Thomas Matches Career High of 16 Saves in Loss to Cornell

Monday, March 31

Durham, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

2-9

Cornell

8-3

Cornell

New Hampshire

Photo by: Jason Gagnon

3/31/2025 4:42:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.H. – Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Thomas (Needham, Mass.) matched her career high of 16 saves but the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team was upended by Cornell University, 16-6, at Wildcat Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Thomas made 12 of her 16 saves in the first half, including seven in the second quarter, and then finished with a pair of stops in both the third and fourth quarters.

Senior captain Allie Connerty (Norwell, Mass.) and sophomore Makayla Keys (Fairport, N.Y.) both tallied two points with a goal and an assist.

Juniors Rose Pavuk (York, Maine) and Kate O'Rourke (Franklin, Mass.), as well as sophomore Piper Boudreau (Chelmsford, Mass.), each scored a goal.

Cornell was led offensively by Dillyn Patten (three goals, one assist) and Kylie Gelabert (one goal, two assists). Five other Big Red players had two points. Starting goalie Ellie Horner earned the win with one save and two goals allowed in 30 minutes. Mackenzie Clark made two saves and allowed four goals in the second half.

UNH moves to 2-9 overall while Cornell is now 8-3.

UP NEXT

New Hampshire returns to action April 5 (12 p.m.) at UAlbany.
The Wildcats have one home game remaining – April 19 (1 p.m.) against Binghamton University.

FIRST QUARTER

Patten set the tone for the first half with a goal 11 seconds into the game, and Maggie Pons followed with a goal at 10:33.
Abby Hawkes (Amherst, N.H.) lifted UNH within 2-1 at 10:12 when she caught a pass in the middle of the fan and ripped a shot inside the right post before a pair of Cornell defenders converged on her. Eva de Matteis (New Boston, N.H.), with the feed from the top-right of the 8-meter, was credited with the assist.
Patten struck again at 7:48 to reestablish a two-goal margin, 3-1.
The Wildcats made a pair of defensive stops before Ellie Bergin's goal extended the lead to 4-1 at 3:43.
Thomas denied Pons on a free-position shot at 3:09, but the Big Red got the ball back off a turnover and Gelabert's tally gave the visitors a 5-1 lead at 2:55.
Goals by Alexa Donahoe (at 2:37) and Josie Vogel (52 seconds) pushed the score to 7-1.

SECOND QUARTER

Cornell scored the first six goals of the second quarter to extend the run to 11-0 and the lead to 13-1 at 5:00.
O'Rourke, from the top-left side of the 8m, split a pair of defenders and fired a shot into the net to make it 13-2 with 45 seconds on the clock.

THIRD QUARTER

Both teams scored one goal in the third quarter.
On a free position from the top of the 8m, Boudreau advanced to the middle and placed a shot inside the right post to trim the deficit to 13-3 at 13:30.
The score remained that way until Emily Iacobellis' goal at 2:20.

FOURTH QUARTER

UNH opened the fourth quarter with three consecutive goals.
From the right wing, Julia Gronda (Pompton Plains, N.J.) floated a pass to the middle of the fan that was snared by Connerty. She turned and side-armed a low shot into the goal to make it 14-4 at 13:40.
Connerty, from the right wing, slipped a pass in front to Keys and she ripped a shot inside the left post to trim the deficit to single digits, 14-5, at 9:39.
Keys, from the goal line extended on the left wing, found Pavuk sliding toward the middle of the fan and her shot into the upper-left corner of the net made it 14-6 at 9:15.
Cornell closed the scoring with goals by Lexie Tully (7:55) and Bailey Mutch (3:50).

UNH NOTEBOOK

Thomas, who entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation in saves per game (11.33), matched her high of 16 saves established in a March 1 win at Merrimack.
Thomas has recorded 10+ saves in 10 of 11 games.
Kendall Donovan (Westford, Mass.) finished with a team-high three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Pavuk led the 'Cats with four draw controls.
Charlize Collins (Burlington, Mass.) was credited with two ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover.
Connerty and Pavuk both extended their goal and point streaks to eight games. Connerty has 24 points (16 goals, eight assists) while Pavuk has 22 points (13g, 9a).
O'Rourke extended her goal and point streaks to seven games with 12 points (9g, 3a).
Connerty is No. 5 on UNH's career assist leaderboard with 71. She has 54 goals and 71 assists for 125 points in 53 games.

GAME NOTEBOOK

Cornell recorded the edge in shots (39-11), shots on goal (26-8), draw controls (16-8) and ground balls (20-12).
UNH scored on its only free-position shot whereas Cornell was 2-for-8.

SERIES NOTEBOOK