NEW YORK -- The Columbia lacrosse team is back in action on Saturday afternoon, and will be seeking its first Ivy League victory of the season when the Cornell Big Red make the trip to New York City. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wein Stadium, as the Lions look to improve to 4-2 on the year.
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia began Ivy League play last weekend with a matinee against the #23 Penn Quakers, The Lions entered the contest after a great start to non-conference play (3-1), but the ranked Quakers were able to put an ahed to Columbia's hot streak with a 17-7 victory.
Cecelia Messner and
Dani Falcone each had two goals to lead the way for the Lions.
Sophie Zachara,
Kate Cunning, and
Ellie Taylor each chipped in one goal.
The Lions trailed by just one goal after the first half, but the Quakers seized control of the game in the third quarter. They scored five goals in the period, while allowing just one Lion goal, and followed that up by holding Columbia to one goal again in the fourth quarter. This allowed Penn to pull away with a 17-7 win.
Goalkeeper
Ella Sangree had 15 saves for the second consecutive game. Senior defender Adèle Swanson led the Lions with eight ground balls. Taylor and Zachara both had a team-high three draw controls. Cunning and
Justine Decker both had two caused turnovers to pace Columbia.
TEAM-LEADERS
A third of the way through the 2023 season, here is a lock at the the team leaders in each statistical category.
Goals: Messner (11), Falcone (8), Zachara (7),
Cordelia Flemming (7)
Assists: Cunning (3),
Dylan Silar (3)
Ground Balls: Sangree (15),
Justine Decker (13), Swanson (11)
Caused Turnovers: Decker (7), Cunning (7),
Julie Griswold (6)
Draw Controls: Zachara (10), Messner (9), Taylor (9), Faclone (9)
SCOUTING CORNELL
Cornell enters this weekend's contest with a 4-1 overall record, and a 1-0 mark to begin Ivy League play.
Last time out, the Big Red had a huge defensive showing which powered them to a 11-6 win over Dartmouth in the 2023 Ivy League opener for both teams.
Maggie Pons had two goals and two assists for a team-high four points, with
Josie Vogel registering a hat trick and both
Caitlin Slaminko and
Katie Castiello scoring twice.
The Lions will be searching for their first victory over Cornell in program history on Saturday. The Big Red are coming off a 20-2 victory over the Lions in the 2022 regular season.
Cornell went 4-3 in Ivy play last spring, making its ninth appearance in the Ivy League Tournament as the No. 3 seed. From that team, four senior All-Ivy selections return in 2023, with
Katie Castiello and
Amanda Cramer on attack,
Annie Thomas in the midfield and
Hilary Hoover on defense.
ON DECK
The Lions will have a quick turn around, hosting William & Mary for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, March 14 at 1 p.m at Kraft Field.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All Columbia home games will be streamed via ESPN+. You can find tomorrow's game
HERE.
Live stats will be available via gocolumbialions.com,
HERE.
For the latest on Columbia lacrosse, follow @CULionsLax on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
