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Women’s Lacrosse falls to Cornell in Ivy Tournament, looks forwards to NCAA

The Princeton women’s lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker to Cornell this past Sunday in the Ivy League tournament, falling in overtime, 10-9. The newly instituted sudden death overtime rules hurt the Tigers in their first overtime contest this season, as Cornell’s Catherine Ellis knotted the game winner with a minute and half to go to send her team to the championship game against Penn.

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The Tigers came riding a wave of momentuminto the Ivy tournament,which features the top four teams in the league, capturing their third Ivy title in as many years last week with a triumph in Providence over Brown. Finishing with a league record of 6-1, the women’s lacrosse team was able to share their 12th Ivy crown with Penn. On the defensive end, the Tigers were anchored by stalwart goalie, junior Ellie DeGarmo, while the fearsome attack was led by junior midfielder Olivia Hompe, who netted 41 goals and added 11 assists in the regular season. These two, both All-Ivy selections, are also nominees for the 2016 Tewaartaton award.

Given their last matchup with the Big Red in mid-April, the Tigers probably anticipated they would have their hands full. On Apr. 16, Princeton won a nail-biter, 8-7, and were tested throughout the afternoon. Falling behind early, 4-2, the Tiger women were forced to make some defensive adjustments and switch to a faster-paced offense; the changes worked well, and Princeton prevailed in the end. However, Cornell was no easy task, as the Big Red were dominant on the field; they outshot the Tigers, 29-17, and won both more draws and ground balls.

Cornell got off to an early lead on Friday afternoon, jumping off to a quick 3-0 start. The Tigers kept their composure, however, in the semifinal matchup and went on a four-goal tear to lead at halftime, 4-3. Senior Anya Gersoff got the scoring going for the Tigers at 22:45, and the fearsome midfielder pair of sophomore Colby Chanenchuk and Hompe worked together to net two more for the Tigers. Hompe led the offense for the Tiger women, finishing with four goals, giving her a remarkable eighth hat-trick this season.

Princeton carried the momentum into the second half, scoring two more quickly within two minutes of the start of the half — sophomore Camille Sullivan added a goal before Hompe completed her hat-trick. With a 6-3 lead in the second half, and a wall behind the net in goalie Ellie DeGarmo, victory seemed assured for the Tigers.

But the resolute Cornell team had other plans, and came for the upset win over the No. 2 Tigers on Friday. Cornell freshman Taylor Reed carried the team, scoring three times in a span of 4:43 to pull her team within one, at 7-6. After Olivia Mattyasovszky eventually evened the score 7-7, the game was a back and forth affair coming down to the very end. With 4:47 left, the duo of Chanenchuk and Hompe struck again, and Princeton was minutes away from victory. However, Emily Tripodi heroically saved the day, scoring a goal with 17 seconds left to send the incredible match into overtime, where Catherine Ellis eventually broke Princeton’s heart.

Though the loss is disappointing for the Tigers, Princeton was fortunate to receive one of the 13 at large bids for the NCAA tournament. Princeton is set to play UMass this Friday in Ithaca, N.Y., and looks to capture its first NCAA title since 2003 — with strong veteran experience and a stellar cast of new freshman, a national championship is certainly a plausible goal.

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