The women's lacrosse team (5-3 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) heads to Cornell (6-0, 2-0) tonight for its second and probably its most challenging league game of the season.
It has been two years and 12 Ivy contests since the No. 5 Tigers have lost a league match. Ranked No. 7 in the International Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association most recent poll, Cornell is the only Ivy League team besides Princeton in the top ten of the national standings. The outcome of tonight's game should be an indication of whether or not the Tigers will continue what has become a perennial sweep through the Ivies.
Although Princeton has won all of its last 15 matches against Cornell, the two teams share a rancorous history — not just in their hopes for league domination but also in their quests for national acclaim.
In 2001, the Big Red earned its first ever bid to the NCAA tournament, but it was Princeton that ousted them from the running in a resounding 14-4 slaughter.
Then, last year, Cornell could have boasted an undefeated record all the way to the semifinal game if not for a single 16-12 loss to Princeton that sentenced the Big Red to second place in the Ivy League for the remainder of the season.
Cornell's 2002 campaign was unquestionably its program's most successful in the history of Big Red lacrosse. Not only did the team double Syracuse's score in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but it then went on to clobber Maryland — the 2001 champion — by 10 in the national quarterfinals. They lost the following game and a ticket to the finals by a hair's breadth, two goals, in overtime against Georgetown — the team that would next play Princeton for the national title.
This year, the Big Red has already recorded two league victories against Columbia and Penn, putting them statistically above the Tigers, who have only played one league match.
But overall, Cornell's perfect 6-0 record is deceptive in that, unlike Princeton, the team has not yet played another top ten opponent. Its most notable competition was No. 15 Notre Dame, whom it outscored, 13-5. The other five victories came against Rutgers, Fairfield, Delaware, Columbia and Penn.
Nevertheless, the record does not reveal that the average margin of victory in those six games was 11 goals.
"Cornell has a talented, hardworking team just like we do, so it should be a good matchup," sophomore attack Leigh Slonaker, who slung four goals in Princeton's most recent 17-9 victory over Delaware, said.
While Cornell entered the 2003 season on a wave of national recognition from last year's standout performance, no one was sure how long that recognition would last. The Big Red graduated seven starters from its former semifinal squad, including the school's two all-time top scorers, Jaimee Reynolds and Lori Wohlschlegel.
If that was a harsh blow to the front line, the defense took an even harder one with the loss of three-year starting goalkeeper Carrie Giancola. She garnered first-team All-Ivy and second team All-America honors after posting the sixth-best goals against average (7.70) and save percentage (.527) in the nation. The departure of All-Ivy defenders Sarah Graham, Katie McCorry and Kari Zarzecki also widened the fissure in the back line.
Even with the loss of these record-setters, however, Cornell returns five double-figure scorers to its offense, most notably All-Ivy selections Sarah Averson and Sarah Fischer. The two Sarahs combined for 66 goals and 80 total points during their team's semifinal stint last year.
Replacing Giancola in goal is junior Ashley Charron. She played sparingly her first two seasons in Giancola's shadow, but in her six starts this year she has put up an impressive 4.17 goals against average and a .651 save percentage.
To prepare for their Ivy foe, Slonaker said, the Tigers "have been working on communicating defensive plays, finishing attack plays, and working together all over the field.
"We are more than ready to take on Cornell [tonight]," Slonaker added. "We just need to focus and control our game. If we do that, we will be successful."
But with hopes for an Ivy title on the line and a 15-game losing streak against Princeton to overcome, Cornell is not going to let the Tigers off without a fight.
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