BANNER DAY: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Liz Bannantine guards the crease area in a game last season. Senior co-captain and star defender Bannantine helped No. 11 Princeton rally to a 8-7 win over No. 20 Cornell last Saturday in battle of teams that brought undefeated Ivy League records into the day. The Tigers, now 9-3 overall and 4-0 Ivy, host No. 14 Penn (9-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy) on April 20 before playing at Columbia (6-7 overall, 1-4 Ivy) on April 23. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Everything came up roses for Liz Bannantine as the 11th-ranked Princeton University women’s lacrosse team hosted No. 20 Cornell last Saturday in a clash of teams that were undefeated in Ivy League play coming into the day.

The senior co-captain and three-time All-Ivy defender was honored before the game along with her classmates as the program held its annual Senior Day ceremony.

Then Bannantine helped Princeton overcome a 5-3 deficit in the second half to pull out an 8-7 win over the Big Red.

Afterward, holding the bouquet of flowers she received in the pregame ceremony, a grinning Bannantine said emotions were running high for her from the start of the day.

“The pregame was amazing; our whole team did such a good job of making us feel special today,” said Bannantine, a 5’9 native of Baltimore, Md. whose fellow seniors on the team are Anna Menke, Stephanie Paloscio, Anya Gersoff, and Maddy Lynch.

“It is beautiful weather. I could not have pictured a better day to honor our senior class. We have come so far as a class. It was really, really something special to be out there.”

It took a special effort from the Tigers to overcome a determined Cornell squad which led 4-2 at halftime and 5-3 with 19:49 left in regulation.

“We had high energy coming out in the second half; we knew that we could chip away little by little at the lead,” said Bannantine.

“I think we got a huge spark from kids off the bench today; they just carried us. It was great to see Allie Rogers come in; she had really crucial goals. I think our middies were our workhorses today. They were up and down the field, making huge plays so my hat is off to them.”

As usual, Princeton’s veteran defensive unit made some big plays, holding the Big Red to a pair of goals in the last 19:49 of the contest.

“I feel so lucky as a senior to have all these kids come back,” said Bannantine, who is joined on the back line by classmate Lynch, junior Amanda Leavell, junior Madeline Rodriguez, and freshman Alex Argo, with junior Ellie DeGarmo in goal.

“It is not just me leading, we have every kid step up in their own way. We come together, we support each other, and we fight for each other. We just knew we had to keep playing our game and executing the game plan. Our coaches did a really good job of calling in certain plays that we needed to have so it was good all around.”

Bannantine was in on the final stop of the day as she had the ball on her stick after a save by DeGarmo in the waning seconds of the contest.

“It was a little nerve-wracking having it behind the net,” recalled Bannantine, who now has 19 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers so far this season. “I knew I just needed to hold it for a couple more seconds before I could toss it down the field.”

With Princeton coming into Saturday with four one-goal wins under its belt this season, the Tigers know how to take care of business in the final seconds.

“I think coming up in the clutch and being able to be composed in those type of situations and games is something that we have learned from having four one-goal games behind us,” said Bannantine.

“Knowing that even in a close game, we can still execute and do what we need to do, I think having that experience is pretty great going down the end of the line.”

Princeton head coach Chris Sailer was looking for her team to execute better on attack as it headed into the second half against Cornell.

“The defense was playing well, we just decided that we needed to do some different things offensively,” said Sailer.

“We weren’t getting great looks so we decided we needed to go with a quicker, faster, and more dodge oriented offense. We made some personnel changes and the kids really responded well. We got some great transition goals. Kathryn Hallett was busting, she was really working hard in transition. She opened up a couple of transition goals for us. We started dodging harder and we had our heads up to look to the inside.”

The Tigers got some heads up play from freshman Rogers, who came into the day with one goal on the season and proceeded to score back-to-back goals in Princeton’s late surge.

“We know she has that potential in her,” said Sailer, who got three goals from Ellie McNulty with Hallett chipping in two assists.

“It was great to see her respond really well when given the opportunity. We went with her, Lauren Steidl, and Hailey Giraldi. We just tried a little bit of a different lineup; they played really well together and opened up some opportunities.”

Princeton’s defensive unit played well together, helping to spark the rally.

“Ellie and the defensive unit was phenomenal,” said Sailer, whose junior goalie DeGarmo had a career-high 16 saves and was later named the Ivy Defensive Player of the Week.

“I get to the point where I hope the other team shoots because I feel like we will get the ball back. She is just playing so consistently well, seeing the ball so well. The defense was able to create a lot of opportunities for our attack.”

By virtue of the win, the Tigers have the opportunity to take control of the Ivy League race and host the league’s postseason tournament if they can post wins when they face No. 14 Penn (9-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy) on April 20 at home before playing at Columbia (6-7 overall, 1-4 Ivy) on April 23.

“It is going to be a battle,” said Sailer, referring to the always-heated matchup with the Quakers.

“We want to win the Ivy League first, your champion is the winner of the regular season. We have got to beat Penn and two other teams to do that; absolutely we want to play here at home.”

Bannantine, for her part, would like to have some postseason home games.

“Penn is always a big game for us no matter what but really every Ivy game is a championship game for us, we have to have that mentality going forward,” said Bannantine.

“It is all about us; it starts with us and what we need to do to execute. That is a huge point of pride for us, we love being home; Class of ’52 is everything for us. I think we are going to be able to do it this year and it is what we want to do. Our hats are off to Cornell too, they are a very good team on transition. I think they are definitely a good team to prepare us for the postseason, especially a tight game like that where every ball is important.”