* Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #1: Cornell vs. Hobart
FACE OFF: Saturday, February 26, at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
2011 Records: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League); Hobart (1-0, 0-0 ECAC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 81-47-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 10-7, Feb. 28, 2010 in Syracuse, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Matt Schultz, play-by-play; Howie Borkan, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mlax/index.htm
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
TICKETS: www.CornellBigRedTickets.com; (607) 254-BEAR
TELEVISION: None


THE MATCHUP — The No. 6/5 Big Red men's lacrosse team, under the direction of first-year head coach Ben DeLuca, opens its 116th season this weekend as it takes on its oldest rival, Hobart, on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Schoellkopf Field at noon. The game is the first of a doubleheader, as the women's lacrosse team is slated to face Rutgers at 3 p.m. The Statesmen opened their season last weekend, rallying from a four-goal deficit and scoring twice in the final 2:27 of the game to defeat Robert Morris, 9-8. Matt Schultz will provide the call alongside Howie Borkan on WHCU 870 AM and on the internet as part of the RedCast subscription service.

SERIES HISTORY VS. HOBART — Cornell and Hobart will face off in college lacrosse's oldest rivalry, meeting for the 133rd time. The Big Red holds an 81-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in the 1896 season. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings from 1996-2000, former Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni, a Hobart graduate, took over the Big Red and led Cornell to a 10-1 record against his alma mater … Of Cornell's nine former head coaches, only Tambroni, Ned Harkness, Ross Smith, and Talbot Hunter have defeated Hobart in their first season. Dave Pietramala, Richie Moran, Bob Cullen and Ray Van Orman all lost to the Statesmen in their first season, while Nicholas Bawlf led the Big Red to a 2-2 tie in his first season.

LOOKING AT THE STATESMEN — Hobart returns 27 letter winners and five starters from last year's 3-11 team. The Statesmen hope that last weekend's 9-8 comeback victory over Robert Morris will reverse the trend of losing close contests, as the squad dropped six games by three goals or less last season. Despite the graduation of leading scorer Kevin Curtin, the Statesmen return junior All-ECAC player Chris Pedersen, who racked up 17 goals and a team-high 16 assists last year, and junior Sam Miller, who also scored 17 goals in 2010. While the Statesmen graduated three of its top midfielders, they do return a valuable asset in face-off man Bobby Dattilo. The junior preseason All-American returns after ranking eighth in the nation in winning percentage (.578) last year. Defensively, Hobart will feature a unit as young as the Big Red's with three sophomores and one senior in front of a new goalie, Evan Kirk. The senior co-captain will have big shoes to fill after the graduation of one of the top goalies in Hobart history, Max Silberlicht, but Kirk has great experience, as he was the back-up goalie for Team Canada at the World Championships last summer and earned quality minutes in Manchester on the way to the silver medal.

A WIN OVER HOBART WOULD –
• be the first career victory for head coach Ben DeLuca.
• be the eighth consecutive win for the Big Red over Hobart.
• make Cornell 82-47-4 all-time in the series.
• improve the men's lacrosse record to 28-5 in its last 33 non-conference games.
• be Cornell's eighth consecutive victory in a season opener.

LAST TIME VS. THE STATESMEN –
• Cornell and Hobart met at a neutral site for the first time in the history of the series, facing off at Syracuse's Carrier Dome.
• The Big Red won, 10-7, earning its seventh consecutive victory in a season opener, as well as its seventh straight win over the Statesmen.
• Rob Pannell finished with five points on two goals and three assists, while Ryan Hurley, Scott Austin and Mitch McMichael added two goals apiece.
• Hobart was led by Kevin Curtin and Doug Shiver with two goals apiece.
• Max Silberlicht made 13 saves for the Statesmen, while AJ Fiore stopped nine shots in his collegiate debut for Cornell.
• The Big Red picked up 34 ground balls to Hobart's 22 and cleared the ball safely 16-of-17 times, while the Statesmen cleared just 14-of-20.

CORNELL VS. THE ECAC – The Big Red is 87-49-4 all-time vs. the current members of the ECAC, thanks mostly to an 81-47-4 record vs. Hobart. Cornell holds a winning record vs. Air Force (1-0), Denver (1-0), Fairfield (2-0), Loyola (1-0) and Hobart (81-47-4), but a losing mark against Ohio State (1-2). The Big Red has never faced Bellarmine or Quinnipiac.

MEET THE NEW BOSS — Ben DeLuca was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse this past summer. He begins his first season as a head coach after spending 10 years as first an assistant, then an associate head coach of the Big Red program. The 10th head coach in program history, DeLuca played for, or coached under Cornell's last three coaches – Richie Moran, Dave Pietramala, and Jeff Tambroni. DeLuca earned four letters on defense for the Big Red, serving as captain his senior year and went on to be named the team's outstanding senior athlete for his leadership and dedication on and off the field.

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 60-50-5 all-time in season openers … The Big Red has played Hobart 14 times to start a season, posting a 7-7 record against the Statesmen in those games.

RECAPPING 2010 – The Big Red advanced to the national semifinal game for the second straight year, and third time in the last four seasons. Although Cornell fell to Notre Dame, 12-7, the Big Red made its presence felt in the lacrosse community with its incredibly young squad impressing all spectators. Cornell finished the year with a 12-6 record overall and a mark of 4-2 in the conference, earning a share of its eighth straight Ivy League title, the longest stretch since Cornell won 10-straight championships between 1974 and 1983. Cornell's eight consecutive regular season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference. The Big Red earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament, garnering a seventh seed. In the first round, Cornell defeated Loyola, 11-10, in triple overtime to advance to the quarterfinals before beating Army, 14-5, to earn a trip to the Final Four.

ATTACKMAN OF THE YEAR - For the first time since 1987, a member of the Cornell men's lacrosse team won the USILA's Jack Turnbull Award as the outstanding attackman in Division I, as Rob Pannell took home the award. He became just the seventh sophomore in the 64-year history of the award to earn the honor. Pannell joins an elite list, becoming the fourth Cornell player to win the Turnbull Award, joining Eamon McEneaney '77, Mike French '76, and Tim Goldstein '87.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR PANNELL – Rob Pannell joined rare company when he was named the 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth sophomore, and the first since Princeton's Ryan Boyle in 2002, to earn the league's top honor. Pannell was a unanimous selection for the award, voted on by the league's head coaches, and was the fifth Cornellian to be named Player of the Year during the past 10 seasons.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Cornell returns three players that earned All-Ivy honors last season, led by Rob Pannell, a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. Pannell was joined by midfielder David Lau and defender Max Feely, who were both honorable mention selections.

CRAZY EIGHTS — Last season, the Big Red claimed at least a share of the Ivy League title for the eighth straight season, the longest stretch since winning 10 straight championships between 1974-83. Cornell's eight consecutive regular season Ivy League titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference in the nation.

11-WINS – Cornell has posted at least 11 wins in each of the past six seasons, surpassing the longest previous streak in school history (1974-78).

HELPING HAND – Rob Pannell was ranked second in the country last season in assists per game (2.83 apg).

GET TO THE POINT — Rob Pannell finished the 2010 season ranked third in the nation in points per game (4.44 pgp).

MEET MR. MOCK –Steve Mock made a name for himself in some big games last season with 16 of his 21 goals coming in the final six outings of his rookie campaign. For his efforts, he was named to the 2010 NCAA All-Tournament Team.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 57-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

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).

MIDFIELD MEN – The offensive midfield remains nearly unchanged from a season ago, with five of the top six players - Jack Dudley and All-Ivy selection David Lau, as well as returning starters Roy Lang, Chris Langton and Ross Gillum - returning. As a group, four of the five ranked among Cornell's leading scorers a season ago and they accounted for 67 percent of the scoring that came out of the offensive midfield in 2010.

ON THE DEFENSIVE – The Big Red returns all three starting defensemen from a season ago, including All-American Max Feely, preseason All-American Jason Noble, and Mike Bronzino.

NOBLE EFFORT – In his rookie season, Jason Noble finished the year ranked 35th in the nation with 1.5 caused turnovers per game.

BACK IN NET – Incumbent starter AJ Fiore returns to backstop the Big Red this year. As a rookie, he posted an 11-6 record, finished the year ranked first in the Ivy League and 15th in the nation in goals-against average (8.69) and was third in the conference and 23rd in the nation in save percentage (.545).

CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Four players on the 2011 Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red – David Lau (George '78), 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 … Additionally, Connor Entenmann's father Ken was on Cornell's national semifinalist team in 1982, while Cole McCormack and Mike O'Neil each have uncles (Brian McCormack and Geoff Hall, respectively) that played together on the Big Red's national runner up squads in 1987 and 1988.

LOST OFFENSE – Cornell graduated four players that accounted for 67 goals last season, which made up 34 percent of its offense. Of the 67 goals, 47 came from Ryan Hurley and 17 came from Chris Ritchie, while Austin Boykin and Andrew MacDonald contributed two and one goal, respectively.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS – Cornell had three players named to the 2011 preseason All-American list. Rob Pannell was named a first-team selection, while Max Feely was a second-team choice and Jason Noble was named an honorable mention selection.

FACE-OFF CLASSIC – Cornell will participate in one of the premier lacrosse events of the regular season, as it faces Virginia at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. The game will be part of a tripleheader that will also feature a game between Syracuse and Georgetown at 11 a.m., and a contest between Johns Hopkins and UMBC at 4 p.m.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 25-7 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated Loyola, 11-10, in triple overtime on May 15, 2010, at Schoellkopf Field. Of the seven losses, three have come against Syracuse (12-11 on April 11, 2006; 10-9 (OT) in the 2009 national championship game; 8-7 on April 13, 2010).

THE ASSIST MAN – Rob Pannell was one of the top assist men in the nation, assisting on more than 40% of Cornell's total team assists (44.3%). That was the best percentage in the country, as Duke's Ned Crotty ranked second overall at 37.8 percent … No one in the country had registered more 5+ assist games on the season than Pannell, who handed out five or more assists in four games. The only other player in the country who had accomplished that feat more than once was Crotty.

MOVING ON UP – Rob Pannell currently ranks fifth in Cornell history for career assists with 93. He needs just six more to surpass Andrew Collins and 72 more assists over the next two seasons to pass Eamon McEneaney and become the Big Red's all-time leader … Pannell needs just four more points to move into Cornell top 10 for career points.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 102-13 record (88.6 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 35 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just eight occasions.

GOING STREAKING – Junior Rob Pannell has the longest point-scoring streak on the team and second longest in the nation, having registered a point in every game of his collegiate career (35 games).

TOP 10 TEAM – When Cornell slipped to No. 12 in the USILA Coaches Poll on April 5, 2010, 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.

WIN NO. 675 – Cornell's 14-8 victory over Brown on May 7, 2010 was the 675th win in program history. The team currently has 677 victories, which rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (51) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fourth best winning percentage (77.3 percent) overall.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – Senior Jack Dudley and junior Rob Pannell will serve as captains for the 2011 season.

HARD HAT – Roy Lang has been selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2011 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.

SISTER ACT – Junior Roy Lang and freshman Mike O'Neil each have a sister on the Big Red women's lacrosse team. Lang's sister Kelly is a sophomore, while O'Neil's sister Aly is a junior.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 43 players on the 2011 Big Red roster hail from 11 different states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington – as well as the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces – British Columbia and Ontario.

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.

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 10-4 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, 2008), Harvard (Foxboro, 2009), Princeton (Hempstead, 2009), Virginia (Foxboro, 2009), Hobart (Syracuse, 2010) and Army (Stony Brook, 2010). The four losses came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.), Syracuse in the 2009 national championship (Foxboro, Mass.), Dartmouth during the 2010 season (Foxboro, Mass.) and Notre Dame in the 2010 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.).

BIG RED INTERNATIONAL – Brad Kamedulski '10 (Poland), Scott Lee '02 (Korea), Ryan McClay '03 (USA), Max Seibald '10 (USA), and Sten Jernudd '14 (Sweden) all participated in the FIL Championships this summer in Manchester, England. McClay and Seibald won gold medals with Team USA and were both named to the All-World team following the tournament. Jernudd was also honored with a selection to the All-Presidents team as one of the top players in the tournament from a team that did not advance to the medal round.

UP NEXT – Cornell is back in action on Tuesday, March 1, when it travels to Binghamton to take on the Bearcats at the Bearcats Sports Complex at 3:30 p.m.