Game Notes (PDF) 

GAME #1: Cornell vs. Hobart
FACE OFF: Sunday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m.
SITE: The Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
2010 Records: Hobart (0-0, 0-0 ECAC); Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 80-47-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 8-7, May 2, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Tom LaFalce, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: http://campus.hws.edu/athletics/hobart/lacrosse/live/xlive.htm  
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/  
LIVE VIDEO: www.hwsathletics.com/showcase/#liveevents  
TICKETS: 1-888-DOMETIX
TELEVISION: None

THE MATCHUP — The Big Red opens the 2010 season against its oldest rival, Hobart, on Sunday, Feb. 28, at Syracuse's Carrier Dome at 6 p.m. The game was originally slated to be played in Geneva on Saturday, Feb. 27, but was rescheduled due to an impending storm. The game is the season opener for both teams.

SERIES HISTORY VS. HOBART — Cornell and Hobart will face off in college lacrosse's oldest rivalry, meeting for the 132nd time. The Big Red holds a 80-47-4 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 … The game at the Carrier Dome on Sunday will be the first neutral site game in the history of the series.

LOOKING AT THE STATESMEN — Hobart returns 27 members, including six starters, from a 2009 squad that posted a 7-7 overall record and a mark of 2-5 in the ECAC. The team will be led by preseason All-American Max Silberlicht. The senior goalie racked up 174 saves in 2009 to go along with a .613 save percentage and a 7.91 goals against average. He finished the year ranked fifth in the nation in save percentage and 10th in GAA. Offensively, the Statesmen will look to senior midfielder Tyler Cassell. A second-team All-ECAC selection in 2009, Cassell led Hobart with 22 goals, including six extra-man tallies.

A WIN OVER HOBART WOULD –
• be the seventh consecutive win for the Big Red over Hobart.
• make Cornell 81-47-4 all-time, while improving Coach Tambroni's record to 10-1 vs. his alma mater.
• improve the men's lacrosse record to 27-5 in its last 32 non-conference games.
• be Cornell's seventh consecutive victory in a season opener.

LAST TIME VS. THE STATESMEN –
• Eight different players scored for Cornell, led by Chris Finn with two goals and one assist.
• Max Silberlicht made 16 saves.
• 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.

CORNELL VS. THE ECAC – The Big Red is 85-49-4 all-time vs. the current members of the ECAC, thanks mostly to an 80-47-4 record vs. Hobart. Cornell holds a winning records vs. Air Force (1-0), Denver (1-0), Farifield (2-0) and Hobart (80-47-4), but a losing mark against Ohio State (1-2). The Big Red has never faced Bellarmine, Loyola or Quinnipiac ... Coach Tambroni has posted an 11-3 record vs. the ECAC.

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 59-50-5 all-time in season openers, including a 7-2 mark during Coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure … The Big Red has played Hobart 13 times to the start the season, posting a 6-7 record against the Statesmen. The last time Cornell opened the season against Hobart was 1947, a contest the Big Red won, 8-4.

AT THE HELM — In his 10th season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 97-34. 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).

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).

TAMBRONI AMONG THE BEST — Head coach Jeff Tambroni enters the 2010 season ranked fourth in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .740 winning percentage.

TAMBRONI'S TOUCHSTONE – After taking the 2009 team to the heights of the lacrosse world, Jeff Tambroni was given the Morris Touchstone Award as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Coach of the Year. Tambroni became the third Big Red coach to take home the honor, joining three-time recipient Richie Moran (1971, 1977, 1987) and Dave Pietramala (2000). As a program, Cornell coaches have earned five Morris Touchstone Awards, the most of any program in the nation, surpassing Johns Hopkins and Navy with four apiece.

EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICANS – The Big Red returns a pair of All-American attackmen – sophomore Rob Pannell (third team) and senior Ryan Hurley (honorable mention).

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Cornell returns two All-Ivy selections from last season's squad – Rob Pannell (first-team) and Ryan Hurley (second-team).
NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 26-5 record in its last 31 regular-season non-conference games, dating back to the Big Red's 16-14 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on April 12, 2005. Three of those three losses during that span came at the hands of the Orange (2006, 2008, 2009), while the others came to ACC teams - No. 7/8 North Carolina (13-8 on March 2, 2008) and No. 1/1 Virginia (14-10, March 8, 2009).

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 8-2 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 (Foxboro, Mass.). The two losses came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.) and Syracuse in the 2009 national championship (Foxboro, Mass.).

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 21-5 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, a 12-11 loss to Duke in the national semifinal on May 26, 2007, and a 10-9 overtime loss to Syracuse in the 2009 national championship game. Coach Jeff Tambroni is 22-11 in one-goal games during his tenure with the Big Red, including a 6-3 mark in overtime games.

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 15-6 victory over Virginia in the 2009 NCAA semifinals, 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.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – Seniors Pierce Derkac and Ryan Hurley will serve as captains for the 2010 season.

HARD HAT – Jack Dudley has been selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2010 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.

11-WINS – The Big Red has posted at least 11 wins in each of the past five seasons, matching the longest streak in school history (1974-78).

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 in the nation.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — During Coach Tambroni's tenure, the Big Red is 51-10 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

DYNAMIC DUO – Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell teamed up for at least one goal in 12-of-17 contests last season. Of Pannell's 42 assists, 16 (38.1 percent) came on Hurley's goals.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD – Seniors Pierce Derkac and Ryan Hurley are among 20 NCAA men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were tabbed as candidates for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

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 106 games.




BLOGGING THE BIG RED – Cornell senior Pierce Derkac will be contributing regularly to Inside Lacrosse's website with blogs throughout the season.

CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Five players on the 2010 Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red – David Lau (George '78), Julian and Cody Levine (Jon '76), Shane O'Neill (John '76) and Matt Taylor (Joe '80). George Lau was a two-time winner as part of both the 1976 and 1977 national championship squads. Jon Levine and John O'Neill joined him on the 1976 team, while Joe Taylor was on the 1977 squad.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON – David Lau tallied his first points of the 2009 NCAA 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.

SISTER ACT – Sophomore Roy Lang has isn't the only Big Red lacrosse player in the family, as his sister Kelly is a freshman midfielder on the Cornell women's lacrosse team.

TEAM USA – US Lacrosse has announced that two players with Cornell ties – Ryan McClay '03 and Max Seibald '09 – are among the 23 players that will represent the United States at the FIL Championships in Manchester, England from July 10-24, 2010.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 43 players on the 2010 Big Red roster hail from 12 different states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington – as well as the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada.

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.

RECAPPING 2009 – The Big Red advanced to the national championship game for the first time since 1988. Although Cornell dropped a heartbreaking 10-9 decision in overtime to Syracuse, the Big Red made its presence felt in the lacrosse community with its second final four appearance in three years. Cornell finished the year with a 13-4 record overall and a mark of 5-1 in the conference, earning a share of its seventh straight Ivy League title, the longest stretch since Cornell won 10-straight championships between 1974 and 1983. Cornell's seven consecutive regular season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference. The Big Red was also a perfect 6-0 at home, upping the team's record on Schoellkopf Field to 51-10 (.836) during Tambroni's tenure. Cornell finished the year ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring offense (fifth – 12.18), points per game (fifth – 19.12), scoring margin (sixth – 3.76), assists per game (sixth – 6.94), face-off win percentage (10th – .552) and ground balls per game (10th – 34.94).

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).

MOVING ON UP – With his 42 assists on the season, Rob Pannell etched his name in the Cornell record books, moving into a seventh place for assists in a single season.

BACK-TO-BACK 40s – Last season, Ryan Hurley became the fifth player in Cornell history to register 40 goals in back-to-back seasons, joining Mike French (1974, 75, 76), Jon Levine (1975, 76), David Mitchell (2006, 07) and Mark Webster (1968, 69).

WIN NO. 665 – Cornell's 15-6 victory over Virginia in the NCAA semifinals on May 23, 2009 was the 665th win in program history. The team's 665 victories rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

HIGH MARKS – The Big Red finished the 2009 season ranked in the top 10 in the nation in seven categories – scoring offense (fifth – 12.18), points per game (fifth – 19.12), win percentage (sixth – .765), assists per game (sixth – 6.94), scoring margin (sixth – 3.76), face-off win percentage (10th – .552) and ground balls per game (10th – 34.94).

95 WINS – With the Big Red's 11-8 victory over Hofstra on May 9, 2009 head coach Jeff Tambroni notched his 95th career win, becoming just the second head coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to reach that plateau. Tambroni reached the milestone in his 128th career game during his ninth season. The only other Big Red coach to reach 95 wins was Richie Moran, who defeated Adelphi, 16-2, in his ninth season (1977) to achieve a 95-14 record.

PIERCE'S POINTS – Pierce Derkac registered five points last season to finish the year ranked 12th in the nation in scoring by a long pole.

RULE FOLLOWERS – The NCAA quarterfinal game vs. Princeton was the only one during the 2009 season in which Cornell registered more penalties than its opponent. The Big Red averaged 2.7 penalties per game, while its opponents were flagged an average of 4.6 times per game.

HELPING HAND – Rob Pannell was ranked second in the country last season in assists per game (2.47 apg).

GET TO THE POINT — Rob Pannell finished the 2009 season ranked fifth in the nation in points per game (3.94 pgp), while Ryan Hurley ranked 20th in the country (3.18 pgp).

SCORING MACHINE – Ryan Hurley ranked ninth in the country last season with 2.59 goals per game.

UP NEXT – Cornell is back in action on Tuesday, March 2, when it travels to Canisius to take on the Golden Griffs at the Demske Sports Complex at 4 p.m.