* Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #11: No. 4 Cornell at No. 1 Syracuse
FACE OFF: Tuesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: The Carrier Dome (Syracuse, N.Y.)
2011 Records: Cornell (8-2, 3-0 Ivy); Syracuse (9-0, 2-0 Big East)
SERIES RECORD: Syracuse leads, 61-35-1
LAST MEETING: Syracuse won 8-7, April 13, 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y.

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Tom LaFalce, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/syracuse/mlax/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
TELEVISION: Time Warner Sports (Time Warner Ch. 11 in Ithaca)


THE MATCHUP – The No. 5 Big Red faces its toughest test yet as it travels up I-81 to take on No. 1 Syracuse on Tuesday, April 12 at the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on Time Warner Sports. Cornell is currently riding a five-game winning streak, with three of the five wins coming against nationally ranked opponents. Last weekend, it improved to 8-2 on the season (4-0 Ivy) after beating Harvard, 13-12, at Harvard Stadium. Syracuse (9-0) is riding a nine-game winning streak as one of only two undefeated teams left in the nation after defeating Princeton, 7-5, on Saturday.

THE SERIES VS. SYRACUSE – The Cornell and Syracuse rivalry began in 1920 with a 5-3 victory for the Orangemen. Since that time, there have been only four seasons (1944, 1945, 1977, 1978) that the two squads have not faced each other. Syracuse holds the edge in the series, 61-35-1, and has won the last four meetings. Since the 2000 season, the teams have played five one-goal games, with two others being decided by two goals.

LOOKING AT THE ORANGE – Syracuse (9-0) brings a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday's contest as one of only two undefeated teams remaining in Division I men's lacrosse. The Orange has two players that have tallied more than 20 points on the season, with another nearly reaching that mark. Stephen Keogh has a team-best 22 goals and 27 points, while JoJo Marasco has a more balanced line with 13 goals and a team-high nine assists. Coach's son Tim Desko is one point shy of the 20-point plateau with 16 goals and three assists. In goal, senior John Galloway ranks eighth in the nation in goals-against average (7.3) and is 17th overall in save percentage (.559). For the first time in several years, the Orange has struggled in the face-off circle, with the trio of Jeremy Thompson (41-of-76; .539), Chris Daddio (28-of-60; 467) and Ricky Buhr (18-of-37; .486) combining for a .492 winning percentage.

A WIN OVER SYRACUSE WOULD –
• improve the Big Red to 9-2 on the season and cut Syracuse's lead in the series to 61-36-1.
• be Cornell's first win over a team ranked No. 1 in the nation since defeating No. 1 Virginia, 15-6, in the national semifinals on May 23, 2009.
• snap a four-game losing streak to the Orange.
• be the 686th victory in program history.

LAST TIME VS. THE SYRACUSE –
• Syracuse's Chris Daniello scooped up a ground ball off a save and fired it into the goal as time expired to give the second-ranked Orange an 8-7 comeback win over No. 10 Cornell at Schoellkopf Field.
• Daniello picked up a loose ball after Cornell freshman goalkeeper A.J. Fiore made his 20th save on a point-blank shot by Cody Jamieson and fired the ball over Fiore's shoulder with no time left on the clock.
• Rob Pannell had three assists on the evening, while David Lau and Roy Lang each scored twice. Ryan Hurley also added one goal.
• Daniello had three goals to lead the Orange, including the game-winner, while Jamieson had two goals and an assist.
• Jovan Miller also had a goal and an assist, as well as eight ground balls.
• Joel White notched nine ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• SU held a decisive 45-25 edge on the ground and outshot the home team 40-20 while winning 12-of-18 face-offs. The Orange also scored on both of its extra-man opportunities and forced seven Big Red turnovers in clearing situations.

LAST TIME OUT –
• David Lau found the back of the net with 1:18 left on the clock, and senior defender Max Feely sealed the 13-12 victory when he intercepted a Harvard pass with time winding down to keep the Big Red men's lacrosse team undefeated in Ivy League play.
• With the victory, the Big Red claimed a share of its ninth-straight Ivy League title.
• Lau finished the game with a career-high eight points with five goals and three assists, while Steve Mock chipped in three goals, two of which came in the crucial fourth quarter.
• Lau became the first Big Red player other than Rob Pannell to register eight points and three assists since Ryan Hurley tallied nine points against Dartmouth on April 12, 2008 and Mitch McMichael handed out three assists vs. Canisius on March 9, 2009.
• Jack Dudley had one of his best games of the season with two goals and one assist and Rob Pannell finished with a pair of goals.
• Andrew West played the final 19:07 of the contest to pick up his first career win. The rookie netminder finished with three saves and three goals-against.
• Harvard was led by Ryan Stevens and Kevin Vaughan with four and three goals, respectively, while Dean Gibbons handed out three assists.
• The Crimson's Jeff Cohen had his 34-game point scoring streak ended by the Cornell defense.
• In a game that featured five ties after halftime, the Big Red overcame a two-goal deficit in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter, only to trail again by two goals with less than 10 minutes to play in the game.
• Goals by Dudley and Pannell knotted the game at 11-11, before Hull took a pass from Gibbons on the doorstep and put the home team back up, 12-11, with just over five minutes remaining in the contest.
• Mitch McMichael, who went 8-of-11 on face-offs, won the restart for Cornell and moments later Lau collected a ground ball, off a save by Harry Krieger, and beat the goalie down low to tie the game a final time at 12-12.
• The win over the Crimson snapped a three-game losing streak for Cornell when trailing in the third quarter.
• The 13-12 victory stretched Cornell's winning-streak to 10 games when it scores between 10-14 goals and it also snapped a four-game losing streak when its opponents score between 10-14 goals.

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 8-2 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.

LAU EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – For the first time in his career, David Lau was named the Ivy League Player of the Week after playing the best game of his career, leading the Big Red to a 13-12 victory over Harvard, as Cornell clinched a share of its ninth straight Ivy League title. Lau had a hand in more than half of the Big Red's scores with a career-high five goals and a personal-best three assists. He scored the final two goals of the game, first tying the contest at 12-12 and then putting the Big Red up 13-12 with just 1:18 to play. Lau was extremely efficient, taking only seven shots and putting six on goal. He also picked up a game-high four ground balls and caused one turnover.

LAU'S PERFORMANCE IN PERSPECTIVE – David Lau finished the Harvard game with a career-high eight points with five goals and three assists. He became the first Big Red player other than Rob Pannell to register eight points and three assists since Ryan Hurley tallied nine points against Dartmouth on April 12, 2008 and Mitch McMichael handed out three assists vs. Canisius on March 9, 2009.

IT'S A CLINCH — With its 13-12 victory over Harvard, the Big Red has already claimed at least a share of the Ivy League title for the ninth straight season, the longest stretch since winning 10 straight championships between 1974-83. Cornell's nine consecutive regular season Ivy League titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference in the nation.

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.

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 just Syracuse left on the schedule.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 27-7 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated Harvard, 13-12, on April 9, 2011, at Harvard Stadium. 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).

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (59) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (77.6 percent) overall. Syracuse is tied with the Big Red for third place with 59 wins during that span, but ranks second overall in winning percentage (.808).

TOP DOG —Rob Pannell ranks first in the nation in points per game (5.5 pgp), second in the country in assists per game (2.8 apg) and third overall in goals per game (2.7 gpg).

200TH POINT – With his assist on Steve Mock's goal at the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter against Dartmouth on April 2, junior Rob Pannell registered his 200th career point. He is just the third Cornell player to reach that milestone, joining Mike French (296; 1974-76) and Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77).

FRESH FACE FACE-OFF – In a three-game span against Stony Brook, Penn and Dartmouth, Cornell had a different player register a career-high in face-off wins. The streak began as Mitch McMichael won 13 face-offs vs. the Seawolves on March 22. That weekend, Jason Noble won eight restarts against the Quakers. Doug Tesoriero ended the streak by winning 11 face-offs against the Big Green.

MOCK'S IVY SURGE – Sophomore attackman Steve Mock had some struggles early in the season, but has returned to form in recent weeks, with exceptionally strong performances against Ivy League opponents. In four non-conference games, Mock averaged just 1.5 goals per game, a mark that has risen to 3.75 against Ivy League foes.

LANG & MOCK GAME-WINNERS – Roy Lang and Steve Mock have scored all but one game-winning goal for the Big Red this season. Lang has tallied four game-winning goals, with his biggest coming against No. 13 Penn when he converted 2:10 into the overtime period to hand the Big Red a 13-12 triumph. Mock has three game-winners for Cornell.

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 April 11 USILA coaches' poll, No. 1 Syracuse is the only nationally-ranked opponent left on Cornell's schedule and that game will also be played on the road.

DARTMOUTH DOMINATION – Since 1998, the Big Red has posted a 13-1 record against Dartmouth, with the lone loss coming last season. Cornell's 19 goals against the Big Green on April 2 was nothing unusual, as the Big Red has registered 15 or more goals in half of the meetings since 1998. Likewise, Cornell's average margin of victory during that span has been seven goals.

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.

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.

THIRD TIMES THE CHARM – Rob Pannell earned his third Ivy League Player of the Week award of the season on April 4 after registering a career-high nine points against Dartmouth. The nine points matched the single-game high in the NCAA this season and six of his nine points came in the opening half of play as the Big Red built an insurmountable 11-2 lead.

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 – Over the past four contests, several Big Red players matched or set career highs. Against Dartmouth on April 2, Rob Pannell set a career high with nine points and matched a career high with four goals, while Steve Mock set a career high with five goals. Against Harvard on April 9, David Lau set career highs with eight points, five goals and three assists, while Roy Lang and Mike O'Neil set career highs with three goals and two points, respectively, at Stony Brook on March 22.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite being only a junior, Rob Pannell is currently the national leader in career assists, having posted 121. He has a double-digit lead on second place Jeremy Boltus, a senior at Army that has 111 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 61-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (4-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks 13th in the nation in ground balls per game, thanks in large part to defender Jason Noble, who ranks 29th in the country with 4.7 ground balls per game.

BALANCED OFFENSE –Cornell's scoring has been fairly balanced this season with the attack accounting for 57 percent of its goals (75-of-131), while the midfield has registered 40 percent (52-of-131). The defense makes up the final three percent (4-of-131).

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 (45 games). Siena's Bryan Neufeld leads the nation with a 46-game streak.

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 two more to surpass Tim Goldstein (122; 1987-88) and 44 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 55 more points to surpass Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77).

DEFENSIVE DUO – Sophomores Mike Bronzino and Jason Noble are proving to be a dynamic defensive duo, ranking among the best in the nation in caused turnovers. Bronzino currently ranks 27th in the country with 1.6 caused turnovers per game and Noble is just behind him, ranking 37th overall with 1.5 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 8.85 goals-against average and a .490 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.

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. 685 – Cornell's 13-12 victory over Harvard on April 9, 2011 was the 685th win in program history. The Big Red is 685-442-27 all-time, and its 685 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.

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 107-13 record (89.2 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 45 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 11 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 – The Big Red gets a well-deserved rest before travelling to Brown to take on the Bears on Saturday, April 23 at 3 p.m.