Cornell Frustrates, Upends No. 10 Vanderbilt
from press release
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Libby Johnson outscored Vanderbilt all
by herself as the No. 20 Cornell women's lacrosse team upset No. 10
Vanderbilt 11-4 on Tuesday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The home
team outscored the Commodores 6-1 after halftime and used its ball
control offense and tenacious defense to frustrate the high-scoring
visitors throughout. Cornell improved to 9-5, while Vanderbilt
slipped to 9-5 with the defeat.
The Commodores, who entered the game averaging 15.8 goals per
contest, were held 11 under their average, with the team's previous
season-low being 10 goals against defending national champion and
undefeated Northwestern earlier this season.
Johnson's five goals came on just six shots to lead Cornell
offensively. Both Jessica Wiegand and Katie Kirk chipped in two
goals apiece. Defensively, the Big Red caused 13 turnovers,
including three each by Deirdre Lafferty and Tissy O'Connor. The
duo was all over the field, with Lafferty adding four ground balls
and O'Connor notching three ground balls and three draw controls.
Junior Kristen Reese made four saves in goal, including three in
the second half to keep the Commodores at bay.
Sarah Downing had three goals to lead Vanderbilt, but Katherine
Denkle, Carter Foote, Ally Carey, Cara Giordano and Alex Priddy, a
fivesome that entered the game with a combined 134 goals, managed
just one score in the contest. By comparison, Cornell had 112 goals
as a team entering the contest. Natalie Wills made seven saves in
goal to keep the game from getting out of hand earlier.
Vanderbilt would score three times in the first 12:24 to take a
3-1 lead, but it was all Cornell the rest of the way. Kirk scored
the first of her two goals to get the Big Red within one with 12:37
left and senior Jessica Wiegand scored the equalizer with 9:10 left
to knot the game at 3-3. That led to Johnson's tear spanning the
two halves. The sophomore scored five of the next six goals as part
of a 10-1 Cornell run to close out the contest.
Despite playing without two of its top scoring attackers, the Big
Red was able to generate plenty of offense with Johnson leading the
way. She scored the final two goals of the first half, including
the go-ahead and game-winning goals, then tallied three of the
first four goals of the second half to lead Cornell in the runaway.
The Big Red suffocated the Vanderbilt offense, allowing just 12
shots total and turning the Commodores over on the ride three
times. Cornell was able to take the air out of the ball for the
final 12 minutes, scoring a pair of insurance goals, including the
first career score for freshman Olivia Knotts and the first assist
for Shannon Tierney, who narrowly missed her own goal with a pipe
earlier in the contest.
With the win, the Big Red guaranteed itself a winning season, the
ninth in 12 years under head coach Jenny Graap. Cornell also
improved to 5-1 at Schoellkopf Field this year.
Cornell closes out Ivy league play when it meets Harvard on
Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
