Box Score
First Round Tournament Notes
Cornell Postgame Press Conference Video
Photo Gallery (pictures by Tim McKinney)
NCAA Quarterfinal Ticket Information
After Hartford took an early lead, the Big Red's defense held the Hawks scoreless for a span of 41:55 as Cornell advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 12-5 win on Saturday evening at Schoellkopf Field. The second-seeded Big Red improved to 14-2 with the victory, while Hartford ended the most successful lacrosse season in school history at 11-7.
David Lau had four goals and an assist and Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Rob Pannell had two goals and two assists to lead the offense, but it was the Big Red's defense that took center stage. Cornell surrendered three goals in the first 2:07 of the contest as the visitors took a 3-1 edge, but responded with nine straight scores while holding the Hawks scoreless for nearly two full quarters.
The Cornell defense was led by Max Feely and Mike Bronzino, who held the Hawk's two main offensive threats to a combined two goals. Feely caused two turnovers and won four ground balls, while Bronzino picked up two ground balls and forced one turnover. Thomas Keith had an exceptional game, scoring a goal, chipping in four ground balls and causing three turnovers. Jason Noble was also great off the ground with five ground ball and one caused turnover. In between the pipes, AJ Fiore notched six saves, all of which came on Hartford's final eight shots, and allowed a career-low five goals. The sophomore netminder also had an active game outside the net with a team-high seven ground balls and causing one turnover.
The Big Red held a decisive 44-24 edge in shots, including 32-16 over the final three quarters. Cornell also held advantages in ground balls (44-33) while forcing 22 Hartford turnovers. The Big Red defense held the Hawks to 0-for-3 on the extra man and forced six failed clears with their ride. It is Cornell's fourth quarterfinal appearance in the last five years.
Much of the talk leading up to the game was how Hartford's advantage at the face-off "x" could make a difference in a possible upset, but Big Red freshman Doug Tesoriero was up to the task. The rookie won 10-of-19 restarts against Tim Fallon, and the virtual deadlock was a huge plus for the home team. Doug Tesoriero assisted on the Big Red's first goal after a clean face-off win, and also won six ground balls.
Hartford, making its first NCAA tournament appearance, got a strong performance from goalkeeper Scott Bement, who made 16 saves to keep the unseeded Hawks in the contest. Carter Bender had a pair of scores as one of four Hartford players to score.
A wild first three minutes seemingly pointed to a shootout, but the Big Red settled in and took control with their athleticism on the defensive end. Hartford scored three times in a span of 58 seconds (a span that produced four total goals), with Martin Bowes getting the visitors on the board just 1:09 into the contest. Pannell tied the game just seven seconds later to settle Cornell, but Hartford won the ensuing face-off and Fallon went the entire way for his fourth goal of the year, putting Hartford up 2-1 with the third goal in just 13 seconds. Hartford's lead extended to 3-1 when Bender scored at the 12:53 mark, unsettling the Cornell fans.
From there, it was all Big Red.
Cornell went on an extended 9-0 run, as Lau outscored the Hawks by himself, 4-2. Keith cut the Cornell deficit to one with his second goal of the season with 11:11 showing on the clock, then Lau scored a man-up goal just over a minute later to knot the game at 3-3. When Roy Lang found the back of the cage on a dodge with 5:33 left in the first, Cornell took the lead for good.
It wasn't done.
The Big Red put three more goals on the board in the second while holding Hartford scoreless, then went into the final minute of the third before Aidan Genik scored on a broken play with 58 seconds left in the quarter. By then, the Cornell lead was still 10-4. Cornell added a pair of scores in the first seven minutes of the fourth to make it 12-4, before another broken play allowed Hartford to get its final goal with just under five minutes to play to cap the scoring.
