MOUNT VERNON – For the first time in the program's 11-year history, Cornell's women's lacrosse team has been awarded a home game in the conference tournament.
 
First-year members in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, coach Meredith Meier's Rams earned the No. 4 seed in the six-team NACC Tournament, which gets underway this weekend at two sites.
 
Cornell (7-8 overall) plays host to No. 5 seed MSOE (5-11) in a quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Saturday at Van Metre Field at Ash Park. Saturday's other first-round game pits No. 3 seed Edgewood (8-7) against No. 6 seed Beloit (7-6) in Madison, Wis.
 
The Cornell-MSOE winner advances to Wednesday's semifinal to face No. 1 seed Lake Forest (12-4) in Lake Forest, Ill. No. 2 seed Aurora (11-6) is Wednesday's other semifinal host.
 
The championship is May 3 at the highest remaining seed, with the winner receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  
 
This is Cornell's third consecutive conference tournament appearance. The Rams made their postseason debut in the MWLC Tournament in 2023, falling 13-3 at Saint Benedict. Last spring, Cornell lost 16-7 at Lake Forest in the MLC Tournament.
 
The Rams tied for fourth place with MSOE in the NACC regular-season race at 5-4. Cornell defeated the Raiders, 10-7, on April 6 in Mount Vernon. The Rams are 2-0 all-time against MSOE.
 
Cornell's veteran squad is led offensively by senior Cece Zanoni, the program's all-time leading scorer who has totaled 78 points and 50 goals this season. Junior Sabrina Ibanez has contributed 23 goals, 15 assists and 40 draw controls.      
 
Junior Ilsa Jeffery heads the defense with a school-record 51 caused turnovers and team-best 64 ground balls. Senior Meg Lewis is Cornell's career leader with 215 draw controls. Junior goalie Hannah Miech sports a 6-6 record with 93 saves. 
 
MSOE clinched its first-ever postseason berth with Wednesday's 19-8 home win over Concordia (Wis.). Chloe Ninmann is the Raiders' top scorer with 39 goals. Ashlyn Bode ranks No. 2 in the NACC with 45 caused turnovers, behind Cornell's Jeffery.