Cornell women’s lacrosse erased much of a four-goal halftime deficit in an 11-9 loss to No. 17 Penn State on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.
No. 25 Cornell moved to 2-2 on the season, while Penn State improved to 6-0. The Nittany Lions scored the game’s first three goals and led 5-2 after the opening quarter before extending the advantage to 8-4 at halftime.
Kathleen Michaud and Dillyn Patten paced the Big Red offense with three goals each. The duo completed hat tricks in the third quarter as Cornell cut into the deficit and entered the fourth trailing 11-6.
Lilly Whaling ignited a late push, scoring 42 seconds into the final quarter, and Lexie Tully followed less than a minute later to trim the margin to three. Whaling added another goal midway through the period to bring Cornell within two.
Cornell’s defense held Penn State scoreless over the final 14 minutes, and the Big Red matched the Nittany Lions with 27 shots while holding a 14-8 advantage in draw controls behind Addie Smith. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Clark finished with eight saves.
Penn State recorded assists on eight of its 11 goals, compared to one assist for Cornell.
Cornell returns to action Tuesday, March 3, hosting Binghamton at Schoellkopf Field for a 4 p.m. opening draw.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].