Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #13: No. 10/9 Cornell vs. No. 7 Princeton
FACE OFF: Saturday, May 1, at 5:00 p.m.
SITE: Class of '52 Stadium (Princeton, N.J.)
2010 Records: Cornell (8-4, 3-2); Princeton (9-3, 4-1)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 36-32-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 6-4 on May 16, 2009 in Hempstead, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
LIVE STATS: www.GoPrincetonTigers.com
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: None
TICKETS: www.GoPrincetonTigers.com 
TELEVISION: ESPNU


THE MATCHUP – The No 10/9 Big Red travels to Princeton on Saturday, May 1 for crucial game vs. the No. 7 Tigers. The contest, which has significant Ivy League tournament implications for the Big Red, will be played in front of a nation-wide audience on ESPNU. Cornell (8-4, 3-2 Ivy) and Princeton (9-3, 4-1) both lost their last outings with the Big Red falling to Brown, 13-10, and the Tigers losing to Harvard, 11-8. Despite falling to the Crimson, Princeton secured at least a share of the Ivy League crown and a spot in the post-season conference tournament. Cornell, meanwhile, will need to defeat the Tigers if it hopes to keep its Ivy League title streak alive and to ensure its place in the inaugural Ivy League tournament.

SERIES HISTORY VS. PRINCETON — The Cornell and Princeton rivalry began in 1922 with an 11-1 victory for the Tigers. Princeton would dominate the next 24 meetings, winning or tying all but one contest, to help it to a 36-32-2 record in the all-time series. Cornell would win 22-straight games vs. the Tigers from 1968 to 1989, but Princeton is still the only Ivy League team to boast a winning record against the Big Red, as they again dominated the series throughout the 1990s. Cornell, however, has won six of the last seven meetings to help Coach Tambroni to a 6-4 record vs. the Tigers. Cornell is currently riding a two-game winning streak, having won both meetings last season, which included a victory in the first-ever NCAA tournament game between the two teams.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell and Princeton have dominated their conference foes and racked up most of the conference hardware. Between the two squads, they have won at least a share of 44-of-54 Ivy League titles. Likewise, either Cornell or Princeton has won at least a share of the past 16 conference crowns, including the Tigers' share of this year's title.

LOOKING AT THE TIGERS — No. 7 Princeton has had an extremely successful year under first-year head coach Chris Bates, posting a 9-3 record overall and a mark of 4-1 in the Ivy League. The Tigers have already secured at least a share of the Ivy League title despite dropping its last outing to Harvard, 11-8. Princeton is led by the duo of Jack McBride and Mike Chanenchuk with 27 and 24 goals, respectively, while Rob Engelke has registered a team-high 18 assists. In goal, sophomore Tyler Fiorito has started all 12 games and played all but 19 minutes for the Tigers. He ranks 16th in the country with an 8.74 goals-against average and is 20th in the nation with a .551 save percentage.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD –
• improve the Big Red to 9-4 on the season and 4-2 in the Ivy League.
• give Cornell a share of its eighth-straight Ivy League crown, and 24th title in program history.
• close the gap in the series to 36-33-2, while improving Coach Tambroni's record against the Tigers to 7-4.
• be the 674th in program history, making the Big Red 674-438-27 all-time.

CORNELL'S LAST GAME –
• No. 8 Cornell nearly erased a five-goal deficit with a four-goal fourth quarter, but couldn't come all the way back as Brown upset the Big Red, 13-10, on Schoellkopf Field.
• Rob Pannell was the Big Red's only multi-point scored on the day with four goals and two assists.
• Ryan Hurley, Chris Ritchie, Roy Lang, Jack Dudley, Austin Boykin and Ross Gillum all tallied one goal each, while David Lau and Jon Thompson both added one assist.
• Ryan Hurley's goal moved him into a tie for fourth place with Jon Levine (1974-76) in Cornell history with 123 career goals.

• Pierce Derkac led the team with eight ground balls and caused two turnovers.
• AJ Fiore, who finished the day with nine saves.
• Brown got a team-high five points form Thomas Muldoon (three goals, two assists) and three goals from Parker Brown, while Collins Carey handed out three assists.
• Matt Chriss stopped 13 shots, including seven in the critical fourth quarter, to earn the win.

AT THE HELM — In his 10th season as head coach of the Big Red, Jeff Tambroni owns a career record of 105-38. His winning percentage of .739 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).

WHAT'S THE SCENARIO? – The Big Red enters the game vs. Princeton with a chance to win a share of its eighth straight Ivy League crown. Cornell is also fighting for the top-seed in the upcoming Ivy League tournament. However, in a season that has seen a tremendous amount of parity in the conference, the Big Red will need to win, along with a little help to get the coveted number one spot. Below are the seeding possibilities for Cornell.

If Cornell Beats Princeton …
It will be the No. 1 seed and host the tournament if:
Yale beats Harvard and Brown beats Dartmouth
Yale beats Harvard and Dartmouth beats Brown
Harvard beats Yale and Dartmouth beats Brown

It will be the No. 2 seed if:
Harvard beats Yale and Brown beats Dartmouth

If Cornell Loses to Princeton …
It will be the No. 3 seed if:
Harvard beats Yale and Brown beats Dartmouth

It will be the No. 4 seed if:
Yale beats Harvard and Brown beats Dartmouth

It will not make the tournament if:
Yale beats Harvard and Dartmouth beats Brown
Harvard beats Yale and Dartmouth beats Brown

TAMBRONI AMONG THE BEST — Head coach Jeff Tambroni currently ranks third in the nation among active Division I coaches with a .739 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.

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.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – AJ Fiore was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on April 19 after posting the best performance of his young career on April 13 as he helped the Big Red to nearly pull off the upset of No. 1 Syracuse, before the Orange scored as time expired to steal the 8-7 victory. The rookie goalie posted a career-high 20 saves, many of which were brilliant stops against one of the most powerful and diverse offenses in the nation. Fiore made 14 saves in the critical second and third quarters to allow the Big Red to take the slim 5-4 lead heading into the final stanza. He also faced a flurry of shots in the fourth quarter and turned away four, including one in the final moments of the game before getting beat with no time left on the clock.

SAVES A LOT – When AJ Fiore turned away 20 shots vs. No. 2 Syracuse on April 13 it was the most saves by a Big Red goalie since Justin Cynar stopped 23 vs. Maryland in an 11-6 Cornell loss on March 20, 1999.

STREAK STOPPERS – The defensive duo of Jason Noble and Andrew MacDonald held Syracuse's Stephen Keogh without a point on April 13. That performance snapped a 31-game point-scoring streak by the Orange attackman.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN – For the second time this season, Rob Pannell has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week. Pannell earns the honor for the second time in a three-week span after helping the Big Red to a crucial victory over No. 18 Harvard. Pannell capped an eight-point day by scoring the game-winning goal with 11 seconds to play, giving the No. 12 Big Red a much-needed 13-12 victory over the Crimson. Pannell led the Big Red offense with three goals and five assists, registering five of his eight points in the crucial fourth quarter, as Cornell erased an 8-7 deficit to earn its third Ivy League win.

THE ASSIST MAN – Rob Pannell is the top assist men in the nation, assisting more than half of Cornell's total team assists (50.6%). That is, by far, the best percentage in the country, as Marist's Corey Zindel ranks second overall at 39.7 percent … No one in the country has registered more 5+ assist games on the season than Pannell, who has handed out five or more assists in four games. The only other player in the country who has accomplished that feat more than once is Duke's Ned Crotty.

SWEET SWEEP – Cornell swept the Ivy League honors on March 29 with Rob Pannell earning Player of the Week, while Jason Noble was named Rookie of the Week. Pannell and Noble were instrumental on offense and defense, respectively, as the Big Red picked up a pair of wins over No. 17 Stony Brook and Ivy foe Penn.

THAT WAS QUICK! – Sophomore Rob Pannell tallied his 100th career point with a six-assist performance vs. Penn on March 27, doing so in just his 25th career game with the Big Red. Pannell becomes the fastest Cornell player to reach 100 career points since Tim Goldstein tallied 100 points in a single season over the span of 14 games in 1987. However, Goldstein was a transfer student and was considered a junior with two years playing experience at a junior college before coming to East Hill. Pannell is the only true sophomore to reach 100 career points for Cornell, while seven others, including Goldstein, accomplished the feat in two playing seasons, but none played for Cornell during their freshman season of eligibility.

BACK-TO-BACK LOSSES – The Big Red lost back-to-back games for the first time since the 2002 season when it fell to Syracuse and Brown on April 13 and April 24, respectively. Cornell has not lost three-straight games since closing the 2001 season with losses to Princeton, Brown and Ohio State, a span of 127 games.

TEWAARATON NOMINEE – Cornell sophomore Rob Pannell has been named one of 26 nominees for the 2010 Tewaaraton Trophy, presented to the nation's top male collegiate lacrosse player, as was announced by the Greater Washington Sports Alliance. Five finalists will be chosen by a selection committee of collegiate coaches later in the season.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD – Senior Pierce Derkac is among 10 NCAA men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and was tabbed as a finalist for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Fan balloting, available on the award's official website www.SeniorClassAward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. Fans can vote once a day between now and May 17.

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

WIN NO. 670 – Cornell's 18-7 victory over Yale on May 20, 2010 was the 670th win in program history. The team's 670 victories rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

100 GOALS – With his four-goal performance vs. Army, Ryan Hurley became just the fifth player in Cornell history to score 100 career goals. The list of Cornell's 100-goal scorers is short, but distinguished, as Hurley joined 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 earned his 100th career win as the Big Red defeated Army, 12-11, in overtime on March 6. He achieved that feat in just 134 games, ranking him 10th all-time among Division I coaches to reach 100 wins the fastest.

100 WINS – With the Big Red's 12-11 overtime victory against Army on March 6, 2010 head coach Jeff Tambroni notched his 100th career win, becoming just the second head coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to reach that plateau. Tambroni reached the milestone in his 134th career game during his 10th season. The only other Big Red coach to reach 100 wins was Richie Moran, who defeated Penn, 17-8, in his ninth season (1977) to achieve a 100-14 record.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ryan Hurley has won the first Ivy League Player of the Week honor of the season for the Big Red on Monday, March 8. Hurley was instrumental to the Cornell offense as the Big Red picked up a pair of wins over Canisius (9-6) and Army (12-11 in OT) to 3-0 on the season. Hurley registered a game-high three goals and one assist against the Golden Griffins, before tallying four goals, including the overtime game-winner, and one assist versus the Black Knights.

MOVING ON UP – With his four goals vs. Army on March 6, Ryan Hurley moved into fifth place in Cornell history for career goals, surpassing Chris Danler (1992-95) who had 99 career goals. Hurley needs just five more goals to move into third place and tie Mark Webster (1968-70) with 128 career goals.

TOP 10 TEAM – When Cornell slipped to No. 12 in the USILA Coaches Poll on April 5, it marked the first time since March 28, 2005 that Cornell had fallen out of the top 10 in one of the national polls. The Big Red's hiatus was short-lived, however, as it earned a No. 10 ranking in the April 11th poll and has been ranked in both polls ever since.

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 55-13 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – When holding its opponents to less than 10 goals, the Big Red under Coach Tambroni owns a 90-12 record. Cornell had won 45-straight games in which it held its opponents to single digits, until the Big Red fell to Dartmouth, 8-6, in its last game on April 4, 2010. Just over one-week later, Cornell dropped an 8-7 decision to Syracuse.

GOING STREAKING – Cornell senior Ryan Hurley is riding a 44-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 seventh longest in the nation, having registered a point in every game of his collegiate career (29 games).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 29 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just five occasions.

DYNAMIC DUO – Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell have teamed up for at least one goal in 20 of the 29 games that they have played together. Of Pannell's 80 career assists, 28 (35.0 percent) have come on Hurley's goals.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 23-6 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that slipped as the Big Red dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker to Syracuse on April 13, 2010, at Schoellkopf Field. Of the six losses, three have come at the hands of the Orange (12-11 on April 11, 2006; 10-9 (OT) in the 2009 national championship game; 8-7 on April 13, 2010). Coach Jeff Tambroni is 28-12 in one-goal games during his tenure with the Big Red, including a 6-3 mark in overtime games.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 31-7 record in its last 38 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. Four of those seven losses during that span have come at the hands of the Orange (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010), while the other three came to ACC teams - No. 7 North Carolina (13-8 on March 2, 2008), No. 1 Virginia (14-10, March 8, 2009), and No. 1 Virginia (12-4, March 13, 2010).

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 9-3 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 (Foxboro, Mass.), Princeton (Hempstead, N.Y.), Virginia (Foxboro, Mass.) and Hobart (Syracuse, N.Y). The three losses came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.), Syracuse in the 2009 national championship (Foxboro, Mass.) and Dartmouth during the 2010 season (Foxboro, Mass.).

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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).

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.

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 during the 2009 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).

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