ITHACA, N.Y. -- An opportunity to play in the first-ever Ivy League championship tournament, non-conference matchups with national powers Syracuse and North Carolina and a meeting with first-year NCAA program Florida highlights the women's lacrosse 2010 schedule it was announced today by head coach Jenny Graap. The Big Red will play 14 regular season games, plus have an opportunity to play up to two games if they qualify for the Ivy League tournament and any postseason play they qualify for.

The Big Red will open the 2010 campaign with a pair of road contests against regular non-conference foes Rutgers on Feb. 27 and Colgate on March 3 before its home opener vs. Hofstra on March 6 at noon at Schoellkopf Field. That will begin a three-game homestand that includes the Ivy League opener against Columbia on March 10, and a non-league meeting with Loyola (Md.) three days later.

Cornell's annual Spring Break trip begins with a visit to Harvard on March 20 and a home game against NCAA semifinalist and defending Ivy champion Penn on March 28 sandwiched between a matchup with the University of Florida in Gainesville. Former Yale head coach Amanda Leary will lead the Gators into their first season as a Division I program with a full schedule faced by a freshman class ranked as No. 1 in the country by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.

After the break, Cornell will alternate away and home games starting with a trip to national power Princeton on April 3, followed by a home contest against regular NCAA qualifier Dartmouth on April 10 at Schoellkopf. A visit to Brown on April 16 will lead up to consecutive home contests vs. NCAA quarterfinalist Syracuse on April 21 and Yale on April 25.

Cornell will have a chance to qualify for the 2010 Ivy League championship tournament. The four-team tournament will determine the Ivy League's automatic qualifying institutions to the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Lacrosse Championships. The winners of the Ivy League championship will continue to be determined by results of the League's round-robin competitions. Each tournament will include the top four teams in Ivy League regular season round-robin competition and will be hosted by the round-robin winner. The women's tournament will be from April 30-May 2.

Closing out the regular season will be a matchup with North Carolina on May 8 at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School in Washington, D.C., alma mater of Big Red sophomore Olivia Knotts.

Cornell closed out 2009 with a 9-7 record and a top 20 national ranking. The Big Red went 4-3 down the stretch with a win over NCAA qualifier Vanderbilt and narrow losses to NCAA quarterfinalists Syracuse (11-8) and Notre Dame (11-9). The Big Red will have eight starters and 14 letter winners back, including IWLCA All-American Tissy O'Connor and all-region pick Libby Johnson.

2/27        at Rutgers              Piscataway, NJ    12:00 p.m. 
 
3/03        at Colgate              Hamilton, NY       4:00 p.m. 
3/06        Hofstra                 Ithaca, NY        12:00 p.m. 
3/10        Columbia                Ithaca, NY         4:00 p.m. 
3/13        Loyola                  Ithaca, NY         3:00 p.m. 
3/20        at Harvard              Cambridge, MA      1:00 p.m. 
3/24        at  Florida             Gainesville, FL    6:30 p.m. 
3/28        Pennsylvania            Ithaca, NY         1:00 p.m. 
 
4/03        at Princeton            Princeton, NJ      1:00 p.m. 
4/10        Dartmouth               Ithaca, NY        12:00 p.m. 
4/16        at Brown                Providence, RI     4:00 p.m. 
4/21        Syracuse                Ithaca, NY         7:00 p.m. 
4/25        Yale                    Ithaca, NY         1:00 p.m. 
4/30-5/02   Ivy League Tournament
 
5/08        vs. North Carolina      Washington, DC*    4:00 p.m.

at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School

2009-09-30