Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #2: Cornell at Binghamton
FACE OFF: Monday, March 1, at 3:30 p.m.
SITE: Bearcats Sports Complex, Binghamton, N.Y.
2011 Records: Cornell (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League); Binghamton (0-2, 0-0 America East)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 7-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 19-4, March 9, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Tom LaFalce, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: http://bubearcats.com/sports/mlacr/live/xlive.htm
LIVE AUDIO: www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: www.bubearcats.tv/
TICKETS: (607) 377-3741
TELEVISION: None

THE MATCHUP — The No. 6/5 Big Red will play its first road game of the season, as it travels to Binghamton to take on the Bearcats on Tuesday, March 1 at Bearcats Sports Complex at 3:30 p.m. Cornell opened the season last Saturday with a convincing 14-9 victory over Hobart on Schoellkopf Field. Binghamton is off to an 0-2 start after falling to Penn State (9-7) and Lafayette (12-6). Barry Leonard will provide the call alongside Tom LaFalce on WHCU 870 AM and on the internet as part of the RedCast subscription service.

SERIES HISTORY VS. BINGHAMTON — Cornell holds a 7-0 lead in the all-time series with Binghamton, including a 19-4 victory last year at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red is 1-0 at the Bearcat Sports Complex.

LOOKING AT THE BEARCATS — Binghamton is off to an 0-2 start after falling to Penn State (9-7) and Lafayette (12-6). The Bearcats' challenge this season is to make up for the 52 goals that graduated with Andy Cook, Steve Carlson and Jeff Rurey, a trio that ranks fifth, sixth and eighth on the program's career scoring list, respectively. Returning to pick up the slack is Matt Springer and Tyler Perrelle, who combined for 39 goals last season, warranting America East All-Rookie Team accolades. The duo leads the team this season with Springer registering seven goals and Perrelle notching two goals and two assists. Junior Jeff Donigan returns to handle the face-off duties after winning 49 percent last season. He finished the year ranked 19th in the nation with 4.86 ground balls per game. Senior captains Frank Donlon and David Raleigh lead the team's midfield and the young defensive unit is anchored by three-time all-conference selection Derrick Danieu. Behind the defense, junior Jordan Marra has seen all 120 minutes in goal for the Bearcats. He has posted a 10.50 goals-against average and a .382 save percentage.

A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD –
• improve Cornell to 2-0 on the season.
• be the eighth consecutive win for the Big Red over Binghamton.
• be the 679th victory in program history.
• improve the Big Red to 33-7 in its last 40 regular season non-conference games.
• be Cornell's 13th consecutive victory against America East opponents.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARCATS –
• No. 8 Cornell rebounded from a slow start to defeat Binghamton, 19-4, at Schoellkopf Field to improve to 4-0 on the season.
• After leading by just one-goal at the end of the first stanza, the Big Red outscored the Bearcats, 16-2, over the final three quarters.
• Rob Pannell had a game-high six points on three goals and three assists, while Ryan Hurley tallied four goals.
• Chris Langton had a breakout game with three goals and one assist.
• Jason Noble caused four turnovers and picked up a team-high seven groundballs.
• Twelve different Big Red players found their way into the point column and all three goalies saw action.
• Binghamton (1-4) got two goals from Frank Donlon with one goal each from Matt Springer and Andy Cook.
• In goal, Dan Solazzo made 12 saves and allowed 17 goals in 51:16 before Kraig Heston stopped two shots and allowed two goals in the final 8:44.
• The Big Red dominated in shots (51-29) and ground balls (46-24), and held the slim edge in face-offs, winning 13-of-25.
• Cornell registered one man-up goal on two attempts, while holding the Bearcats to a 1-of-4 performance.

CORNELL VS. THE AMERICA EAST – The Big Red is 17-6 all-time vs. the current members of the America East. Cornell is 7-0 all-time vs. Binghamton, 4-0 vs. Stony Brook, and 1-0 vs. Albany. The Big Red has a losing record vs. UMBC (5-6) and has never faced Hartford or Vermont ... Cornell has won its last 12 games vs. America East opponents.

MEET THE NEW BOSS — Ben DeLuca was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse this past summer. After spending 10 years as first an assistant, then an associate head coach of the Big Red program, he has posted a 1-0 record in his first season at the helm of the 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.

BALANCED OFFENSE – Cornell's scoring came from all over the field in its season opener against Hobart. Of its 14 goals, five were scored by attackman, seven goals came from the midfield and two goals came from the defense.

MOVING ON UP – Rob Pannell currently ranks fifth in Cornell history for career assists with 97. He needs just two more to surpass Andrew Collins and 68 more assists over the next two seasons to pass Eamon McEneaney and become the Big Red's all-time leader … Pannell needs just three more points to move into eighth place in Cornell history for career points.

HELPING HAND – Rob Pannell is ranked first in the country in assists per game (4.00 apg).

GET TO THE POINT — Rob Pannell is ranked second in the nation in points per game (6.00 pgp).

NOBLE EFFORT – Jason Noble posted five caused turnovers in the Big Red's season opener against Hobart. Her currently ranks first in the country with 5.0 caused turnovers per game. In his rookie season, he 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. So far this season, he has posted a 9.00 goals-against average and a .550 save percentage. 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).

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 58-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (1-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 32-7 record in its last 39 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.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 103-13 record (88.8 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 36 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 (36 games). Siena's Bryan Neufeld leads the nation with a 38-game streak.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (52) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fourth best winning percentage (77.6 percent) overall.

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 61-50-5 all-time in season openers … Including 2011, the Big Red has played Hobart 15 times to start a season, posting an 8-7 record against the Statesmen in those games.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 678 victories, which rank seventh all-time among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

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.

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.).

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.

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.

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.

UP NEXT – Cornell is back in action this weekend as it travels to West Point, N.Y., to take on Army on Saturday, March 5, at Michie Stadium at noon.