a three-goal performance, while senior Sarah Fischer, juniors Kate Hirschfield and Jaime Quinn, and freshman Allison Schindler each had two tallies. Holveck scooped up five ground balls to go along with three assists.

Against Delaware, the Red came out with an equally strong offensive effort, again scoring 10 goals in the first half. Quinn scored a career-high five goals, while freshmen Lisa Giugliano, Liz Shaner, Lyndsay Robinson, and Schindler came off the bench to each score one goal apiece. Sophomore Lindsay Steinberg also chipped in, scoring a hat trick, and her first goals since the season opener.

In the backfield, senior co-captain Rachel Friedman led the way with six ground balls, while classmates Katie Lavin and Holveck each had four. Charron made six saves in goal for the first 50 minutes of play, with Fava entering for the last 10 minutes and recording two saves.

"Delaware was our toughest competition of the week. We were hoping that they would be more rigorous, but it wasn't a close game," remarked Graap.

The Red wrapped up the week with its Ivy opener at Columbia. The offense put up an incredible 46 shots, while the defense limited the Lions to just seven. With Hirschfield suffering an injury against Delaware, Schindler got the first start of the freshmen class, and did not disappoint. She scored a goal and two assists to go with a school-record nine ground balls.

"We had the most shots against Columbia, but we did not shoot particularly well against them, so that was frustrating," said Graap.

The offense was spread out with Fischer scoring a hat trick, and Quinn, Steinberg, Averson, and Lavin each chipping in two goals.

"Depth is a huge asset for us. Our competition can't contain our offense because we have so many weapons up front," said Graap.

Graap expects Hirschfield to be back to practicing with the team within a week, as the Red will head out to Philadelphia next weekend for a tough game against Penn. The laxers return home on April 4 for a showdown with defending national champion Princeton.

Swimmers Set Team Records

The men's swimming and diving team capped off its season this past weekend at the EISL championships at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in Uniondale, NY with a seventh-place finish.

The result was an improvement over last year's finish in the same event. Going into the final day of competition, only nine points separated the teams in the 5-8 spots.

The Red finished just five points behind Navy, with a total score of 635.5.

Harvard took the overall title with a score of 1592, while Princeton finished second with a 1565.

"The team felt great about our overall performance, the guys swam up to their capabilities. Four new school records and 12 top-five times, that was quite an accomplishment," said head coach Joe Lucia.

"I am very proud of how we performed as a united team the entire three days. Twenty-nine of our 48 individual events were lifetime best times and our relays were the best in a long time."

The Red set school records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and the 200- and 400-yard medley relay.

Freshman Stefano Caprara had a hand in all four records, setting the two individual records, and swimming in the relays along with seniors Danny Royce, Jeremy Sample, Charlie Ernst, and sophomore Doug Ernst.

In the 100-yard backstroke final, Caprara finished second to Princeton's Pat Donohue by one-tenth of a second, posting a time of 48.86 seconds. The medley teams finished fourth in both the 200- and 400-yard events.

"We lost six of our top eight scorers, so it was a big challenge coming into this season. To score more than last year would [have] been an awfully big thing to reach," commented Lucia.

In addition to the four school records, the team notched four finishes that rank second in the Cornell annals. These marks came in the 200 free relay, and the 50, 100, and 200 free events.

In addition, three times ranked third in school history, two finishes were fourth-best all-time, and three results were the fifth best in the Red's record book.

Senior Tim Lenz and sophomore Tony Schultz made the finals in the 3-meter dive, with the two taking seventh and eighth, respectively.

Lucia expressed confidence in the squad's ability to improve next year.

"We have a good group returning next season. We lose some good sprint power in four of our seniors, but we return a solid group and have some good guys coming in," remarked Lucia.

"We're not quite in Harvard or Princeton's league, but we'll be fairly competitive with the other eight teams."