GAME #14: No. 7/8 Cornell vs. No. 10 Hofstra
TIP OFF: Saturday, May 9, at 5:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (10-3, 5-1 Ivy); Hofstra (11-3, 6-0 CAA)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 5-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 14-12, February 28, 2004; Shuart Stadium
TELEVISION: ESPNU (channel 108 in Ithaca; channel 609 on DirecTV; channel 148 on Dish Network)
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Ithaca, N.Y.)
LIVE VIDEO: None
THE MATCHUP — The No. 7/8 Big Red (10-3, 5-1 Ivy League) will play host to Hofstra (11-3, 6-0 CAA) in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, May 9 at Schoellkopf Field at 5 p.m. The game will be enjoyed by a nationwide audience on ESPNU (channel 108 in Ithaca; channel 609 on DirecTV; channel 148 on Dish Network).
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS – Cornell's 24 NCAA tournament victories rank seventh all-time, while its 22 appearances also stand 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 four times and the semifinals once.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? — Cornell defeated in-state rival Hobart, 8-7, last weekend on Senior Day at Schoellkopf Field. With the win, the Big Red improved to 10-3 on the season, reaching the 10-win plateau for the fifth straight year. Hofstra, on the other hand, lost its last outing, dropping a 9-7 decision to Villanova in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals. The Pride comes to Schoellkopf with an impressive record of 11-3 overall and a mark of 6-0 in its conference.
HOW'D WE GET HERE? — 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 then slipped into a temporary three-way tie for first place with the Tigers and Brown when it lost to the Bears, 11-9, the next weekend. Cornell benefited when Princeton beat the Bears last weekend, as the Big Red earned the Ivy League's NCAA automatic bid by virtue of its head-to-head victory against the Tigers. Hofstra, on the other hand, let the CAA automatic bid slip out of its hands when it was upset by Villanova in the conference playoffs. As a result, the Pride got into the tournament thanks to an at-large bid.
SERIES HISTORY VS. HOFSTRA— Cornell and Hofstra will face-off for the seventh time in the history of the two programs. The Big Red holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series, which began in the 1972 season. After Cornell won the first meeting, 5-3, the two squads didn't meet again for nearly 20 years when the rivalry was renewed with a 15-14 Big Red victory in 1990. Cornell won the other two meetings that decade before falling to the Pride, 13-5, in 2003. The Big Red responded the next season with a 14-12 victory.
LOOKING AT THE PRIDE — Hofstra fell to 11-3 on the year last week when it dropped a 9-7 decision to Villanova in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals. The Pride has played in a number of close games this season, with eight of its victories being decided by two goals or less. Hofstra's offense is led by sophomore attackman Jay Card, who has registered team-highs in points (42) and goals (33). Senior midfielder Michael Colleluori has a team-best 21 assists to go along with 12 goals for 33 points, while freshman attackman Kevin Ford has registered 19 goals. Senior midfielder Anthony Muscarella and senior attackman Tom Dooley have chipped in 17 goals apiece. The Pride has struggled in the face-off circle, winning just 46.8 percent as a team. Joe Montemurro has taken the majority of attempts and has won 122-of-261 (.467). In between the pipes, freshman Andrew Gvozden has started the last 12 games, posting an 8.16 goals-against average and a .555 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. HOFSTRA – Sophomore
Joe Boulukos ignited a key 7-1 Big Red run to start the second half, as Cornell opened the 2004 season with a 14-12 road win over Hofstra at Shuart Stadium. It was the first season-opening win for Cornell since 2001 and the contest marked the first February game in program history. Boulukos returned to his native Long Island and recorded a game-high five goals, while senior
Andrew Collins had five points, including four assists, and junior attackman
Sean Greenhalgh found the back of the net four times. The Pride was paced by Tim Treubig's four tallies. Cornell took an early 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest on quick goals from Greenhalgh and classmate
Justin Redd. After a Hofstra goal made it a 2-1 contest, the Big Red scored on its first and only extra-man opportunity of the afternoon with a tally from junior
Kevin Nee. Each team would score two more times before the second quarter, as the Big Red held a 5-3 lead. The second quarter belonged to Hofstra, as it outscored the Big Red 5-1 to take an 8-6 lead heading into the second half. Greenhalgh and Boulukos started the crucial third-quarter run with a combined five goals to help Cornell regain the lead at 11-8. Hofstra responded with four of the next six goals, including two from Keysor in the final 1:15 of the third quarter, to make it a one-goal affair at 13-12. However, Collins scored the final goal of the contest midway through the fourth quarter on Redd's third assist of the day to seal the victory. The Pride outshot the Big Red 43-38, but Cornell won 20-of-28 faceoffs, thanks to a 17-of-23 performance from senior
Scott Raasch.
CORNELL VS. THE CAA – The Big Red is 9-2 all-time vs. the current members of the CAA and is currently riding a three-game winning streak against the conference. Cornell is 5-1 all-time against Hofstra, 2-0 vs. Towson and 2-1 against Delaware, but has never faced Drexel, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart or Villanova. Counting this weekend's game vs. the Pride, the Big Red has faced a CAA team in the opening round of the NCAA tournament three times in the last five years (Towson – 2005, 2007). Cornell is 4-1 at Schoellkopf Field against the CAA.
A WIN OVER THE PRIDE WOULD –
• make Cornell 6-1 all-time, while improving Coach Tambroni's record to 2-1 vs. Hofstra.
• give Cornell at least 11 wins in a season for the fifth straight year and sixth time overall under Coach Tambroni
• put Cornell on path to meet the winner of the No. 4 Princeton/UMass game next weekend for a berth in the Final Four.
• be the third first-round win over a CAA team in NCAA tournament play in the last five years.
• improve the men's lacrosse record to 25-18 in NCAA tournament games.
• make Cornell 14-8 all-time in NCAA first round games, including 10-2 at home
• make Cornell 10-2 all-time vs. CAA teams.
AT THE HELM — In his ninth season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 94-33. His winning percentage of .740 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 fourth in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .740 winning percentage. Syracuse head coach John Desko is the nation's leader (.756).
TWO TIME TEWAARATON – For the second time in his career, senior
Max Seibald has be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist. Seibald became Cornell's first-ever Tewaaraton finalist in 2007 when he earned the honor 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.
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).
BACK-TO-BACK 40s – Junior
Ryan Hurley is just one goal away from scoring 40 goals in back-to-back seasons. There have been only four players in Cornell history to accomplish that feat - Mike French (1974, 75, 76), Jon Levine (1975, 76), David Mitchell (2006, 07) and Mark Webster (1968, 69).
COACHING CONNECTIONS – Both Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni and Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney served as assistants at one point under current Johns Hopkins' head coach Dave Pietramala. Tambroni served under Pietramala when he was the head coach of the Big Red from 1998-2000. Tierney was on Pietramala's staff at Hopkins from 2001-06.
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 TEN 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.
10-WINS – The Big Red has posted at least 10 wins in each of the past five seasons and six times overall during head coach Jeff Tambroni's nine-year tenure.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — During Coach Tambroni's tenure, the Big Red is 50-10 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 5-0 record at Schoellkopf Field.
SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – When holding its opponents to less than 10 goals, the Big Red under Coach Tambroni owns an 81-10 record. Including its most recent 8-7 victory over Hobart, Cornell has won 36 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 owns the longest point-scoring streak on the team and the third-longest in the nation entering this weekend, having registered at least one point in the last 47 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 ninth-longest streak in the nation, registering at least one point in the last 28 games dating back to the 2008 season opener.
INCREASED DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY – Of the 12 lacrosse players nationwide that own the longest point-scoring streaks in the country,
Max Seibald (third – 47 games) is one of only two midfielders on the list, joining Notre Dame's Grant Krebs (seventh – 31 games).
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.
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.
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 51 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 (.779) and ranking fifth overall in number of victories (67).
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 55 games, scored 29 goals and registered 23 assists for 52 points. (0.95 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 43.6 percent of his total games played, that is where Romero has registered 61.5 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 102 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.
ROUGH ROAD – The Big Red concluded the season with a stretch in which it played four of its final six 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. Cornell then posted an 11-9 loss at No. 13/13 Brown, before defeating unranked Hobart, 8-7.
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 135 career points, the most ever by a Big Red midfielder, surpassing Bill Marino (129; 1974-46).
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 (127 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 662 victories rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
RULE FOLLOWERS – Cornell has not registered more penalties than its opponent in any single game this season. Overall, the Big Red averages 2.7 penalties per game, while its opponents have been flagged an average of 4.4 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 30-2 in its last 32 games when leading at the intermission.
DYANAMIC DUO –
Ryan Hurley and
Rob Pannell have teamed up for a goal in 10-of-13 contests this season. Of Pannell's 33 assists, 13 (39.3 percent) have come on Hurley's goals.
WITH ONE ARM TIED BEHIND HIS BACK – In the six games since fracturing his elbow,
John Glynn has won 66-of-110 face-offs (.600). He has also picked up 48 ground balls (8.0 gbpg.), scored nine goals and registered two assists (1.2 ppg.).
HIGH MARKS – The Big Red ranks in the top 10 in the nation in eight categories –
scoring offense (second – 12.77), assists per game (third – 7.31), points per game (fourth – 20.08), face-off win percentage (fifth – .566), scoring margin (sixth – 3.92), win percentage (ninth – .769), ground balls per game (10th – 35.00) and man-up offense (10th –.434).
A LITTLE HELP – Cornell ranks third in the country in assists per game (7.31 apg).
HELPING HAND –
Rob Pannell is currently ranked second in the country in assists per game (2.54 apg).
GET TO THE POINT —
Rob Pannell is currently ranked fourth in the nation in points per game (3.92 pgp), while
Ryan Hurley ranks 15th in the country (3.38 pgp). As a team, Cornell ranks fourth overall with 20.08 ppg.
SCORING MACHINE –
Ryan Hurley is ranked third in the country with 2.92 goals per game.
MEN IN THE MIDDLE –
John Glynn is currently third in the nation with a .601 face-off win percentage. As a team, the Big Red ranks fifth in the country with a . 566 winning percentage.
(BIG) RED HOT OFFENSE – The Big Red is second in the country in scoring offense, averaging 12.77 goals per game.
MAN UP! – The Big Red ranks 10th in the nation in man-up offense, scoring on .434 of its extra man opportunities.
IN THE MARGIN — Cornell ranks sixth in the country in scoring margin, outscoring its opponents by an average of 3.92 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 10th overall with 35.00 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.
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.
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 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.
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.).
UP NEXT – If the Big Red defeats Hofstra, it will advance to the NCAA quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the Princeton/UMass game on Saturday, May 16, at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. Game time is TBA.
