1. Sam McILwrick
Although the field hockey team celebrated senior night on Saturday, it was freshman Sam McILwrick who played hero and led the Big Red to a 4-1 win over Dartmouth.
McILwrick had scored just one goal coming into Saturday’s matchup with the Big Green, but she more than tripled her season total to power the squad to victory. She tallied three goals, capitalizing on three separate penalty corners.
McILwrick scored on identical plays with two tip-ins off shots from junior Marisa Siergiej and then struck home a direct shot with the freshman’s third penalty corner.
Her effort earned McILwrick Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors, as she represents the first Cornell player to complete a hat trick since current senior Hannah Balleza recorded the accomplishment against Penn two years ago.
The Big Red concluded its season with an 11-5 overall record, 5-2 in the Ivy League, which was good enough to lock up second place in the conference.
Cornell tied a program record with 11 wins on the year, last matched in 2008 and 2010, while also setting school records for the most points, points per game, goals, and assists in a single season.
2. Brenna Mockler
Sophomore Brenna Mockler scored the game-winner on Saturday afternoon to propel the women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Dartmouth on senior night.
Mockler’s goal, her first of the year, came on a gorgeous strike with just 1 minute and 28 seconds remaining in the first half.
The scoring play began with Mockler receiving a pass just outside the left side of the box from freshman Tess Pullano. After gaining possession, the junior turned toward the goal and fired a curving ball just under the crossbar on the opposite side of the net and past Big Green keeper Tatiana Saunders.
The victory knocked Dartmouth out of Ivy League champion contention and gave Cornell its eighth win of the season and second in the Ivy League, which marked the first time since 2002 that the team acquired this many conference victories in a single season.
Despite finishing seventh in the Ivy League, the Big Red concluded the season above eighth place in the conference for the first time in 10 years. In completing another milestone, Cornell beat the Big Green for the first time since November of 1995.
3. Mitch Gillam
For the second straight week, sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam kept the men’s hockey team in the game, as the Big Red fell 1-0 to Quinnipiac on Saturday night.
Gillam recorded a career-high 39 saves and only conceded a controversial goal late in the third period.
Sophomore Tim Clifton was awarded credit for the Bobcats’ score, but Cornell argued that Quinnipiac junior forward Soren Jonzzon was in the crease and interfered with Gillam on the play.
The Big Red’s request for video replay was rejected, dropping the squad to 0-3-1 in the early season.
Gillam came up big for Cornell early in the game, denying a breakaway chance from Bobcats’ forward Tommy Schutt with a flash of his left pad. The sophomore net minder also stopped 18 shots in the third, getting peppered by the Quinnipiac offense throughout the entire period.
Cornell will return to the Lynah Faithful this weekend with home games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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