MOUNT VERNON – Cornell women's lacrosse won big this afternoon, shutting out Spalding University 19-0 in their nonconference season opener at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
 
The Rams (1-0) started out hot with ten goals in the first quarter, outshooting the Eagles (0-1) 23-0.
 
Cornell's offensive explosion came with a total of 54 shots on the day, breaking the all-time school record for shot attempts in a game.
 
Senior Nina Deer found the back of the net five times on 14 shots, a new individual school record for shots in a game. The fireworks didn't stop there either, she also added two assists and six ground balls to her tally.
 
Cece Zanoni and Claire Chekytis added fuel to the fire early, scoring five goals between the pair in the first quarter. Zanoni finished the game with four goals and one assist. Chekytis had two goals while dishing out three assists.
 
Cornell's success continued as the game progressed with Raquel Gassmann adding three goals and one assist to the stat sheet. Ellie Nestingen, India Smith, Seanne Bialo, and Meg Lewis also found ways to score, making it eight players with goals for the Rams. Bialo led Cornell with 7 ground balls, just one shy of her single-game personal best.
 
It was a dominant performance across the board for the Rams as they out-shot the opponent 54-1, won ground balls 36-7, draw controls 14-7, and went a perfect 8-8 on clears.
 
Kathryn Andries recorded the win in the net for Cornell, followed in relief by Maddie Althoff.
 
Coming up - Next week Cornell women's lacrosse will host Edgewood College at 7 p.m. on March 2.