THE MATCHUP — The No. 7/8 Big Red (13-3, 5-1 Ivy League) will advance to the national championship game for the first time since 1988, as it takes on No. 1/1 Syracuse (15-2) on Monday, May 25 at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m. The game will be enjoyed by a nationwide audience on ESPN (channel 39 in Ithaca; channel 206 on DirecTV; channel 140 on Dish Network).

 

QUICK HITS …..

• The game between Cornell and Syracuse is a true upstate battle, as both coaches attended the same high school. Coach Tambroni graduated from West Genesee in 1988, while Coach Desko graduated in 1975.

• The last time the Cornell men's lacrosse team played in a national championship game, also against Syracuse, only 27 of the team's 45-man roster was alive. Of those 27, senior John Decker was the oldest (2 years, 6 months, 24 days), while junior Chris Ritchie was the youngest (1 month, 4 days). Three members of the Big Red – junior Ryan Hurley, sophomore Chris Livadas and freshman Mitch McMichael – were all born on the same day, just four days after the Big Red fell to Syracuse, 13-8.

• Freshman Rob Pannell hasn't been intimidated in his first year of Division I lacrosse. The third-team All-American has been sensation in Cornell's nine games against nationally ranked teams, scoring 12 goals and assisting on 27 others for 39 points (4.33 ppg.). He had six-point efforts in both contests against Virginia, including three goals and three assists in the Big Red's 15-6 semifinal victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday. He posted a goal and four assists against Syracuse in the first meeting between the teams on April 7 at the Carrier Dome.

• Cornell's 15-6 win over Virginia was its largest margin of victory in an NCAA semifinal contest since knocking off the Cavaliers 19-6 during the 1988 championship tournament. That year, the Big Red also played Syracuse in the finals, losing 13-8 on the Orange's home field.

• The Big Red's 18 goals allowed in its first three games are the fewest allowed in its first three games of an NCAA tournament since the 1976 national championship team also allowed 18 in topping the eight-team field. Included in that run was the only shutout in NCAA history, a 14-0 first round win over Washington & Lee.

• Cornell is the third team to allow eight goals or fewer in each of its three games heading into the championship since the field expanded to 16 teams. The 2004 Navy team surrendered just 17 scores (Penn - 5, Cornell - 5, Princeton - 7) in its first three games before falling to Syracuse in a shootout in the finals, 14-13. The year prior, Virginia held all four opponents to eight goals or less en route to a national title (Mt. St. Mary's - 8, Georgetown - 7, Maryland - 4, Johns Hopkins - 7).

• Cornell became the 10th team in NCAA history seeded fourth or lower to defeat the No. 1 seed in the NCAA semifinals. Those 10 teams have gone 4-6 in the ensuing championship game, with the last team to win a national title being Syracuse in 2004. The Orange defeated top-seeded Johns Hopkins before claiming the national title with a victory over Navy.

• The Big Red is a perfect 11-0 this season when holding its opponents to single digit goals. 

• The game vs. No. 1/1 Syracuse will be the10th that Cornell will play against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. 

• The Big Red is appearing in its seventh NCAA tournament during head coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure.

• Prior to this season, the Big Red has played in the NCAA championship game six times, winning three championships (1971, 1976, 1977) and having three national runners-up finishes (1978, 1987, 1988).

• With his three assists vs. Virginia in the NCAA semifinals, Rob Pannell moved into seventh place in Cornell history for assists in a single season (41), passing Pat Gallagher (1972) and Mike French (1976).

• The game vs. the Orange will be Coach Tambroni's first trip to the national championship game, and the Big Red's first appearance since 1988.

 

TOURNAMENT TIDBITS – Cornell's 27 NCAA tournament victories ranks the Big Red sixth all-time, 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, the semifinals twice and the national championship once.

 

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? — Cornell defeated Virginia, 15-6 on Saturday in the semifinal round of the NCAA tournament to improve to 13-3 on the season and advanced to the national championship round for the seventh time in school history. Syracuse defeated Duke, 17-7 to improve to 15-2 on the year.

 

SERIES HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE — The Cornell and Syracuse rivalry began in 1920 with a 5-3 victory for the Orange. Since that time, there have been only four seasons (1944, 1945, 1977, 1978) that the two squads have not faced each other. Syracuse holds the edge in the series, 59-35-1, but the teams have been very evenly matched in recent years with the Orange holding the slight 6-4 lead in the series since the 2000 season.

 

A WIN OVER THE ORANGE WOULD –

• give Cornell its first national championship in men's lacrosse since the 1977 season.

• give Coach Tambroni his first national championship as a head coach.

• make Cornell 4-3 all-time in NCAA championship games.

• improve the men's lacrosse record to 28-18 in NCAA tournament games.

• give Coach Tambroni a record of 9-6 in NCAA tournament games.

• close the gap in the series with Syracuse to 59-36-1, while improving Coach Tambroni's record against the Orange to 4-6. 

 

NCAA TOURNAMENT REMATCHES – The contest vs. Syracuse will mark the 17th time that Cornell will be playing a team in the NCAA tournament that it played in the regular season.
• Cornell is 10-6 in the NCAA tournament meeting.
• Of the 16 previous two-game series, Cornell has swept both games seven times, has split seven times and has been swept just twice.

• The Big Red is 3-2 in the rematch when losing the first meeting, as it did against Syracuse. 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. Most recently, Cornell erased the memories of a 14-10 loss to Virginia with a 15-6 victory on Saturday.
• When winning the first meeting, Cornell is 7-4 in the rematch.

• Cornell has four 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, before splitting with Virginia.

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

 

TITLE CONTENDERS – Monday's game will mark Cornell's 11th appearance in a national championship in any team sport … Cornell has had five teams crowned as national champions.

• Men's Lacrosse (7) – 1971 (W), 1976 (W), 1977 (W), 1978, 1987, 1988, 2009

• Men's Ice Hockey (4) – 1967 (W), 1969, 1970 (W), 1972

 

TAMBRONI'S TITLES – While he hasn't coached in a national championship game, this isn't Coach Tambroni's first time vying for a championship title. As a standout attackman at Hobart College, Tambroni helped lead the Statesmen to three-straight DIII championships in 1989, 90, and 91. After racking up five goals in the 1990 title game against Washington (Md.), Tambroni was named the game MVP.

 

ROUGH ROAD – When the Big Red faces Syracuse on Monday, it will mark Cornell's eighth game vs. a nationally-ranked opponent over the span of its final 10 games. During the stretch, the Big Red has posted a 7-2 record with wins over No. 13 Harvard, Dartmouth, No. 1 Princeton, Hobart, No. 10 Hofstra, No. 4 Princeton and No. 5 Virginia. Cornell's two losses during the run came against No. 5 Syracuse and No. 13 Brown.

 

AT THE HELM — In his ninth season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 97-33. His winning percentage of .746 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 second in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .746 winning percentage. Syracuse head coach John Desko is the nation's leader (.760).

 

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 8-1 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.), Princeton (Hempstead, N.Y.) and Virginia. The lone loss came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.).

 

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.

 

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON – David Lau tallied his first points of the tournament with a goal and an assist vs. Virginia in the national semifinal. With the assist on Cornell's final goal of the game, Lau surpassed the tournament point total of his father, George, who registered one goal for the Big Red in the 1977 national championship game.

 

VISIONS OF 21 – The number 21 holds great significance for the Big Red men's lacrosse program, as it is the jersey number worn by the late George Boiardi. Appropriately enough, the Big Red will be playing in its first national title contest in 21 years when it meets Syracuse … Cornell's group of 16 seniors has claimed four straight Ivy titles by winning 21 conference contests in four years ... When Cornell defeated Virginia on Saturday, it was the first time it beat the Cavaliers in 21 seasons (1988) … There were 21 total goals scored between the Big Red and Virginia in the semifinal game (15-6). 

 

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – When holding its opponents to less than 10 goals, the Big Red under Coach Tambroni owns an 84-10 record. Including its most recent 15-6 victory over Virginia in the NCAA semifinal round, Cornell has won 39 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.

 

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 31 games dating back to the 2008 season opener.

 

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 65 points.

 

FIVE IS RARE — During Coach Tambroni's career (130 games), Cornell has lost by five or more goals only 10 times.

 

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 2.8 penalties per game, while its opponents have been flagged an average of 4.6 times per game.

 

FINISHING STRONG – Cornell is 32-2 in its last 34 games when leading at the intermission.

 

DYANAMIC DUO – Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell have teamed up for a goal in 12-of-16 contests this season. Of Pannell's 41 assists, 16 (39.0 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 88-of-154 face-offs (.571). He has also picked up 66 ground balls (7.3 gbpg.), scored 10 goals and registered three assists (1.44 ppg.).