GAME #3: Cornell vs. Army
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 6, at 3:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2010 Records: Cornell (2-0); Army (1-2)
SERIES RECORD: Army leads, 23-12
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 9-8, Feb. 28, 2009 in West Point, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com  
TICKETS: www.CornellBigRed.com
TELEVISION: None

GAME NOTES (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — The Big Red opens a four-game homestand this weekend as it welcomes Army to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 6 at 3 p.m. The game is part of a double-header with the women's lacrosse team, which takes on Hofstra at noon. Cornell is coming off its second win of the season, improving to 2-0 after defeating Canisius, 9-6, on Tuesday in Buffalo. The Black Knights have dropped back-to-back contests, falling to Bryant (7-6) and No. 1 Syracuse (12-7), after defeating VMI, 11-9, in its season opener.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ARMY — Cornell and Army first played each other in 1938 with the Black Knights winning the contest, 6-3. It would be the first of 16-straight victories by Army, helping them to a 23-12 lead in the all-time series. Cornell's first victory over the Black Knights was a big one as it came in 1971 when the Big Red edged Army, 17-16, in the NCAA tournament semifinals. That victory would be the first of seven in a row by Cornell, a streak that lasted until the 1991 season. Army went on to win seven of the next eight meetings, but the Big Red has won the last four outings.

LOOKING AT THE BLACK KNIGHTS — Army, which is off to a 1-2 start this season, returns 33 letter winners and six starters from a team that finished the 2009 season with a 6-10 record overall and a fourth place finish in the Patriot League with a mark of 2-4. Despite its 2009 record, the Black Knights were an extremely tough team whose losses came by an average of 2.8 goals per game, including five one-goal losses, three overtime shortcomings and a pair of two-goal setbacks. Army's strength lies in the defensive end of the field with returning starters Bill Henderson and Sam Harrison leading the long poles, while junior goalie Tom Palesky will look to repeat last year's performance when he put together one of the most impressive seasons ever by an Army goalie.

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE – The Big Red is 59-54-4 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to a 38-7-1 record vs. Colgate. Cornell is 12-23 all-time vs. Army, 4-9-3 vs. Lehigh, and 5-15 vs. Navy. The Big Red has never faced Bucknell, Holy Cross, or Lafayette in men's lacrosse ... Coach Tambroni has posted a 10-2 record vs. the Patriot League with Cornell winning its last seven contests vs. PL opponents, dating back to an 11-9 loss to Army at Michie Stadium during the 2005 season.

A WIN OVER ARMY WOULD –
• give Jeff Tambroni his 100th career victory, ranking him 10th all-time among Division I coaches to reach 100 wins the fastest.
• be the Big Red's fifth-straight against the Black Knights.
• improve Cornell to 3-0 on the season
• be the 668th in program history
• give the Big Red its eighth-straight victory over a Patriot League opponent.
• make Cornell 13-23 all-time and improve Coach Tambroni's record to 5-1 vs. the Black Knights.
• improve the Big Red to 60-54-4 all-time vs. the Patriot League, including a mark of 11-2 during Coach Tambroni's tenure.

LAST TIME VS. THE BLACK KNIGHTS –
• Max Seibald scored with 1:00 remaining in the game, off a pass by John Glynn, to give Cornell the 9-8 victory.
• Glynn registered his 100th career point during the game.
• Ryan Hurley led the Big Red with four goals.
• In just his third career game, Thomas Palesky made 22 saves to keep Army within striking distance all game long.
• The trio of Jeremy Boltus, Brooks Korvin and Jason Peyer registered two goals apiece to lead the Black Knight offense.
• The game featured seven lead changes and five ties

AT THE HELM — In his 10th season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 99-34. His winning percentage of .744 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 ranks second in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .744 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.

MOVING ON UP – With his three goals vs. Canisius on March 2, Ryan Hurley moved into sixth place in Cornell history for career goals (98). He needs just two more goals to surpass Chris Danler (1992-95) and move into fifth place.

100 GOALS – Ryan Hurley needs just two goals to reach 100 for his career. The list of Cornell's 100-goal scorers is short, but distinguished, as Hurley will join the likes of Mike French (1974-76; 191), Sean Greenhalgh (2002-05; 136), Mark Webster (1968-70; 128) and Jon Levine (1974-76; 123).

FASTEST TO 100 WINS – Head coach Jeff Tambroni is closing in on his 100th career win. He currently sits at 99 victories, in just 133 games. If he were to reach the 100-win plateau in one of the Big Red's next three games, he will rank among the top 10 all-time of Division I coaches to reach 100 wins the fastest.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2005-2009) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (61) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the third best winning percentage (80.3%) overall, sitting behind only Duke and Virginia in both categories.

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).

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 60-50-5 all-time in season openers, including an 8-2 mark during Coach Jeff Tambroni's tenure … The Big Red has won seven straight season openers.

FRESH FACES – Five freshmen saw action in the first game of the season for the Big Red, including starters AJ Fiore (goal) and Ross Gillum (midfield). Also seeing solid action in their first collegiate game were Thomas Keith, Cody Levine and Jason Noble.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 28-5 record in its last 33 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 the span have come at the hands of the Orange (2006, 2008, 2009), while the others came to ACC teams - No. 7 North Carolina (13-8 on March 2, 2008) and No. 1 Virginia (14-10, March 8, 2009).

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 9-2 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.), Virginia (Foxboro, Mass.) and Hobart (Syracuse, N.Y). 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 86-10 record. Including its 9-6 victory over Canisius on March 2, Cornell has won 41 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 Ryan Hurley is riding a 34-game point scoring streak, the longest on the team and the third-longest in the nation. Sophomore Rob Pannell has the second longest point scoring streak on the team and 12th longest in the nation, having registered a point in every game of his collegiate career (19 games).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 19 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just one occasion.

DYNAMIC DUO – Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell have teamed up for at least one goal in 14 of the 19 games that they have played together. Of Pannell's 48 career assists, 19 (39.5 percent) have come on Hurley's goals.

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 108 games.

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

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).

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.

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.

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).

SEASONED HELPER – 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.

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 welcomes Binghamton to Schoellkopf Field for a midweek tilt on Tuesday, March 9 at 4 p.m.