GAME #16: No. 7/8 Cornell vs. No. 5/4 Virginia
FACE OFF: Saturday, May 23, at 2:00 p.m.
SITE: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (12-3, 5-1 Ivy); Virginia (15-2, 2-1 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Virginia leads, 5-2
LAST MEETING: Virginia won, 14-10, March 8, 2009; Klockner Stadium
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (channel 58 in Ithaca; channel 209 on DirecTV; channel 144 on Dish Network)
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Ithaca, N.Y.)
THE MATCHUP — The No. 7/8 Big Red (12-3, 5-1 Ivy League) will travel to Foxborough, Mass., for its second Final Four appearance in three years, as it takes on No. 5/4 Virginia (15-2, 2-1 ACC) on Saturday, May 23 at Gillette Stadium at 2 p.m. The game will be enjoyed by a nationwide audience on ESPN2 (channel 58 in Ithaca; channel 209 on DirecTV; channel 144 on Dish Network).
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS – Cornell's 26 NCAA tournament victories ties the Big Red for sixth all-time with North Carolina, while its 22 appearances ranks seventh … Only six teams have more national titles than the Big Red … This season marks the seventh time that Cornell has made it to the NCAA tournament during Coach Tambroni's tenure, making it to the quarterfinal round five times and the semifinals twice.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? — Cornell defeated Princeton, 6-4 last weekend in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. With the win, the Big Red improved to 12-3 on the season and advanced to the national semifinal round for the second time in the last three years. Virginia defeated Johns Hopkins, 19-8, at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., to improve to 15-2 on the year.
HOW'D WE GET HERE? — Cornell defeated Princeton, 10-7, during the regular season to earn a share of its seventh straight Ivy League title. The Big Red earned the Ivy League's NCAA automatic bid by virtue of its head-to-head victory against the Tigers. Virginia, the No. 1 seed, got into the tournament thanks to an at-large bid.
SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA — Despite being two of the oldest lacrosse teams in the nation, Cornell and Virginia have met just seven times, and only two of those meetings have occurred during the regular season. The Cavaliers, who own the 5-2 lead in the series, defeated Cornell, 10-9, in the first meeting in 1971 at Virginia. The teams met again in the 1974 NCAA tournament, with the Big Red taking the commanding 15-8 victory. It would be five years before the teams squared off again, also in the NCAA tournament, but this time the Cavaliers took the 15-8 victory. Virginia managed two more wins in the 1980 (9-8 in overtime) and 2002 (11-10) NCAA tournaments, while Cornell used a 19-6 victory over the Cavaliers in the 1988 NCAA tournament to propel into the national championship game. Earlier this season, Virginia took used a second-half comeback to defeat the Big Red, 14-10, at Klockner Stadium.
LOOKING AT THE CAVALIERS — Virginia received the No. 1 seed overall as an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers rolled through their first two games in the tournament, defeating Villanova, 18-6, and Johns Hopkins, 19-8. Virginia enters the game with a high-powered offense that ranks first in the country, thanks to Danny Glading (30-30—60), Garrett Billings (37-20—57) and Steele Stanwick (34-21—55). In the defensive end, the Cavaliers goalie Adam Ghitelman has posted a 7.96 goals-against average and a .559 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. VIRGINIA – The No. 4 Big Red took a 7-6 lead into halftime, but No. 1 Virginia closed the game with an 8-3 run over the final 30 minutes to earn the 14-10 victory at Klockner Stadium. The loss was the first of the season for the Big Red, who fell to 2-1, while the Cavaliers remained undefeated with a record of 7-0. Freshman
Rob Pannell matched the Cornell freshman assist record with four helpers to go along with two goals for a team-high six points, while
Ryan Hurley led the Big Red with four goals.
Rocco Romero added one goal and one assist and junior defensive midfielder
Austin Boykin earned the first points of his career with two assists.
Kyle Doctor,
Chris Finn and
Max Seibald rounded out the scoring for Cornell with one goal apiece. Defensively, the Big Red received an outstanding effort from senior All-American
Matt Moyer, who held Virginia's first-team All-American attackman Danny Glading to just one assist and forced Glading into two turnovers. Moyer also picked up five ground balls. In goal,
Kyle Harer made four saves to pick up his first loss of the season. For Virginia, Steve Giannone and Shamel Bratton scored three goals each, while Steele Stanwick had two goals and two assists. Chad Gaudet was solid in the face-off circle, winning 16-of-24 restarts and Adam Ghitelman made 10 saves. Virginia held the slight edge in shots (41-39) and ground balls (39-35), and won the majority of face-offs (17-of-28), including a mark of 11-for-13 in the second half to help its decisive scoring run.
A WIN OVER THE CAVALIERS WOULD –
• put Cornell into Monday's national championship game against the winner of Syracuse/Duke as the Big Red will play for its fourth national title in men's lacrosse.
• give Coach Tambroni his first appearance in the NCAA championship game and the seventh trip to the finals in program history.
• be the Big Red's first semifinal victory since 1988 when Cornell finished as the national runner-up.
• make Cornell 7-4 all-time in NCAA semifinal games.
• improve the men's lacrosse record to 27-18 in NCAA tournament games.
• give Coach Tambroni a record of 8-6 in NCAA tournament games.
• close the gap in the series with Virginia to 5-3, while improving Coach Tambroni's record against the Cavaliers to 1-2.
NCAA TOURNAMENT REMATCHES – The contest vs. Virginia will mark the 16th time that Cornell will be playing a team in the NCAA tournament that it played in the regular season.
• Cornell is 9-6 in the NCAA tournament meeting.
• Of the 15 previous two-game series, Cornell has swept both games seven times, has split six times and has been swept twice.
• The Big Red is 2-2 in the rematch when losing the first meeting, as it did against Virginia. Cornell avenged a regular season loss to Massachusetts with a first round win in 1988 en route to a national runner-up finish, then topped Hobart in the 2004 first round after dropping the regular season finale to the Statesmen.
• When winning the first meeting, Cornell is 7-4 in the rematch.
• Cornell has three times faced an opponent for the second time in an NCAA tournament game under head coach Jeff Tambroni. The Big Red responded from a regular season finale loss at Hobart (12-10) to knock off the Statesmen 11-5 in the 2004 first round, while the 2007 team topped Duke in Durham, N.C. in the regular season (7-6) before dropping a 12-11 contest in the NCAA semifinals. This season, Cornell swept Princeton, winning the regular season match-up, 10-7, and winning the rematch in the NCAA tournament, 6-4.
THE GRANDDADDY OF THEM ALL – Of the four teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, Cornell's men's lacrosse team is the oldest of them all. Founded in 1892, Cornell has fielded a men's lacrosse team for all but four seasons (1897; 1917-1919). Virginia, which had a team from 1904-07, took a 12-year hiatus before resuming the program in 1925. Syracuse began fielding a team in 1916, while Duke began play in 1938.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS –
Max Seibald was named the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award on Monday evening at Cornell's annual senior athletics banquet. Seibald shared the honor with Big Red wrestler Jordan Leen, a three-time All-American and 2008 national champion at the 157-pound weight class.
SPIRIT AWARD –
Chris Finn earned the Ronald P. Lynch Senior Spirit Award on Monday evening at Cornell's annual senior athletics banquet. The award is given to the student-athlete whose leadership on and off the field models the ideals of the Big Red athletics department. Few student-athletes would be considered as passionate a contributor to Cornell Athletics as Finn. An inspiring individual through his selfless commitment to the Ithaca community, Finn embraces the qualities of authentic leadership. As the peer elected President of the annual 21 Run, his organization and commitment to literacy in the local community aided in raising $8,500 and brought over 300 runners to the Cornell Plantations. A key cog to the success of the Cornell men's lacrosse team's four straight Ivy League championship squads and two Final Four teams, he also served as captain of the Big Red Readers program and volunteered for the Save the Day program to benefit the Ithaca Dream Factory. Finn also volunteered for the Ithaca Red Cross Thanksgiving Dinner. On the field, Finn has seen action in 50 career games and totaled 67 career points on 44 goals and 23 assists. He has set a career-high with 11 assists as a senior.
NEVER GRADUATE – Cornell's 16 seniors will miss their graduation this weekend. It doesn't matter though, as nearly the entire class passed on the opportunity to order caps and gowns in anticipation of playing in the Final Four.
FOUR SURE — Cornell has had its share of Final Four appearances in NCAA team competition over the years, as the 2009 men's lacrosse team brings the total of national semifinal appearances to 21.
• Men's Lacrosse (11) - 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1988, 2007, 2009
• Men's Ice Hockey (8) - 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1980, 2003
• Women's Lacrosse (1) - 2002
• Men's Soccer (1) – 1972
ROUGH ROAD – The Big Red's game vs. No. 5/4 Virginia in the Final Four will be Cornell's seventh game against a nationally ranked opponent in its last nine outings. The Big Red opened the stretch on April 4 when it defeated No. 13/17 Harvard, 13-12, before falling to No. 5/5 Syracuse, 15-10. The Big Red's game at Dartmouth, a 19-6 victory, gave Cornell a slight reprieve, before defeating No. 1/1 Princeton, 10-7. Cornell then posted an 11-9 loss at No. 13/13 Brown, before defeating unranked Hobart, 8-7. Since then, the Big Red has rattled off wins over No. 10/10 Hofstra (11-8) and No. 4/5 Princeton (6-4).
MOVING ON UP – With his three assists vs. Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals on May 16, freshman
Rob Pannell etched his name in the Cornell record books, moving into a tie for 10th place with Eamon McEneaney (1977) and Bruce Bruno (1982) for assists in a single season (38).
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE – The Big Red made a triumphant return to Shuart Stadium last weekend when it defeated Princeton, 6-4 in its NCAA quarterfinal game. The contest was Cornell's first postseason game played at Shuart Stadium since the 1971 team won the Big Red's first NCAA championship in men's lacrosse. Named Hofstra Stadium at the time, it was there that Cornell defeated Maryland, 12-6.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE – When Cornell held Princeton to just four goals in its 6-4 victory in the NCAA quarterfinals, it was the lowest offensive output by a Big Red opponent in an NCAA tournament game since Cornell limited Stony Brook to just three goals in a first round victory in 2002. In total, Cornell has held four opponents to four or less goals in NCAA tournament history. In addition to the Tigers and Seawolves, the Big Red defense has also shut down North Carolina (two goals – 1988) and Washington & Lee (two goals – 1978; zero goals – 1976). The 1976 meeting with Washington & Lee is the only shutout in NCAA tournament history.
MOYER'S MARK – Senior defender
Matt Moyer registered his first career goal in the first round of the NCAA tournament when he gave the Big Red a 1-0 lead against Hofstra. It was also Moyer's first point since registering an assist in Cornell's 2008 NCAA first round game against Ohio State.
NCAA DEBUT – Freshman
Rob Pannell made a statement in his very first NCAA tournament game, registering five points on three goals and two assists. The five points were the most ever by a Cornell freshman in a single NCAA tournament game and tied Pannell for 18th overall in Big Red history for points in an NCAA tournament game.
TIERNEY, TIERNEY, TIERNEY – Only four teams have played both Bill (Princeton) and Seth (Hofstra) Tierney's teams this season – UMass, Brown, John Hopkins and Cornell. Only the Big Red have managed to beat both squads, defeating Princeton (10-7, regular season; 6-4, NCAA) and Hofstra (11-8, NCAA). Only one other school has beaten both Tierneys in the same season, as Johns Hopkins posted a 9-8 victory over Hofstra before defeating Princeton 7-6 in double-overtime in 2007.
A FAMILY AFFAIR – Freshman
Rob Pannell just made family gatherings a little less comfortable as his five points led the Big Red in its NCAA first round game vs. Hofstra. Pannell's uncle, Jim Metzger was an All-American attackman at Hofstra in 1980.
AT THE HELM — In his ninth season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 96-33. His winning percentage of .744 is the second-best among the nine coaches who have served as head coach at Cornell, ahead of the legendary Richie Moran (.680) and behind the all-time leader Ned Harkness (.972).
TAMBRONI AMONG THE BEST — Head coach Jeff Tambroni is currently tied for third in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .744 winning percentage. Syracuse head coach John Desko is the nation's leader (.759).
95 WINS – With the Big Red's 11-8 victory over Hofstra on May 9, head coach Jeff Tambroni notched his 95th career win, becoming just the second head coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to reach that plateau. Tambroni reached the milestone in his 128th career game during his ninth season. The only other Big Red coach to reach 95 wins was Richie Moran, who defeated Adelphi, 16-2, in his ninth season (1977) to achieve a 95-14 record.
TWO-TIME TEWAARATON – For the second time in his career, senior
Max Seibald has been named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist. Seibald became Cornell's first-ever Tewaaraton finalist in 2007 when he earned the honor as a sophomore. Seibald is one of only four players to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist as a sophomore.
TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Four members of the Big Red –
John Glynn,
Matt Moyer,
Rob Pannell and
Max Seibald – were named first-team All-Ivy, while two others –
Ryan Hurley and
Jake Myers – garnered second-team and honorable mention selections, respectively. Seibald was a unanimous choice by the league's coaches for the third straight season.
THE ONE AND ONLY – Cornell senior
Max Seibald became the first player in the history of the Ivy League to be named first-team All-Ivy all four years in men's lacrosse.
YOUNG GUN –
Rob Pannell was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, becoming the fourth Big Red player to earn that distinction. Of those four players, three were recruited by head coach Jeff Tambroni (
Sean Greenhalgh,
Max Seibald,
Rob Pannell).
11-WINS – The Big Red has posted at least 11 wins in each of the past five seasons, matching the longest streak in school history (1974-78).
NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 7-1 in neutral site games, with two victories over Notre Dame (Chicago, 2006 and Long Island, 2007), a single victory over Albany (Princeton, 2007), Navy (Long Island, 2008), Denver (Dallas, Texas), Harvard (Foxborough, Mass.) and Princeton (Hempstead, N.Y.). The lone loss came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.).
BACK-TO-BACK 40s – Junior
Ryan Hurley registered his 40th goal of the season against Hofstra, giving him 40 goals in back-to-back seasons. Hurley becomes the fifth player in Cornell history to accomplish that feat, joining Mike French (1974, 75, 76), Jon Levine (1975, 76), David Mitchell (2006, 07) and Mark Webster (1968, 69).
SENIOR DAY SIT OUT – Senior defender
Matt Moyer had seen action in the first 57 games of his career before missing the game vs. Hobart on Cornell's Senior Day due to an injury. That game is the only one that Moyer has missed, seeing time in 59-of-60 possible career games.
THE BIG RED, THE NCAA'S AND OVERTIME — Cornell's 12-11 victory over Albany in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals improved the program's record to 2-1 all-time in NCAA tournament play when a game goes to overtime. The Big Red won a 16-13 triumph over Maryland in the championship game in 1976 and dropped a 9-8 contest in the 1980 quarterfinals to Virginia.
CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Three players currently on the Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red –
David Lau (George '78),
Julian Levine (Jon '76) and
Shane O'Neill (John '76). George Lau was a two-time winner as part of both the 1976 and 1977 national championship squads, while Jon Levine and John O'Neill joined him on the 1976 team.
TOP 10 TEAM – Cornell has not fallen out of the top 10 in either national poll in over four years, with the last occurrence happening on March 28, 2005 when Inside Lacrosse had the Big Red ranked 11th.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — During Coach Tambroni's tenure, the Big Red is 51-10 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – When holding its opponents to less than 10 goals, the Big Red under Coach Tambroni owns an 83-10 record. Including its most recent 6-4 victory over Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinal round, Cornell has won 38 straight games when holding opponents to single digits, dating back to April 1, 2006, when it lost an 8-6 decision to Penn at Franklin Field.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN — The Big Red has claimed at least a share of the Ivy League title for the last seven seasons, the longest stretch since winning 10 straight championships between 1974-83.
SEVENTH HEAVEN — Cornell's seven consecutive regular season Ivy League titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference.
THAT'S NEW – The Big Red made its first appearance of the season on the newly refurbished Schoellkopf Field against Canisiuis on March 10. The historic stadium got a face-lift this summer when the AstroTurf surface was replaced with FieldTurf.
TEAM USA – US Lacrosse has announced that five players with Cornell ties –
Ryan McClay '03, Mitch Belisle '07, Matt McMonagle '07,
John Glynn '09 and
Max Seibald '09 - have been selected to try out for the 2010 U.S. men's lacrosse team that will compete in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship in Manchester, England from July 10-24, 2010. The tryouts will be held from June 7-10, 2009 at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I.
GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 45 players on the Big Red roster hail from 14 different states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington – as well as the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces – Ontario and British Columbia.
GEOGRAPHY LESSON, PART TWO – Since 1950, the Big Red has had players from 33 different states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. During his tenure, Coach Tambroni has had players from 19 different states.
GOING STREAKING – Cornell senior
Max Seibald had his 48-game point scoring streak end last weekend against Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals. At the time that it ended, the streak was the longest on the team and the second-longest in the nation. Junior
Ryan Hurley now has the honor of owning the longest point scoring streak on the team and the eighth-longest in the nation, registering at least one point in the last 30 games dating back to the 2008 season opener.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For just the second time since 1966, the Big Red has a single team captain, as
Max Seibald will serve as the Cornell captain for the second straight year.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD –
Max Seibald is among 10 student-athletes that were announced as finalists for the men's lacrosse division of the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes each year in eight sports, focuses on the “Four C's” of classroom, character, community and competition. The ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select the candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the “Four C's” of Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition. The award winner will be announced and presented with his trophy at the 2009 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in Foxborough, Mass.
HARD HAT – Attackman
Ryan Hurley has been selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2009 season. The tradition of the Hard Hat began in the fall of 1999. Midway through the fall season, a player is selected to carry the Hard Hat for the year. The recipient is someone that the coaches feel demonstrates a blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse; he is driven and selfless, not the most talented player on the field, but consistently the hardest worker. He puts the team first, and embodies how the coaches want Cornell players to act and respond on or off the field.
CHIPPING AWAY –
George Calvert has registered 11 career goals, including 10 this season. Still, the senior midfielder has never scored more than once in a game.
THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG – Just five games into the season, rookie
Rob Pannell set the Cornell freshman record for assists in a single season (15), a mark previously held by
Max Seibald (14 in 2006). Pannell currently leads the team with 38 assists.
FRESH START - In his very first collegiate game against Binghamton, freshman
Rob Pannell scored three goals and registered four assists for seven total points. With that performance, he set a Cornell record for assists by a freshman in a single-game, surpassing Pat Dutton (three assists vs. Delaware in 1996) and
Max Seibald (three assists vs. Binghamton in 2006). He also matched the school mark for points by a rookie in a single-game, tying
Michael Egan who registered five goals and two assists for seven points against Penn in 2000. Just two games later, Pannell matched his own school record with four assists against No. 1 Virginia and then surpassed it with five assists vs. Harvard on April 4.
POINT MAN – With his two goals and four assists against Dartmouth on April 11, freshman
Rob Pannell surpassed
Sean Greenhalgh's Cornell rookie record for points in a season (42). Pannell currently leads the team with 59 points.
ELITE COMPANY – Over the past six seasons, Cornell has been among the best in the nation, boasting the second highest winning percentage of all Division I teams during that span (.784) and ranking fifth overall in number of victories (69).
THREE FOR 100 – When junior
Ryan Hurley scored his 100th point, it gave Cornell three 100-point scorers on the team (Hurley,
John Glynn and
Max Seibald) at the same time for just the second time in the history of the program. The only other time this has occurred was during the 1976 season when Mike French, Jon Levine, Bill Marino and Eamon McEneaney all had 100 career points to their credit.
TURN OF THE CENTURY – With his two goals and one assist vs. Hobart last season,
Max Seibald became the 34th player in Cornell history to register 100 career points. In the second game of this season,
John Glynn joined Seibald when his one goal and two assists against Army gave the senior 101 points for his career. Most recently, junior
Ryan Hurley reached the 100-point mark with two goals and one assist against Syracuse.
ROMERO TIME – Senior
Rocco Romero has traditionally stepped up his game when Ivy League play begins and he continued the trend this season. For his career, Romero has played in 57 games, scored 32 goals and registered 23 assists for 55 points. (0.96 ppg.). In just 25 career games vs. conference opponents (including the NCAA quarterfinal vs. Princeton), Romero has tallied 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 points (1.36 ppg). Despite game vs. Ivy League opponents representing just 43.8 percent of his total games played, that is where Romero has registered 61.8 percent of his points.
BACK-TO-BACK – The Big Red has not lost back-to-back games since the 2002 season when Cornell fell to Princeton and Brown on consecutive weekends, a span of 104 games. That streak with continue into next year with the season finale win over Hobart.
PIERCE'S POINTS –
Pierce Derkac scored a career-high two goals against Syracuse on April 7. Not only was it the first point registered by a long pole this season, but it was the first time a long pole has scored twice in a game since Ethan Vedder found the back of the net twice against Brown on April 28, 2007. Derkac matched that performance on April 25 when he also registered two goals against the Bears.
IT'S OFFICIAL – While many believe that
Max Seibald will be considered one of the best midfielders to ever play at Cornell, the senior has helped make his case by racking up 137 career points (88 goals, 49 assists), the most ever by a Big Red midfielder, surpassing Bill Marino (129; 1974-76).
CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 21-4 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated Hobart, 8-7, on May 2, 2009, at Schoellkopf Field. The only blemishes during the stretch were a 6-5 loss to Navy in the 2004 NCAA quarterfinals, a 12-11 loss to Syracuse on April 11, 2006, a 10-9 loss to UMass in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on May 13, 2006 and a 12-11 loss to Duke in the national semifinal on May 26, 2007. Coach Jeff Tambroni is 22-10 in one-goal games during his tenure with the Big Red, including a 6-2 mark in overtime games.
FIVE IS RARE — During Coach Tambroni's career (129 games), Cornell has lost by five or more goals only 10 times.
WIN NO. 660 – Cornell's 19-6 victory over Dartmouth on April 11 was the 660th win in program history. To date, the team's 664 victories rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
RULE FOLLOWERS – The NCAA quarterfinal game vs. Princeton was the first in which Cornell registered more penalties than its opponent. Still, the Big Red averages 2.9 penalties per game, while its opponents have been flagged an average of 4.5 times per game.
FINISHING STRONG – Prior to Cornell's loss to No. 1 Virginia, the Big Red had won 25 straight contests when leading at the half, dating back to the team's 8-6 loss to Penn on April 1, 2006. Cornell, which lost at Brown on April 25 after leading at the half, is 31-2 in its last 33 games when leading at the intermission.
DYANAMIC DUO –
Ryan Hurley and
Rob Pannell have teamed up for a goal in 11-of-15 contests this season. Of Pannell's 38 assists, 14 (36.8 percent) have come on Hurley's goals.
WITH ONE ARM TIED BEHIND HIS BACK – In the eight games since fracturing his elbow,
John Glynn has won 78-of-133 face-offs (.586). He has also picked up 61 ground balls (8.7 gbpg.), scored 10 goals and registered two assists (1.5 ppg.).
HIGH MARKS – The Big Red ranks in the top 10 in the nation in seven categories –
scoring offense (fourth – 12.20), points per game (fourth – 19.13), win percentage (sixth – .800), assists per game (seventh – 6.93), scoring margin (seventh – 3.73), face-off win percentage (seventh – .563) and ground balls per game (ninth – 35.47).
A LITTLE HELP – Cornell ranks seventh in the country in assists per game (6.93 apg).
HELPING HAND –
Rob Pannell is currently ranked third in the country in assists per game (2.53 apg).
GET TO THE POINT —
Rob Pannell is currently ranked fifth in the nation in points per game (3.93 pgp), while
Ryan Hurley ranks 24th in the country (3.13 pgp). As a team, Cornell ranks fourth overall with 19.13 ppg.
SCORING MACHINE –
Ryan Hurley is ranked sixth in the country with 2.67 goals per game.
MEN IN THE MIDDLE –
John Glynn is currently fourth in the nation with a .592 face-off win percentage. As a team, the Big Red ranks seventh in the country with a winning percentage of .563.
(BIG) RED HOT OFFENSE – The Big Red is fourth in the country in scoring offense, averaging 12.20 goals per game.
MAN UP! – The Big Red ranks 11th in the nation in man-up offense, scoring on .390 of its extra man opportunities.
IN THE MARGIN — Cornell ranks seventh in the country in scoring margin, outscoring its opponents by an average of 3.73 goals per game.
GROUND BALL GOBBLER – Senior
John Glynn ranks fourth in the nation in ground balls per game (6.5 gbpg), while the Big Red as a team ranks ninth overall with 35.47 ground balls per game.
SUTHERLAND IN THE CIRCLE – Junior
Matt Sutherland is finally getting a chance to show off his skills in the face-off circle, going 16-for-32 (.500) in four appearances this season. Those numbers include an impressive 5-of-8 performance against Yale's Kevin Disceplo, the 15th ranked face-off man in the nation.
RAISING RAESLY – After an injury-plagued start to his career, sophomore
Kevin Raesly saw his first playing time against Penn, winning 3-of-7 face-offs and picking up four ground balls. With four appearances to his credit, Raesly has won 8-of-17 attempts (.471) and picked up five ground balls.
SCORELESS HALF – Hobart became the first team to hold Cornell scoreless for a full half of play since Yale accomplished that feat on March 23, 2002. In both games, the Big Red scored eight goals in the first 30 minutes and then held on for the victory, beating the Statesmen 8-7 and the Bulldogs, 8-4.
GLYNN'S GAME – Senior
John Glynn reached another milestone on April 11 as he tallied a career-high five goals against Dartmouth. He became the first Big Red midfielder to tally five goals in a game since Brian Clayton achieved that feat against Hobart on May 4, 2007.
DARTMOUTH DOMINATION – Cornell's 19-6 victory over Dartmouth on April 11 was just another in a long line of lopsided Big Red victories. During its current 12-game winning streak against the Big Green, Cornell has reached double-digits 11 times, outscoring Dartmouth, 172-88. The Big Red has scored 19 or more goals against the Big Green 11 times, most recently coming during the 1990 season.
GLYNN'S GOT IT – Senior
John Glynn has earned Ivy League Player of the Week honor twice this season. The first came following his stellar effort in No. 4 Cornell's 9-8 victory over Army on Feb. 28, while his second came following the Big Red's 10-7 upset over No. 1 Princeton. Against the Black Knights, Glynn tallied one goal and two assists, while winning 10-of-17 face-offs and picking up a game-high seven ground balls. Against the Tigers, Glynn went 13-of-18 on face-offs (72.2 percent), including a 2-for-3 performance in the pivotal fourth quarter as Cornell held possession for all but 65 seconds to secure the victory. Glynn also picked up a career-high 11 ground balls and registered an assist early in the game to give Cornell a 3-0 lead.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – For the second time this season,
Rob Pannell has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, earning the honor on April 13, following the Big Red's games at Syracuse and at Dartmouth. Pannell broke the Cornell rookie record for points in a single-season when he tallied two goals and four assists against the Big Green on Saturday to reach 44 points on the season. The freshman attackman opened the week with a one-goal, four-assist performance against the Orange.
FINN WINS – Senior
Chris Finn was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on April 6, following a spectacular effort as he helped No. 3 Cornell erase an early four-goal deficit to defeat No. 13 Harvard, 13-12. The senior attackman registered career highs with four goals and five ground balls. He also caused one turnover, which was the key to the victory, as he stripped the Crimson goalie, picked up the loose ball and scored on an empty net to register the game-winner.
CLEAN SWEEP – The Big Red swept the conference weekly awards on March 23 when
Kyle Harer and
Rob Pannell were named the Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. It was the first honors sweep for Cornell since April 10, 2006 when Matt McMonagle (player) and
Max Seibald (rookie) took home the honors. The awards were the first for each player in his career with Cornell. Harer was honored after posting a career-high 17 saves against No. 8 Duke in a 10-6 victory before making 10 saves and allowing just six goals in 52:48 of action in a 15-8 victory over Yale. Of his 12 goals allowed, two were in man-up situations and for the week he stopped nearly 70 percent of the shots he faced. For Pannell, the freshman attacker was honored after handing out three assists against the Blue Devils to set the school record for assists by a freshman (15), before registering three goals and one assist against the Bulldogs.
COME FROM BEHIND – Cornell found itself in unfamiliar territory on April 4 when it trailed No. 13/17 Harvard, 7-6, at the half. It marked the first time all season that the Big Red was behind at the intermission. When Cornell earned the victory over the Crimson, it ended the Big Red's three-game losing-streak in games in which it was losing at halftime.
21 GOALS – When Cornell defeated Penn, 21-11 on March 28, it marked the third year in a row that the Big Red has at least one game in which it registered at least 20 goals. The 21 goals against the Quakers are the most scored by Cornell during head coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure and are the most since the Big Red beat Canisius, 23-2, on May 2, 1998.
WHAT A RIDE – The Big Red did an amazing job on the ride against Yale on March 21, allowing the Bulldogs to clear the ball successfully just 14-of-26 times. Conversely, Cornell was 16-of-19 on the day, including a perfect 10-for-10 at halftime.
HARER HURTS 'EM –
Kyle Harer had the best game of his career when he made 17 saves against Duke to earn the 10-6 victory. Both his 17 saves and his .810 save percentage for the game were career-highs.
HURLEY AND SEIBALD 8, DUKE 6 – The combination of
Ryan Hurley and
Max Seibald provided all the offense the Big Red would need against Duke as the pair scored Cornell's first eight goals in a 10-6 victory. Hurley scored five goals, while Seibald chipped in three goals and two assists.
SAVES A LOT - Last year, Cornell goalie
Jake Myers posted a season-high 14 saves against Syracuse on April 8, 2008. In the very first game of the 2009 season the goalie tandem of
Kyle Harer and
Mat Martinez combined for 15 saves, with Harer stopping 10 shots in 51:51 before Martinez made five saves in the final 8:09 against Binghamton.
FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 59-50-5 all-time in season openers, including a 7-2 mark during Coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure.
IVY OPENERS – The Big Red's contest vs. Yale on March 21 marked the 54th Ivy League season opener for Cornell men's lacrosse. Since the league began play in the 1956 season, the Big Red has posted a 39-15 record in Ivy League openers, including a perfect mark of 9-0 during head coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure. More often than not, Cornell has met either Yale or Harvard in the conference opener, playing a different school on only six occasions.
NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 26-5 record in its last 31 regular-season non-conference games, dating back to the Big Red's 16-14 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on April 12, 2005. Three of those three losses during that span came at the hands of the Orange (2006, 2008, 2009), while the others came to ACC teams No. 7/8 North Carolina (13-8 on March 2, 2008) and No. 1/1 Virginia (14-10, March 8, 2009).
BACK ON THE OFFENSIVE – Players on the 2009 roster accounted for 221 of the 262 points (84 percent) that the Big Red registered last season.
PRESASON POLLS – The Big Red was selected to finish fourth in the nation in both the Inside Lacrosse and USILA Coaches Preseason polls, the highest selection among all Ivy League schools.
SMARTY PANTS – Cornell has had six CoSIDA Academic At-Large All-Americans, including five during Coach Tambroni's tenure, as David Key '01,
Tim DeBlois '04 and
Casey Stevenson '05 were named to the 2001, 2004 and 2005 second-team, respectively, while Mitch Belisle '07 and Matt McMonagle '07 earned first-team honors in 2007. Unlike other Academic All-America teams in which the selections are all from the same sport, the At-Large men's team is highly competitive as it is comprised of athletes from fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
RECAPPING 2008 — The No. 7/8 Big Red finished the 2008 season with an 11-4 overall record and its sixth straight Ivy League title with a mark of 5-1 in the conference. Cornell advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season and finished the year ranking in the top 10 in the nation in face-off winning percentage (third - .610 pct.), scoring offense (eighth - 11.13 gpg.), win percentage (eighth – .733 pct.) and scoring margin (ninth – 2.60 gpg.).
UP NEXT – If the Big Red defeats Virginia, it will advance to the NCAA finals for the first time since 1988, where it will face the winner of the Syracuse/Duke game on Monday, May 25, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
