ITHACA, N.Y. -- Seniors Deirdre Lafferty and Jessica Wiegand have been elected captains of the women's lacrosse team it was announced today by head coach Jenny Graap '86. The duo will provide senior leadership to a young team that features 13 freshmen and 21 total underclassmen.

Lafferty, a defender who also sees time in the midfield, started all 16 games and was a huge part of last season's 10-6 squad that finished tied for second in the Ivy League standings with a 5-2 record. She scored two goals and ranked among the team leaders with 23 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and 10 draw controls. The West Chester, Pa., native had five ground balls and a caused turnover in a win over Colgate and notched a pair of takeaways to go along with three ground balls in a loss to Penn. Lafferty had a career-high five draw controls in a win over Harvard and netted goals against Ivy foes Columbia and Brown. Lafferty has seen action in 43 career games with 27 starts, posting totals of four goals, 49 ground balls, 26 caused turnovers and 18 draw controls.

Wiegand will again shore up the midfield with her aggressive play on both ends of the field. She missed the final 10 games of her junior season with injuries, but still managed to record five goals and an assist to go along with six ground balls, three caused turnovers and a pair of draw controls in six contests. The Bay Shore, N.Y. native, had multiple-point efforts in a win over Colgate and a loss to nationally ranked New Hampshire, adding a ground ball, draw control and caused turnover in the effort against the Wildcats. For her career, Wiegand has scored 28 goals with six assists in 33 career contests. She has also totalled 24 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers and 11 draw controls. Wiegand emerged with a breakout season as a sophomore, posting 14 goals and 16 points in her first year as a starter.
 
The Big Red closed out the season with a 10-6 record and placed second in the Ivy League with a 5-2 record in 2008. Cornell returns six starters and 12 letter winners for the upcoming 2009 season, but will have to replace six starters, including All-Americans Courtney Farrell and Katherine Simmons.