Game Notes (PDF)

Game Details
Game 13: No. 13 Cornell vs. No. 15 Yale
Series Record: Cornell leads, 48-22-1
Date: Friday, May 4, 2012
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Field: Class of 1952 Stadium
Location: Princeton, N.J.

Game Coverage
Live Stats: www.GoPrincetonTigers.com
Video Webcast: www.ESPN3.com
Radio Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com
Radio: WHCU 870 AM
Television: None

THE MATCHUP — The No. 13 Cornell men's lacrosse team makes its third consecutive trip to the Ivy League tournament this weekend when the second-seed Big Red faces the third-seed Yale at Princeton's Class of 1952 Stadium on Friday, May 4 at 5 p.m. The game can be seen by a nationwide audience online at www.ESPN3.com. Fans in the Ithaca area can hear the game on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Howie Borkan on the call.

SERIES HISTORY VS. YALE — The Cornell and Yale rivalry began in 1916 with a 5-1 Big Red victory, and Cornell has dominated the series ever since. The Big Red holds a 48-22-1 record in the series, thanks in large part to 22-straight victories over the Bulldogs from 1966 to 1987. Currently, Cornell is riding a 14-game winning streak vs. Yale, dating back to the 1999 season. For the second straight year, the Big Red will look to defeat the Bulldogs twice in a season, as Cornell defeated Yale during the 2011 regular season and in the 2011 Ivy League tournament.

LOOKING AT THE BULLDOGS — No. 15 Yale has won seven consecutive contests to end the regular season with a 9-4 record overall and a mark of 4-2 in the Ivy League. Like Cornell, the Bulldogs are also making their third straight appearance in the Ivy League Tournament, coming in as the number three seed for the second time after being the number four seed a year ago. Yale's success starts in the face-off circle with one of the best specialists in the nation, Dylan Levings, winning 65.2 percent of his draws, good for second in the country. Levings also ranks 10th in the country in ground balls (6.31 per game). In goal, Jack Meyer has been solid, ranking 13th in the nation with an 8.45 goals-against average behind a solid defense anchored by Michael McCormack and his 2.46 caused turnovers per game. Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Matt Gibson, who leads the team in goals (25), assists (17) and points (42).

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 24-6 and 4-0 against the Bulldogs.
• propel Cornell to the Ivy League tournament championship game for the third consecutive season.
• be the 701st win in program history.
• improve Cornell to 49-22-1 against Yale.
• be the 15th consecutive victory over the Bulldogs.

THE HEAD COACH — After spending 10 years as first an assistant, then an associate head coach of the Big Red program, Ben DeLuca was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse prior to the 2011 season. In his first campaign, he led Cornell to a 14-3 record, an undefeated Ivy League season, an Ivy League tournament title and the team's eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. The 10th head coach in program history, DeLuca played for, or coached under Cornell's last three coaches – Richie Moran, Dave Pietramala, and Jeff Tambroni. DeLuca earned four letters on defense for the Big Red, serving as captain his senior year and went on to be named the team's outstanding senior athlete for his leadership and dedication on and off the field.

RECAPPING THE PRINCETON GAME –
• Princeton jumped out on Cornell quickly and surged to a 14-9 victory over the Big Red on its Senior Night, capturing the outright Ivy League title in the process at the Class of 1952 Stadium.
• Matt Donovan was one of the bright spots for the Big Red, scoring four goals, while Connor English scored twice.
• Doug Tesoriero won 14-of-25 face-offs, including scooping up 11 ground balls. He also was credited with an assist.
• Goalkeepers Andrew West and AJ Fiore combined for six saves in the loss.
• Alex Capretta scored five times for the Tigers and Jeff Froccaro posted three goals and an assist while Forest Sonnenfeldt registered a hat trick.
• Tyler Fiorito made 11 saves in picking up the win in goal.
• Froccaro and John Cunningham each had seven ground ball wins, with Froccaro adding a 10-of-19 night at the face-off X to his four-point effort.
• The Princeton win snapped a streak of nine consecutive seasons that Cornell earned at least a share of the Ivy League title.
• The Tigers held a 34-33 edge in shots and had a 30-27 advantage in ground balls.
• Cornell killed off all four Princeton extra-man chances and scored just 1-of-6 of its own.

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 10-7 in neutral site games, with two victories over Notre Dame (Chicago, 2006 and Long Island, 2007), and a single victory over Albany (Princeton, 2007), Navy (Long Island, 2008), Denver (Dallas, 2008), Harvard (Foxboro, 2009), Princeton (Hempstead, 2009), Virginia (Foxboro, 2009), Hobart (Syracuse, 2010) and Army (Stony Brook, 2010). The five losses came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.), Syracuse in the 2009 national championship (Foxboro, Mass.), Dartmouth during the 2010 season (Foxboro, Mass.), Notre Dame in the 2010 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.) and Virginia three times, including twice during the 2011 season (Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md. and the national quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y). The Cavaliers also won a 9-8 overtime decision in the 2012 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Freshman Matt Donovan was named the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year when the teams were announced on May 2. He is the fifth Big Red player to earn the honor, joining Paul Schimoler (1986), Sean Greenhalgh (2002), Max Seibald (2006) and Rob Pannell (2009).

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY) – In addition to being named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Matt Donovan was also named second-team All-Ivy. Senior Roy Lang and junior Jason Noble were named first-team All-Ivy, while senior Chris Langton joined Donovan on the second-team. Juniors Steve Mock and Thomas Keith earned honorable mention selections.

2012 TEWAARATON NOMINEE – Cornell Roy Lang has been named a nominee for the 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy.

11-WIN CAMPAIGN – With just one more guaranteed game in the 2012 season, the Big Red is in danger of not producing 11 wins in a campaign for the first time since 2004 (9-5). Cornell's seven consecutive seasons of at least 11 wins is the longest streak in the nation, joining Virginia in that feat. 

CONFERENCE WIN-STREAK SNAPPED – The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles was snapped by Princeton on April 28, 2012. At the time, Cornell's nine titles was the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference.

BALANCED OFFENSE – So far this season, the Big Red has shown tremendous balance in its scoring with the attack accounting for 70 goals and 37 assists (107 points), while the midfielders and defensive players have combined for 75 goals and 32 assists (107 points).

NEXT TO 100? – Junior attackman Steve Mock is looking to become the 39th player to reach 100 career points in school history and enters the Yale contest with 93 (82 goals, 11 assists). He also is 18 goals away from becoming the seventh Cornell player with 100 goals. Rob Pannell became the sixth 100-goal scorer earlier this season.

WIN NO. 700 – Cornell's 12-6 victory over Syracuse on April 10, 2012 was the 700th win in program history. The Big Red is 700-443-27 all-time, and its 700 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2008-12), Cornell has racked up the fifth most wins (59) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (74.7 percent) overall.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 71-15 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0). Cornell owned the longest home game winning streak in the nation (15 games) before Brown defeated the Big Red, 10-9, on April 21.

HUMAN VACUUMS – Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino have been the Big Red's most consistent ground ball guys. Noble has registered at least one ground ball in all but one game during his career and currently has the longest streak on the team at 37 games. Bronzino has collected at least one ground ball in all but three games during his career and had a streak of 29 consecutive games snapped on March 31 at Dartmouth.

SINGLE-DIGIT DEFENSE – Since his time as the defensive coordinator of the Big Red began during the 2002 season as an assistant coach, now head coach Ben DeLuca has led a defensive unit that has held opponents to single-digits in 113-of-164 games (.689).

PLAYING WINNERS – So far this season, Cornell has played only three teams that had losing records at the time of their meeting – Penn, Dartmouth and Brown.

WEEKLY HONORS V – Freshman Matt Donovan made history with his fifth Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor following a four-goal performance at Princeton on April 28. Dating back to 1987 when the award made its debut, Donovan is the first player to earn five such honors.

WEEKLY HONORS IV – Freshman Matt Donovan won his fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 9 after helping the Big Red to a key 14-10 victory over Harvard with two goals and one assist. The rookie attackman scored the first goal of the second quarter and assisted on Cornell's next tally as the Big Red blew open a tight game and built a 6-1 halftime lead. Donovan than scored a big goal as time wound down in the contest to snap a two-goal Crimson run and break Harvard's momentum.

WEEKLY HONORS III – Freshman Matt Donovan won his third Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 2 after leading the Big Red to a 7-5 win at Dartmouth by assisting on a career-high three goals. The rookie attackman provided feeds that led to three consecutive Cornell tallies spanning the second and third quarters to help the Big Red jump out to a 5-1 lead.

WEEKLY HONORS II – For the second time this season, Cornell men's lacrosse players swept the Ivy League weekly awards, this time on March 26. Junior attackman Steve Mock was named Ivy Player of the Week, while freshman attackman Matt Donovan was named Ancient Eight co-Rookie of the Week. Mock scored four goals and assisted on three others as the Big Red knocked off No. 8 Denver in overtime before rallying for a 16-11 win at Penn. Donovan earned his second rookie of the week nod of the season after posting three goals and two assists in two starts for the nationally ranked Big Red.

WEEKLY HONORS I – After opening the season with home wins over Binghamton and Army, senior Rob Pannell was named Ivy League Player of the Week, while freshman Matt Donovan earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 5. Pannell scored 16 points in the two wins, including posting the first 10-point contest by a Cornell player since 1995 with a six-goal, four-assist effort vs. Binghamton. Donovan had five goals and three assists in his first two collegiate games, including four goals and two assists in the win over Army.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks 6th in the nation in ground balls per game (33.58).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 63 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 17 occasions.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 119-14 record (89.5 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals … The Big Red had its 16-game win streak in games limiting opponents to single digit goals snapped in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia earlier this season, but has run a new streak to four straight after defeating Syracuse, 12-6, on April 10.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 29-9 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Brown, 10-9, on April 21, 2012, at Schoellkopf Field. Of the nine losses, three have come against Syracuse (12-11 on April 11, 2006; 10-9 (OT) in the 2009 national championship game; 8-7 on April 13, 2010).

POWER 10 – Rob Pannell became the first Cornell player to score 10 points in a game with his six-goal, four-assist effort in the season-opening win over Binghamton since Chris Danler also posted 10 points in a win over Army during the 1995 campaign.

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 26 of the 29 games under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 21 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 16 times during that same span. Cornell scored eight goals in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia on March 10, 2012, snapping a streak to 20 consecutive games of at least nine goals.

EIGHT STRAIGHT NCAAS – The Big Red has made eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament.

UNLUCKY NUMBER 7 – With its 7-5 victory over Dartmouth, the Big Red snapped a four-game losing streak in games in which it scored seven or fewer goals dating back to a 6-4 victory over Princeton on May 16, 2009.

PANNELL'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Cornell senior attackman Rob Pannell has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, given to a senior Division I student-athlete, must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite having not played since March 3, Rob Pannell is still the national leader in career assists with 149. That is 12 more assists than Virginia's Steele Stanwick, who sits in second place with 137.

STREAK STOPPERS – When Brown defeated the Big Red on April 21, the Bears ended several Cornell winning streaks, including:
• The nation's longest home-game winning streak (14 games).
• The Big Red's 14-game winning streak against unranked opponents.
• Cornell's 12-game winning streak against Ivy League opponents.
• The Big Red's seven-game winning streak in games played during the month of April.
• Cornell's five-game winning streak in games in which it scores first.

OVERTIME NOTES – With its overtime game vs. Virginia on March 10, 2012, Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past six seasons, dating back to a 12-11 overtime triumph over Albany in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals. During that span, the Big Red has posted a 6-3 record in overtime games.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 26 titles (tied with Princeton), including 16 undefeated crowns. The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 236-97-1 (.708).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For the second straight season, senior Rob Pannell will serve as captain of the Big Red men's lacrosse team.

HISTORICAL START — Head coach Ben DeLuca is only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season (2011), joining Ned Harkness (Cornell; 1966).

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 41-10 record in its last 51 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.

QUICK START – Cornell scored 54 goals in its first three games of 2012, the most in three games to open a season since the 1976 national championship squad netted 60 goals in its first three contests (defeated Adelphi 24-8, Massachusetts 22-10, Rutgers 14-6). That Big Red squad went a perfect 16-0 and averaged 17.3 goals per game for the entire season, reaching double digits in each game and never being played within three goals. 

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is now 62-50-5 all-time in season openers after knocking off Binghamton 17-12 on Feb. 28, 2012.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS – Cornell had four players named to the 2012 Face-Off Magazine Preseason All-American list. Rob Pannell, Roy Lang and Jason Noble were all named a first-team selections, while Mike Bronzino picked up an honorable mention selection.

MUSTACHE MADNESS – This past November, the members of the Big Red men's lacrosse team participated in Lacrosse Mustache Madness to benefit the HEADStrong Foundation. As a team, Cornell raised $11,363.85, the second most of any Division I men's lacrosse team in the nation, trailing only Syracuse, which raised $13,513.42.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 270-157-7 (.630). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 9-1 (.900) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red faced six teams from New York state (5-1) in 2011 and is 4-0 already this season.

FRESH FACES – The Big Red added 12 newcomers to the 2012 roster, six of which earned high school All-American honors. The group is comprised of six attackmen, three defensemen, two midfielders and one goalkeeper. Additionally, the players represent seven states and one Canadian province with three players hailing from New Jersey and New York, two from Maryland, and one each from California, Ohio, Tennessee and Alberta.

U-19 TEAM – This past summer, Cornell rookie Connor Buczek was selected to represent the United States on its U-19 team, which will participate in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship in Turku, Finland, in July 2012.  

CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Two players on the 2012 Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red – Cody Levine (Jon '76) and Matt Taylor (Joe '80). Jon Levine was on the 1976 team, while Joe Taylor was on the 1977 squad … Additionally, Connor Entenmann's father Ken was on Cornell's national semifinalist team in 1982, while Cole McCormack and Mike O'Neil each have uncles (Brian McCormack and Geoff Hall, respectively) that played together on the Big Red's national runner up squads in 1987 and 1988.

HARD HAT – Jason Noble was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2012 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.

SISTER ACT – Senior Roy Lang and sophomore Mike O'Neil each have a sister on the Big Red women's lacrosse team. Lang's sister Kelly is a junior, while O'Neil's sister Ali is a senior.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 47 players on the 2012 Big Red roster hail from 13 different states –California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and three Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

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.

NEW TO THE STAFF – Mark Wittink '00, a Big Red teammate of Ben DeLuca, has joined the Cornell coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach. On the field Mark assists with the goalies, midfielders and face-off wings. He also assists in scout team preparation in practice. On game day Mark assists with the face-offs and substitution box. Off the field, Wittink has played an instrumental role in the Big Red's social media efforts, including coordinating the team's Twitter and Facebook pages.

RECAPPING 2011 – In his first season at the helm of the program, head coach Ben DeLuca led the Big Red to a 14-3 record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Cornell ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation as it won its ninth consecutive Ivy League title with a perfect 6-0 conference mark, the longest stretch since Cornell won 10-straight championships between 1974 and 1983. The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference. Cornell then went on to win its first-ever Ivy League tournament title. DeLuca became only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell; 1966) and is the first coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to lead the Big Red to the NCAA tournament in his first season. Following the season Rob Pannell '12 was selected as a first-team All-American and was named the USILA Player of the Year, the USILA Attackman of the Year, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and a nominee for an ESPY in the category of Best Collegiate Male Athlete. Pannell was joined on the All-American list by Max Feely '11, Roy Lang '12 and Jason Noble '13. The quartet was also named All-Ivy, along with Mike Bronzino '13 and David Lau '11.

NEXT UP – The winner of the Cornell/Yale semifinal game will face the winner of the Princeton/Brown game on Sunday, May 6 at noon. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.