Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #9: No. 7 Cornell vs. Dartmouth
FACE OFF: Saturday, April 2, at 3:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 Records: Cornell (6-2, 2-0 Ivy); Dartmouth (4-3, 1-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-15
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won 8-6, April 3, 2010 in Foxboro, Mass.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Tom LaFalce, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/mlax/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
TICKETS: www.CornellBigRedTickets.com
LIVE AUDIO: None
TELEVISION: None

THE MATCHUP – The No. 7 Big Red welcomes Dartmouth to Schoellkopf Field for a battle of the Ivy League unbeatens Saturday, April 2 at 3 p.m. The game is part of a double-header, as the women's lacrosse team faces No. 12 Princeton at noon. Cornell is currently riding a three-game winning streak, with all three wins coming against nationally ranked opponents, as it improved to 6-2 on the season after beating No. 13 Penn in overtime last weekend. The Big Green is also coming off an important one-goal conference win, as it defeated Harvard, 9-8, in Hanover to improve to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the Ivy League.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH – The Cornell and Dartmouth rivalry began in 1946 with an 8-7 victory for the Big Red. The Big Green won the next six meetings over a 10-year span, but have won only nine times since 1957. The Big Red dominates the all-time series record, 45-15, and had won 12 straight meetings before Dartmouth pulled off the 8-6 upset last year at Gillette Stadium.

LOOKING AT THE BIG GREEN – After losing back-to-back contests early in the week to top 10 opponents Duke and UNC, Dartmouth rebounded with a critical 9-8 victory over Harvard last weekend in Hanover to improve to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the Ivy League. The Big Green's strength lies in its offense, which is ranked 17th in the country (10.86 gpg), but has struggled defensively, allowing nearly as many goals as it scores (10.71 gpg). The key for Dartmouth will come between the pipes, as junior goalie Fergus Campbell has shown he has the potential to be a difference maker, stopping 17 shots twice this season in victories against Sacred Heart and the Crimson. Even with those performances, however, Campbell has posted a 10.81 goals-against average and a .504 save percentage. Offensively, the Big Green has a balanced attack with seven players tallying at least 10 points on the season. The squad is led by Kip Dooley's 2.57 points per game. The junior attackman also leads the team with 11 assists, while freshman attackman Jeff Perkins and junior attackman Drew Tunney have registered 12 goals apiece. In the face-off circle, Alex Del Balso has taken nearly every draw (69-of-150), winning 46 percent, while Dartmouth as a whole wins just 44.5 percent of its face-offs.

A WIN OVER DARTMOUTH WOULD –
• improve the Big Red to 7-2 on the season and make Cornell the only remaining undefeated Ivy League team at 3-0.
• make Cornell 46-15 all-time against Dartmouth.
• be the seventh-straight victory on Schoellkopf Field against the Big Green, dating back to a loss during the 1996 season.
• improve the Big Red to 25-6 against the Big Green in Ithaca.
• be the 684th victory in program history.

LAST TIME VS. THE BIG GREEN –
• No. 6 Cornell ran into a brick wall, as Dartmouth's Fergus Campbell made a career-high 23 saves to lead the Big Green to an 8-6 upset at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.
• The victory by Dartmouth snapped a 12-game Big Red winning-streak in the series and made the Big Green the first Ivy team other than Princeton or Brown to beat the Big Red since the 2006 season.
• Cornell also had another streak ended, as the Big Red had won its previous 45 outings in which it held its opponent to single-digits.
• Cornell was led by Rob Pannell's three goals, while Ryan Hurley, Chris Ritchie and David Lau each scored once.
• Roy Lang was the Big Red's only other multi-point scorer with two assists.
• AJ Fiore made six saves and allowed five goals in 37:52, while Mat Martinez made four saves and allowed three goals in 22:08. Fiore played the first half and returned with 7:52 remaining in the fourth quarter after Martinez was flagged for an illegal cross-check.
• Dartmouth's offense was led by Ari Sussman's four goals, while Josh Etzion chipped in two goals.
• Cornell held the edge in shots (43-31), ground balls (27-25) and face-offs (11-of-18), with Austin Boykin winning 9-of-14 attempts.
• The Big Red went 0-for-4 on man-up opportunities.

LAST TIME OUT –
• Roy Lang cut to the goal, received a clean feed from David Lau, and buried the ball in the back of the net in overtime to put the No. 10 Big Red in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League with a 13-12 overtime triumph over No. 13 Penn at Schoellkopf Field.
• Cornell led by five goals at the intermission but the teams combined for 16 goals after the break and just four saves, with 15 of the goals being scored before the first save of the second half was made.
• Cornell got two goals and two assists from All-American Rob Pannell, who left the game for a stretch in the second quarter after being hit while scoring his first goal of the game.
• Both Lau and Chris Langton also posted four-point afternoons with two goals and two assists apiece.
• Lang and Steve Mock each scored three times and Cody Bremner was credited with a pair of assists.
• Jason Noble had an outstanding game, picking up five ground balls and winning a career-high 8-of-10 second half face-offs, including the overtime restart, to give the Big Red its winning possession.
• Mike Bronzino caused three Penn turnovers in front of AJ Fiore, who picked up the win in goal by making seven saves.
• The Big Red held a 36-33 shot advantage and won the ground ball battle 39-28.
• Cornell won 6-of-8 face-offs in the final quarter and overtime to finish at 15-of-29 for the game, after being at a distinct disadvantage through the first three quarters.
• Penn was led by Al Kohart and Will Amling with four and three goals, respectively, while Corey Winkoff had one goal and three assists.
• Will Koshansky had four caused turnovers in front of Brian Feeney, who made seven saves in the loss.

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 6-2 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.

LANG GAME-WINNERS – Roy Lang has scored the game-winning goal in four of the Big Red's six victories so far this season. His biggest game-winner of the year came last weekend when he converted 2:10 into the overtime period to hand the Big Red a 13-12 triumph over No. 13 Penn.

OVERTIME NOTES – With its overtime game vs. Penn on March 26, Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past five seasons, dating back to a 12-11 triumph over Albany in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals. During that span, the Big Red has posted a 5-2 record in overtime games.

NOBLE IN THE MIDDLE – Defender Jason Noble put in an impressive effort at the face-off circle against Penn on March 26, winning 8-of-10 restarts in the finals 21 minutes of action to help the Big Red to a 13-12 overtime victory against the Quakers. Noble now has nine face-off wins on the season, the most by a Cornell defenseman since Brett Wilderman won 25-of-55 in 1999.

ROUGH ROAD – The Big Red played against five nationally ranked opponents in 21 days from March 5 to March 26. Four of those five contests occurred away from Ithaca, as Cornell played at Army, vs. Virginia at M&T Bank Stadium, at Yale and at Stony Brook, with the lone home game coming against Penn on March 26. The Big Red posted a record of 3-2 in those games … According to the March 28 USILA coaches' poll, Cornell will face one more nationally ranked opponent this season, taking on No. 1 Syracuse on the road.

THRICE AS NICE – The Big Red won three straight Ivy League Player of the Week accolades from March 7 through March 21. The streak began with with junior attackman Rob Pannell earning the award on March 7 & March 14 before sophomore attackman Steve Mock was honored on March 21 … Pannell swept back-to-back weeks after tallying 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists and accounting for nearly 1/3 of the Big Red's total points (22-of-67) during a four-game span … Mock was honored for matching a career-high with four goals against Yale to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

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.

CAREER-HIGH OFFENSE – Several Big Red players matched or set career highs against Stony Brook on March 22. Rob Pannell matched career highs with eight points and four goals, while Steve Mock matched a career high with four goals. David Lau set career highs with six points and five goals, while Roy Lang and Mike O'Neil set career highs with three goals and two points, respectively.

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.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite being only a junior, Rob Pannell is currently the national leader in career assists, having posted 116. He has a double-digit lead on second place Jeremy Boltus, a senior at Army that has 106 career assists. Other than Pannell, Virginia's Steele Stanwick (10th) is the only other junior in the top 10.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 60-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (3-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

GET TO THE POINT —Rob Pannell ranks first in the nation in points per game (5.50 pgp).

HELPING HAND – Rob Pannell ranks second in the country in assists per game (2.88 apg).

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks 12th in the nation in ground balls per game, thanks in large part to defender Jason Noble, who ranks 19th in the country with 5.25 ground balls per game.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (57) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (77 percent) overall.

BALANCED OFFENSE – So far this season, Cornell's scoring has come from all over the field. Of its 99 goals, 53 have come from attackmen, 42 have come from the midfield, and four have been scored by the defense.

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 (43 games). Siena's Bryan Neufeld leads the nation with a 44-game streak.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 26-7 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated Penn, 13-12, in overtime on March 26, 2011, 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).

MOVING ON UP – With his six assists vs. Canisius on March 9, Rob Pannell moved into third place in Cornell history for career assists. He currently needs just six more to surpass Tim Goldstein (122; 1987-88) and 49 more assists over the next two seasons to pass Eamon McEneaney and become the Big Red's all-time leader … With his eight points vs. Stony Brook on March 22, Pannell moved into third place in Cornell history, surpassing with Ryan Hurley (179; 2007-10) for career points. He needs 65 more points to surpass Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77).

NOBLE EFFORT – Jason Noble matched a career-high with five caused turnovers in the Big Red's season opener against Hobart. He currently ranks 37th in the nation with 1.63 caused turnovers per game.

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.

BACK IN NET – Incumbent starter AJ Fiore returns to backstop the Big Red this year. So far this season, he has posted an 8.52 goals-against average and a .478 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).

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 … One week later, Feely held Yale's Brian Douglass to one single assist. At the time, Douglass ranked second in the country with 4.75 points per game.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 263-156-6 (.626). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 4-1 (.800) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red has already faced five team from New York state (4-1), with one more still on the schedule.

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 683-442-27 all-time, and its 683 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.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 35-9 record in its last 44 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.

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.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 106-13 record (89 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 43 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 10 occasions.

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.

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).

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 in the thick of Ivy League action as it travels to Cambridge, Mass., next weekend to take on Harvard on Saturday, April 9. The game, which will be broadcast to a nationwide audience by CBS College Sports, has a tentative start time of 2:10 p.m.