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Hunt ’17, Hudgins ’18 lead women's lacrosse into tilts with Cornell, Colgate

Brown looks to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss to Cornell, beat non-conference foe Raiders

The women’s lacrosse team will seek to avenge last season’s 11-10 overtime loss in its contest against Cornell this weekend. Bruno will follow up the Ivy League rematch with a non-conference game at Colgate Tuesday.


Kerianne Hunt ’17 excelled against the Big Red (5-2, 2-0 Ivy) last season, netting a hat trick to power Bruno’s offense to the close loss. Five of the 10 goals scored in the game came from players who are on this year’s roster. Notably, Cornell dominated the draw control last year. The Bears (4-2, 0-2) cite draw controls as one of their greatest strengths — a facet of play they hope may shift the results in their favor.


“We’re a really fresh team this year, so we’re more focused on what we need to do as the 2015 Brown team against the 2015 Cornell team,” said Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00.


But earlier this season, the Big Red defeated Yale — a squad that trumped Bruno last weekend by a score of 8-3. The Bears’ inability to finish in that game and capitalize on possessions doomed them. Future success depends on their ability to overcome such inertia.


“It just boils down to this group following a game plan for 60 minutes,” McDonald said.


One of four undefeated Ivy squads, the Big Red boasts a fierce offense. The trio of Catherine Ellis, Amie Dickson and Lindsay Toppe has netted a total of 52 goals on the season, while Bruno’s offense has scored 59 overall.


“We match up nicely with them,” McDonald said. “It will really come down to little things and both teams playing a good, clean game of lacrosse.”


In goal, Cornell’s Renee Poullott has recorded a save percentage of 42.4, ranking her near the bottom of conference goalies and behind the 50.5 save percentage of Kellie Roddy ’15. But the Big Red makes up for it with offensive output and high-scoring games. Cornell scored a whopping 22 goals earlier this season over Binghamton.


“Each player owns what she needs to do within the defensive system,” McDonald said. “It has to be all eight people working as one so that we can shut down a strong offense.”


Bruno will continue its upstate New York campaign with a contest at Colgate early in the week. The Raiders have competed against two Ivy teams so far this season, ousting Columbia by a wide margin and falling to Cornell. While the non-conference action will be less competitive and have lower stakes than the Ithaca matchup, Colgate (4-3, 1-1 Patriot) will certainly provide a challenge for Bruno, as well as an opportunity to step back from heated Ivy play.


“Colgate has been doing well in the Patriot League and they’re a strong program,” McDonald said. “It’s really an opportunity to get two great opponents in.”


The Raiders make half of their shots and have scored 66 goals in six games this season. Megan Ark, Haley O’Hanlon and Emily Peebles have each scored 10 or more goals and taken 19 or more shots. Goalie Jennie Berglin has posted a 53.2 save percentage, rivaling Roddy’s 50.5. But Colgate is not accustomed to top Ivy teams’ elite level of play. Bruno’s conference losses this season, however disappointing for the team, have clearly illustrated its ability to go play-for-play with top squads.

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