GAME #13: No. 6/8 Cornell vs. Hobart
TIP OFF: Saturday, May 2, at 3:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (9-3, 5-1 Ivy); Hobart (7-6, 2-5 ECAC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 79-47-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 15-7, May 2, 2008; Boswell Field
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Ithaca, N.Y.)
THE MATCHUP — The No. 6/8 Big Red (9-3, 5-1) will play host to instate rival Hobart today in college lacrosse's oldest rivalry, as the teams met for the 131st time in the series.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? — Cornell fell at No. 13 Brown last weekend, 11-9, to fall to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the Ivy League. With the loss, the Big Red slipped into a three-way tie for first-place with the Bears and Princeton and finds out who it will share the conference crown with today as Brown and the Tigers face-off at 1 p.m. Hobart also lost in its last outing, dropping a 16-7 decision in its final ECAC Lacrosse League contest to No. 14 Loyola. Hobart comes to Schoellkopf with a 7-6 record overall and a mark of 2-5 in the conference.
WHAT'S THE SCENARIO? — When Cornell pulled off the 10-7 upset victory over Princeton on April 18, it assured itself a share of its seventh straight Ivy League title. The Big Red now has to await the outcome of today's Brown/Princeton game to decide if it will receive the conferences NCAA automatic bid. With a Tiger victory, Cornell will be the Ivy League's representative to the NCAA tournament by virtue of its head-to-head victory against Princeton. However, if Brown pulls off its second upset in a row, it will receive the conference's bid and the Big Red will need to hope for an at-large bid.
SERIES HISTORY VS. HOBART— Cornell and Hobart will face off in college lacrosse's oldest rivalry, meeting for the 131st time today. The Big Red holds a 79-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in the 1896 season. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings from 1996-2000, Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni, a Hobart graduate, took over the Big Red men's lacrosse program and has led Cornell to an 9-1 record against his alma mater. That single loss during Tambroni's tenure came in Geneva in 2004 when the Statesmen defeated Cornell 12-10 during the regular season before falling to the Big Red one weekend later, 11-5 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
LOOKING AT THE STATESMEN — Hobart fell to 7-6 on the year last weekend when it dropped a 16-7 decision to No. 14 Loyola. The Statesmen have relied on solid defense this year, as junior goalie Max Silberlicht ranks sixth in the nation with a .608 save percentage and 15th overall with a 7.91 goals-against average. On offense, Hobart is led by Jeff Colburn with a team-high 37 points on 19 goals and 18 assists. Tyler Cassell has registered a team-best 21 goals, while Kevin Curtin has chipped in 19 goals on the season. As a team, the Statesmen are winning 50.2 percent of its face-offs, thanks to the tandem of Bobby Dattilo (59-of-125) and Nunzio Doldo (70-128).
LAST TIME VS. HOBART – In a game that was billed as one of the most emotionally charged contests in Division I men's lacrosse this season, it was a calm and collected Cornell team that ruled the day in a 15-7 victory over Hobart in front of 1,700 fans in the first-ever night game played at Boswell Field. College lacrosse's oldest rivalry did not disappoint Big Red fans, as the visitors won 19-of-25 face-offs and dominated throughout in closing the regular season with an 11-3 record. After finding out earlier this week that Hobart would drop down NCAA classifications to Division III, Thursday night the College's Board of Trustees reversed its decision after an alumni campaign to keep the team at its current level. With emotions running high, Hobart moved the game to Boswell Field and brought in portable lights to play the game in front of a large and boisterous crowd. While the crowd was everything it was advertised to be, the Big Red methodically picked the Statesmen apart, jumping out to an 8-1 lead midway through the second period and was never challenged.
John Glynn had two goals and three assists to lead the offense, but just as importantly won 9-of-13 face-offs. Chris Ritchie added three goals and
Max Seibald (two goals, one assist),
Ryan Hurley (two goals, one assist) and
Chris Finn (two goals, one assist) also had multi-point games.
Tommy Schmicker aided Glynn in the face-off circle, winning 10-of-12 restarts. In goal,
Jake Myers made nine saves and allowed six goals in 50 minutes before giving way to
Mat Martinez for the final 10 minutes. The freshman made three saves and gave up the final goal of the contest.
A WIN OVER THE STATESMEN WOULD –
• be the sixth consecutive win for the Big Red over Hobart.
• make Cornell 80-47-4 all-time, while improving Coach Tambroni's record to 10-1 vs. his alma mater.
• improve the men's lacrosse record to 26-5 in its last 31 non-conference games.
• give Cornell at lease 10 wins in a season for the fifth straight season and sixth overall under Coach Tambroni
AT THE HELM — In his ninth season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 93-33. His winning percentage of .738 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 currently fourth in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .738 winning percentage. Syracuse head coach John Desko is the nation's leaders (.754).
AS A STATESMAN – A 1992 graduate of Hobart with a bachelor of arts degree in American studies, Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni was named first-team All-America as a senior, after registering 33 goals and 24 assists. He was a second-team All-America selection in 1990 and 1991, as the Statesmen won the NCAA Division III championship. He was named most valuable player of the 1990 championship game when Hobart defeated Washington (Md.) College 18-6. Tambroni had his most productive season in 1990, scoring 69 points on 38 goals and 31 assists. He concluded his college career tied for seventh on Hobart's all-time scoring list with 202 points. He left the Statesmen ranked sixth in assists (99) and 12th in goals (103).
SELECTION SHOW – The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship selection bracket will be announced live on ESPNU and ESPNEWS Sunday, May 3. The 16-team bracket will be revealed from 9 - 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU and from 10 - 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS. The bracket will also be posted on
www.ncaa.com after the selection show.
NON-CONFERENCE WINS — With its loss to Syracuse on April 7, Cornell slipped to 25-5 in its last 30 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-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 101 games.
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 last weekend when he also registered two goals against the Bears.
ROUGH ROAD – The Big Red just finished a stretch in which it played four of five games against teams ranked in the top 20. The stretch began on April 4 when Cornell 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. The run ended last weekend with an 11-9 loss at No. 13/13 Brown.
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 134 career points, the most ever by a Big Red midfielder, surpassing Bill Marino (129; 1974-46).
RULE FOLLOWERS – Cornell has not registered more penalties than its opponents in any single game this season. Overall, the Big Red averages 2.8 penalties per game, while its opponents have been flagged an average of 4.4 times per game.
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 game following the Big Red's 10-7 upset over No. 1 Princeton. Against the Black Knights, 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 face-offs (72.2 percent), including a two-for-three 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.
TWO FOR THE TEWAARATON – For the second year in a row,
John Glynn and
Max Seibald have been named nominees for the Tewaaraton Trophy. Seibald is a three-time nominee, as he was a finalist for the Trophy as a sophomore in 2007.
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 last weekend at Brown after leading at the half, is 29-2 in its last 31 games when leading at the intermission.
SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – When holding its opponents to less than 10 goals, the Big Red under Coach Tambroni owns a 80-10 record. Including its most recent 10-7 victory over No. 1 Princeton, Cornell has won 35 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.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — During Coach Tambroni's tenure, the Big Red is 49-10 at Schoellkopf Field, including a perfect 7-0 record in 2007 and a 6-0 slate during the 2005 season. This season, Cornell has a 4-0 record at Schoellkopf 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.
HIGH MARKS – The Big Red ranks in the top 10 in the nation in eight categories –
scoring offense (first – 13.17), points per game (first – 20.83), assists per game (third – 7.67), man-up offense (fourth –.460), scoring margin (fifth – 4.13), face-off win percentage (sixth – .573), ground balls per game (seventh – 35.67) and win percentage (ninth – .750).
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 and ranks second in the nation with 4.17 points per game.
DYANAMIC DUO –
Ryan Hurley and
Rob Pannell have teamed up for a goal at least once in each game this season, with the exception of the Army and Brown contests. Of Pannell's 33 assists, 13 (39.3 percent) have come on Hurley's goals.
WITH ONE ARM TIED BEHIND HIS BACK – Since missing the Penn game with a fractured elbow,
John Glynn has returned to the field and is playing some of his best lacrosse. In the five games since the injury, Glynn has won 61-of-94 face-offs (.649), the most ever recorded by the senior midfielder during a five-game stretch. He has also picked up 45 ground balls (9.0 gbpg.), scored eight goals and registered two assists (2.0 ppg.).
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 (.776) and ranking fifth overall in number of victories (66).
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 54 games, scored 28 goals and registered 23 assists for 51 points. (0.94 ppg.). In just 24 career conference games, Romero has tallied 19 goals and 13 assists for 32 points (1.33 ppg). Despite Ivy League play representing just 44.4 percent of his total games played, that is where Romero has registered 62.7 percent of his points.
A LITTLE HELP – Cornell ranks third in the country in assists per game (7.67 apg).
HELPING HAND –
Rob Pannell is currently ranked second in the country in assists per game (2.75 apg).
GET TO THE POINT —
Rob Pannell is currently ranked second in the nation in points per game (4.17 pgp), while
Ryan Hurley ranks 10th in the country (3.58 pgp). As a team, Cornell ranks first overall with 20.83 ppg.
SCORING MACHINE –
Ryan Hurley is ranked first in the country with 3.08 goals per game.
MEN IN THE MIDDLE –
John Glynn is currently third in the nation with a .621 face-off win percentage. As a team, the Big Red ranks sixth in the country with a . 573 winning percentage.
(BIG) RED HOT OFFENSE – The Big Red is first in the country in scoring offense, averaging 13.17 goals per game.
MAN UP! – The Big Red ranks fourth in the nation in man-up offense, scoring on .460 of its extra man opportunities.
IN THE MARGIN — Cornell ranks fifth in the country in scoring margin, outscoring its opponents by an average of 4.13 goals per game.
GROUND BALL GOBBLER – Senior
John Glynn ranks fourth in the nation in ground balls per game (6.82 gbpg), while the Big Red as a team ranks seventh overall with 35.67 ground balls per game.
GOING STREAKING – As of Thursday, April 30, Cornell senior
Max Seibald owned the longest point-scoring streak on the team and the third-longest in the nation, having registered at least one point in the last 46 games dating back to Cornell's 4-3 victory over Princeton on April 22, 2006. Junior
Ryan Hurley is also on the list, owning the eighth-longest streak in the nation, registering at least one point in the last 27 games dating back to the 2008 season opener.
INCREASED DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY – Of the nine lacrosse players nationwide that own the longest point-scoring streaks in the country,
Max Seibald (third – 46 games) is one of only two midfielders on the list, joining Notre Dame's Grant Krebs (sixth – 29 games).
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 33 assists.
GLYNN'S GAME – Senior
John Glynn reached another milestone on April 11 as he tallied a career-high five goals against Dartmouth. He becomes 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 points against the Big Green 11 times, most recently coming during the 1990 season.
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.
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.
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 three appearances to his credit, Raesly has won 8-of-17 attempts (.471) and picked up five ground balls.
90 WINS – With the Big Red's 21-11 victory over Penn on March 28, head coach Jeff Tambroni notched his 90th career win, becoming just the second head coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to reach that plateau. Tambroni reached the milestone in his 121st career game during his ninth season. The only other Big Red coach to reach 90 wins was Richie Moran, who defeated Cortland, 16-1, in his eighth season (1976) to achieve an 90-14 record.
FIVE IS RARE — During Coach Tambroni's career (126 games), Cornell has lost by five or more goals only 10 times.
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.
CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 20-4 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated No. 13/17 Harvard, 13-12, on April 4, 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.
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 15-18 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 FeildTurf.
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.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For just the second time since 1966, the Big Red will have a single team captain, as
Max Seibald will serve as the Cornell captain for the second straight year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
WIN NO. 650 – Cornell's 16-11 victory over Dartmouth on April 12, 2008 was the 650th win in program history. To date, the team's 656 victories rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
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.
11-WINS – The Big Red has posted at least 11 wins in each of the past four seasons and five times overall during head coach Jeff Tambroni's eight-year tenure.
NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 6-1 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) and Harvard (Foxborough, Mass.). The lone loss came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.).
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.).
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN – For the second straight season, midfielder
Max Seibald was named a first-team All-American. Joining Seibald on the 2008 All-American teams were
John Glynn (second),
Ryan Hurley (honorable mention) and
Matt Moyer (honorable mention). The Big Red has placed at least four members on the All-American teams for each of the past four seasons.
TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Following the 2008 season, four members of the Big Red –
John Glynn,
Ryan Hurley,
Matt Moyer and
Max Seibald – were named first-team All-Ivy, while two others –
John Espey and
Nick Gradinger – garnered honorable mention selections. Of the four first-team selections, Glynn, Hurley and Seibald were unanimous choices by the league's coaches.
CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell had a 14-game Ivy League winning-streak snapped after losing to Princeton on April 21, 2008. The 14 consecutive victories was the second-longest stretch in school history behind only its NCAA record 39-game streak from 1973-79. The 14 straight wins was also the longest active conference winning streak in the nation at the time that it ended.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT – In his first season as a starter,
Ryan Hurley proved to be one of the great young offensive threats in Big Red history. His 60 points on the season were the most by a Cornell sophomore since Eamon McEneaney tallied 96 points in 1975. Other than McEneaney, the only other sophomore in Cornell history to register more points than Hurley did during the 2008 season was Mike French (94 in 1974). In recent years, the only sophomore that has come close to matching Hurley's output was
Sean Greenhalgh, who tallied 46 points in 2003.
UP NEXT – The Big Red will learn of its post-season fate on Sunday evening. The first round of the NCAA tournament will be played at the site of the higher-seeds campus on either Saturday, May 9 or Sunday, May 10. All times are TBA.
