Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #6: No. 12/9 Cornell vs. No. 16/17 Yale
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 19, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Reese Stadium (New Haven, Conn.)
2011 Records: Cornell (3-2, 0-0 Ivy League); Yale (4-0, 0-0 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-22-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 18-7, March 20, 2010 in New Haven, Conn.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Kenny Entenmann, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: www.YaleBulldogs.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.YaleBulldogs.com
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
TELEVISION: None

THE MATCHUP — The No. 12/9 Big Red men's lacrosse team will open Ivy League play this weekend as it travels to New Haven, Conn., to face No. 16/17 Yale at Reece Stadium on Saturday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m. Cornell (3-2) will seek its first win against a nationally-ranked opponent after falling to No. 2 Virginia last weekend, 11-9. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will face its toughest test of the young season, facing its first nationally ranked opponent after jumping out to a 4-0 record with victories against St. John's, Presbyterian, Mercer and Lehigh. Live stats and live video will be provided through www.YaleBulldogs .com, while fans in Ithaca can hear Barry Leonard provide the call alongside Kenny Entenmann on WHCU 870 AM and on the internet as part of the RedCast subscription service.

IVY OPENERS – The contest vs. Yale marks the 56th Ivy League season opener for Cornell men's lacrosse. Since the league began play in the 1956 season, the Big Red has posted a 40-15 record in Ivy League openers, including winning its last 11, dating back to the 1999 season when it fell to the Bulldogs, 7-6. More often than not, Cornell has met either Yale or Harvard in the conference opener, playing a different school on only six occasions.

SERIES HISTORY VS. YALE — The Cornell and Yale rivalry began in 1916 with a 5-1 Big Red victory, and Cornell has dominated the series ever since. The Big Red holds a 45-22-1 record in the series, thanks in large part to 22-straight victories over the Bulldogs from 1966 to 1987. Currently, Cornell is riding an 11-game winning streak vs. Yale, thanks to a 18-7 victory last season at Schoellkopf Field. The Bulldogs' last win over Cornell came in New Haven during the 1999 season.

LOOKING AT THE BULLDOGS — No. 16/17 Yale (4-0) is undefeated on the season after picking up victories over St. John's, Presbyterian, Mercer and Lehigh. The Bulldogs have outscored its four opponents, 64-21, and as a result they rank first in the nation in scoring offense (16.0 gpg) and are second overall in scoring defense (5.25 gpg). Senior attackman Brian Douglass is the team's top offensive threat, ranking second in the country in points per game (4.75), fifth overall in assists per game (2.0) and ninth overall in goals per game (2.75). The team is also benefitting from the return of junior attackman Matt Gibson, who played against the Mountain Hawks after missing two games due to injury. Sophomore attackman Deron Depster has shown an ability to hit the back of the net with 10 goals on the season, while junior midfielder Gregory Mahony ranks second on the team, behind Douglass, with five assists. In goal, John Falcone has made all four starts for Yale and ranks first in the nation in both goals-against average (4.74) and save percentage (.667). The team's face-off man, Cole Yeager, is also nationally ranked, placing fifth overall with a .673 win percentage.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD –
• improve the Big Red to 4-2 on the season and make Cornell 46-22-1 all-time vs. Yale.
• give Cornell its 12th straight victory over the Bulldogs.
• give the Big Red men's lacrosse program a 41-15 record in Ivy League season openers.
• be the 681st victory in program history.
• give the Big Red its first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season.

LAST TIME VS. YALE –
• Cornell defeated Yale, 18-7, on March 20, 2010 at Schoellkopf Field.
• Rob Pannell was credited with a team-high six points on four assists and two goals.
• Scott Austin, Chris Langton and Ryan Hurley each scored four times.
• The Big Red had 11 different players reach the scoring column.
• AJ Fiore and Mat Martinez each played one half, combining for 13 saves.
• The Big Red earned its 11th straight victory over Yale.
• Cornell improved to 40-15 record in Ivy League season openers.
• The Big Red earned the 670th victory in program history.
LAST TIME OUT –
• No. 2 Virginia scored four unanswered goals to close the third and open the fourth quarters to erase a two-goal deficit and take its first lead of the game before going on to defeat No. 14 Cornell, 11-9, in front of more than 17,000 fans at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic, At M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.
• Cornell was led by Rob Pannell's four goals, while Roy Lang and Mike O'Neill chipped in two goals apiece.
• David Lau, Max Feely and Steve Mock all returned to action for the first time after being sidelined for two games with various injuries.
• Feely was outstanding as he shut down Steele Stanwick, a player that ranked third in the nation in points per game and had registered at least seven points in each of UVA's previous three games.
• Stanwick, Chris Bocklet and Shamel Bratton entered the game averaging a combined 10 points per game, but the Cornell defense of Feely, Mike Bronzino, Shane O'Neil and Jason Noble, allowed them just three total points.
• Colin Briggs led the Cavaliers with three goals, while Rhamel Bratton and Rob Emery finished with two goals apiece.
• Bronzino and Jack Dudley picked up four ground balls, while Noble and Lau scooped up five each to give the Big Red a 42-35 advantage off the ground.
• Virginia held the edge in shots (43-38) and got 13 saves from its goalie, Adam Ghitelman, while AJ Fiore posted a season-high 10 saves in the loss.
• The Cavaliers also won the face-off battle, 13-of-24, with Ryan Benincasa taking 12-of-19, but McMichael held his own, winning 8-of-16 for Cornell.
• Virginia boasted one of the best man-up (.700) and man-down (.042) units in the nation, but Cornell did a commendable job, scoring on 1-of-4 (.250) chances and holding the Cavaliers to a 2-of-6 (.333) performance.

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 3-2 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.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK TIMES TWO – Junior attackman Rob Pannell has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the last two weeks (March 7 & March 14). During that time, against four opponents, Pannell has tallied 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the Big Red's total points (22-of-67).

DEFENSIVE STOPPER – Max Feely turned some heads on March 12 when he shut down Virginia's Steele Stanwick, holding the junior attackman without a goal or an assist. At the time, Stanwick ranked third in the nation in points per game and had registered at least seven points in the three games prior to his meeting with the Big Red.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite being only a junior, Rob Pannell is currently the national leader in career assists, having posted 108. He has a double-digit lead on second place Jeremy Boltus, a senior at Army that has 97 career assists. Other than Pannell, Virginia's Steele Stanwick (10th) is the only other junior in the top 10.

TEWAARATON WATCH LIST – For the second straight year, Cornell lacrosse players Rob Pannell and Jessi Steinberg (women's lacrosse) have been named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list. Pannell is the reigning USILA Jack Turnbull Award winner as the outstanding attackman in Division I. The junior attackman finished the 2010 season as a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, a first-team All-American and was the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year. Steinberg was also a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection a year ago.

ROUGH ROAD – According to the March 14 USILA coaches' poll, the Big Red will face a total seven ranked teams this season. Of those games, four are on the road, two are at home and one is at a neutral site … Cornell has already played two of its seven ranked teams, falling to No. 19 Army and No. 2 Virginia by identical scores of 11-9.

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 10-5 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 five 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.), Notre Dame in the 2010 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.) and Virginia at the 2011 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic (Baltimore, Md.).

WIN NO. 680 – Cornell's 14-7 victory over Canisius on March 9, 2011 was the 680th win in program history. The Big Red is 680-442-27 all-time, and its 680 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

FLAWLESS DEFENSE – The Big Red did not commit a single penalty vs. Canisius on March 9, marking the first time since the 2010 season-opener against Hobart, a span of 20 games, that Cornell was not flagged.

BALANCED OFFENSE – So far this season, Cornell's scoring has come from all over the field. Of its 59 goals, 31 came from the midfield, 25 goals were scored by attackman and three goals came from the defense.

MOVING ON UP – With his six assists vs. Canisius on March 9, Rob Pannell moved into third place in Cornell history for career assists with 108. He needs just 14 more to surpass Tim Goldstein (122; 1987-88) and 57 more assists over the next two seasons to pass Eamon McEneaney and become the Big Red's all-time leader … With his four points vs. Virginia on March 12, Pannell moved into a tie for fifth place in Cornell history with Jon Levine (175; 1974-76) for career points with 175. He needs just five more points to surpass Ryan Hurley (179; 2007-10).

HELPING HAND – Rob Pannell ranks first in the country in assists per game (3.00 apg).

GET TO THE POINT —Rob Pannell ranks first in the nation in points per game (5.60 pgp).

NOBLE EFFORT – Jason Noble matched a career-high with five caused turnovers in the Big Red's season opener against Hobart. He currently ranks 24th in the nation with 1.8 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 an 8.10 goals-against average and a .470 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 59-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (2-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 34-9 record in its last 43 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.

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.

BRONZINO BONANZA – Sophomore defender Mike Bronzino tallied two goals against Hobart in the season opener, becom¬ing the first Big Red close defender to score twice in a single game since Ryan McClay scored twice against the Statesmen on May 4, 2002. In Cornell's next game against Binghamton, he registered two assists.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has been traditionally very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 262-156-6 (.625). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 3-1 (.750) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red has already faced four team from New York state (3-1), with two more still on the schedule.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 104-13 record (88.9 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 40 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just nine 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 (40 games). Siena's Bryan Neufeld leads the nation with a 41-game streak.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the fourth most wins (54) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (76.1 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.

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.

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.

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 remains on the road, as it travels to Stony Brook, N.Y., to take on the No. 5 Seawolves at LaValle Stadium on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m.