The Yale women’s lacrosse team (8–5, 2–3 Ivy League) will head to Ithaca, N.Y. this Saturday to face Cornell and continue its crusade to the Ivy League Championships.

As the Bulldogs come off of a solid win against Columbia this past weekend, the team is tied with Brown for a fifth place within the Ivy League. With four spots at the Ivy League Championship, and two games left in the regular season, Yale is poised to claim its place in the tournament.

“We have always approached the season with a game-to-game mentality, so right now we are looking forward to a hard week of practice in preparation for a huge upset against the Big Red,” Ashley McCormick ’14 said.

With Cornell and Harvard tied for third in the Ivy League, a win on Saturday would mean a jump to third place for Yale. Last year, Yale fell to Cornell 13–7, but defender Maggie Moriarty ’16 said that the team believes the work it has done in practice could translate to a better result on Saturday.

“If we win, we are in the postseason, something everyone on the team wants to accomplish,” said attack Nicole Daniggelis ’16.

Daniggelis recently set the Ivy League record for the highest number of draw controls in a season, at 90. She was also named Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Week this past Monday.

Yale currently leads the Ivy League for caused turnovers with 121, 26 more than second-place Cornell. Additionally, defender Adrienne Tarver ’14 is ranked third for individual turnovers caused in the League with 19, and midfielder Christina Doherty ’15 follows her in fourth place with 18.

With plenty of individual talent and a strong team dynamic, the Bulldogs look to challenge Cornell’s winning streak within the Ivy League. With a record of 2–2 in the Ancient Eight this season, Cornell most recently fell to nonconference foe No. 1 Syracuse 7–5.

“The whole team has been working extremely hard both on and off the field to be as prepared for the game as we can be,” Moriarty said.

The winner of the Ivy League Championship receives an automatic berth in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

CAROLINE HART