Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #17: No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 10 Virginia
FACE OFF: Saturday, May 21, at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)
2011 Records: Cornell (14-2); Virginia (10-5)
SERIES RECORD: Virginia leads, 7-3
LAST MEETING: Virginia won, 11-9, on March 12, 2011

RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Barry Leonard, play-by-play; Howie Borkan & Tom LaFalce, color commentary)
LIVE STATS: www.NCAA.com
LIVE AUDIO: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN3.com
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (Time Warner Ch. 58 in Ithaca; DirectTV Ch. 209)

THE MATCHUP – The No. 2 Big Red will play in its third consecutive NCAA quarterfinal game when it takes on No. 10/9 Virginia on Saturday, May 21, at noon at James Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. Cornell will look to avenge an early season loss the Cavaliers, who handed the Big Red its last loss of the season with an 11-9 comeback victory in the Inside Lacrosse Face Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on March 12. The rematch will be televised to a nationwide audience live on ESPN2 and online at www.ESPN3.com. Gametracker will be provided through www.NCAA.com and fans in Ithaca can hear Barry Leonard provide the call alongside Howie Borkan and Tom LaFalce on WHCU 870 AM. Live audio will also be provided at www.CornellBigRed.com as part of Cornell's RedCast subscription package.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA — Despite being two of the oldest lacrosse teams in the nation, Cornell and Virginia have met just 10 times, and only four of those meetings have occurred during the regular season. The Cavaliers, who own the 7-3 lead in the series, defeated Cornell, 10-9, in the first meeting in 1971 at Virginia. The teams met again in the 1974 NCAA tournament, with the Big Red taking the commanding 15-8 victory. It would be five years before the teams squared off again, also in the NCAA tournament, but this time the Cavaliers took the 15-8 victory. Virginia managed two more one-goal wins in the 1980 (9-8 in overtime) and 2002 (11-10) NCAA tournaments, while Cornell used a 19-6 victory over the Cavaliers in the 1988 NCAA tournament to propel into the national championship game. During the 2009 regular season, Virginia used a second-half comeback to defeat the Big Red, 14-10, at Klockner Stadium, but Cornell won the rematch, 15-6, in the national semifinal to advance to the 2009 NCAA title game. The Cavaliers regained the upper-hand with two straight victories, winning 12-4 last season on Schoellkopf Field and then coming back to defeat the Big Red 11-9 earlier this season in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium.

LOOKING AT THE CAVALIERS — No. 10/9 Virginia (10-5, 1-2 ACC) is one of the top scoring offensive teams in the nation, ranking fourth in the country with 12.67 goals per game, thanks in large part to the duo of Steele Stanwick and Chris Bocklet. Stanwick is one of the top assist-men in the nation, ranking third overall with 2.2 assists per game, while Bocklet is sixth overall with 2.53 goals per game. The defense has taken a hit with the injury to Matt Lovejoy, but is ably backed up senior goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman, who is posting a 9.87 goals-against average and a .527 save percentage. Virginia also excels at both man-up offense and man-down defense. The man-up unit is ranked first in the nation, converting 26-of-48 chances (.542), while the man-down unit is fourth overall, allowing just 10 goals on 50 opportunities (.200).

CORNELL VS. THE ACC – Cornell is 13-26 all-time vs. the current members of the ACC, thanks mostly to a 2-13 record vs. Maryland. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Duke (4-3) and North Carolina (4-3) but has a losing mark vs. the Terrapins and Virginia (3-7).

A WIN OVER VIRGINIA WOULD –
• propel Cornell into the NCAA tournament final four for the third straight year and fourth time since 2007.
• give Cornell its second straight victory over Virginia in an NCAA tournament game (2009 semifinal).
• make Cornell 31-20 all-time and improve head coach Ben DeLuca to 2-0 in the NCAA tournament.
• improve the Big Red to 15-2 on the season and increase Cornell's current winning streak to 12 games.
• close the Cavaliers lead in the all-time series to 7-4.
• snap a two-game skid to the Cavaliers.
• improve Cornell to 12-7 in the NCAA tournament rematch games.
• make the Big Red 8-2 against nationally ranked opponents this season.

LAST TIME OUT –
• Cornell surrendered three goals in the first 2:07 of the contest as Hartford took an early 3-1 edge, but the Big Red's defense held the Hawks scoreless for a span of 41:55 and Cornell went on to win 12-5 at Schoellkopf Field on May 14.
• David Lau had four goals and an assist and Rob Pannell finished with two goals and two assists to lead the offense.
• The 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 balls 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.
• Big Red freshman Doug Tesoriero won 10-of-19 face-offs against one of the best in the game, Tim Fallon. Tesoriero also assisted on the Big Red's first goal after a clean face-off win, and won six ground balls.
• Hartford goalkeeper Scott Bement made 16 saves to keep the unseeded Hawks in the contest and Carter Bender had a pair of goals as one of four Hartford players to score.

HOW'D WE GET HERE – The Big Red earned the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after defeating Harvard, 15-6, in the conference tournament title game on May 8. It then advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating America East tournament champion Hartford, 12-5, on May 14. Virginia earned a number seven seed as an at-large bid out of the ACC conference. The Cavaliers advanced to the quarterfinals with a thrilling comeback 13-12 victory in overtime over Bucknell.

MEET THE NEW BOSS — After spending 10 years as first an assistant, then an associate head coach of the Big Red program, Ben DeLuca was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse this past summer. In his first season, he has led Cornell to a 14-2 record, an undefeated Ivy League season, an Ivy League tournament title and the team's eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. 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.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 26 titles, including the most undefeated crowns (16) of any team. The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 232-95-1 (.709).

FOUR SURE — Cornell has had its share of Final Four appearances in NCAA team competition over the years, as the 2011 women's ice hockey team brought the total of national semifinal appearances to 24. Of those Big Red teams, the men's lacrosse team has made the most appearances with 12 overall.
• Men's Lacrosse (12) - 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1988, 2007, 2009, 2010
• Men's Ice Hockey (8) - 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1980, 2003
• Women's Ice Hockey (2) – 2010, 2011
• Women's Lacrosse (1) - 2002
• Men's Soccer (1) – 1972

TOURNAMENT TIDBITS – Cornell's 30 NCAA tournament victories ranks sixth all-time, while its 24 appearances ranks seventh … Only six teams have more national titles than the Big Red … The 2011 season marks Cornell's eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, making it to the quarterfinal round six times, the semifinals three times and the national championship once.

TITLE CONTENDERS – Cornell University has made 12 appearances in various NCAA national championship games … The Big Red has had five teams crowned as national champions.
• Men's Lacrosse (7) – 1971 (W), 1976 (W), 1977 (W), 1978, 1987, 1988, 2009
• Men's Ice Hockey (4) – 1967 (W), 1969, 1970 (W), 1972
• Women's Ice Hockey (1) – 2010

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.

BROWN HALL OF FAMERS – UVA's head coach Dom Starsia has something in common with Cornell head coach Ben DeLuca's father David, as both are members of the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame. The elder DeLuca, an All-American baseball player for the Bears, graduated in 1964 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973, while Starsia, also an All-American for Brown, graduated in 1974 and was inducted in 1980.

BACK ON THE ISLAND – The Big Red has eight players that hail from Long Island – Tom Freshour (Smithtown), Shane Henry (Mount Sinai), Thomas Keith (Woodbury), David Lau (Syosset), Steve Mock (Huntington), Rob Pannell (Smithtown), Matt Restaino (Locust Valley), Doug Tesoriero (Syosset).

NCAA'S LONGEST GAME – Cornell's triple overtime thriller last season vs. Loyola turned out to be the longest game in NCAA men's lacrosse postseason history. The game, which lasted 69:55 edged out the only other two triple overtime games in postseason history – the 1973 first round game between Washington & Lee and Navy (68:16) and the 1991 quarterfinal game between Towson and Princeton (68:13).

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.

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), and 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.).

SHUT OUT STREAK – Over the span of Cornell's 11-game winning streak, the Big Red has held six opponents scoreless for at least a 15-minute span at some point during the game, with two others falling within 20 seconds of that mark. On the other hand, Cornell has been held scoreless for 15 minutes or more just twice during that span.

UPPING MAN-UP – Since playing Brown on April 23, Cornell has been converting man-up opportunities at a 50 percent clip (11-of-22). That mark is up significantly from its performance through the first 11 games of the season in which it converted just 38 percent (18-of-47).

CLAMPING DOWN ON MAN-DOWN – The Big Red's man-down unit has become extremely efficient through the past six games, allowing just 4-of-19 extra-man goals since the Syracuse game on April 12. The opponents .210 success rate during that time is nearly half of what it was through the first 10 games of the season, when opponents went 12-of-30 for a .400 success rate.

NCAA TOURNAMENT REMATCHES – The contest vs. Virginia in the NCAA quarterfinals marks the 19th time that Cornell will play a team in the NCAA tournament that it played in the regular season, with the last occurrence happening last season vs. Army.
• Cornell is 11-7 in the NCAA tournament rematch.
• Of the 18 previous two-game series, Cornell has swept both games eight times, has split seven times and has been swept three times.
• The Big Red is 3-3 in the rematch when losing the first meeting. Cornell avenged a regular season loss to Massachusetts with a first round win in 1988 en route to a national runner-up finish, then topped Hobart in the 2004 first round after dropping the regular season finale to the Statesmen. The Big Red went on to defeat Virginia in the 2009 national semifinal after losing an early season matchup.
• When winning the first meeting, Cornell is 8-4 in the rematch.

TEWAARATON FINALIST – Cornell lacrosse player Rob Pannell has been named one of five finalists for the 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy, joining Jeremy Boltus (Army), John Galloway (Syracuse), Steele Stanwick (Virginia) and Joel White (Syracuse). He becomes the Big Red's first Tewaaraton Trophy finalist since Max Seibald '09 was a two-time finalist in 2007 and 2009.All finalists will be invited to the 11th annual Tewaaraton Award ceremony and the trophy will be presented on June 2 at the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

OLD LEAGUE, NEW TOURNAMENT – Founded in 1956, the Ivy League is home to one of the oldest continuous lacrosse conference in the country, second only to the ACC, but it has the newest conference tournament, as league postseason play began in 2010. Cornell lost in overtime to Princeton in the inaugural Ivy League tournament championship game, but redeemed itself this season with a commanding 15-6 victory over Harvard.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR PANNELL – For the second straight year, Cornell's Rob Pannell has been selected as the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and a first-team All-Ivy selection. Pannell is the 16th Big Red player in men's lacrosse program history to earn Player of the Year honors and is just the second Cornellian to win the award twice in his career, joining Eamon McEneaney (1975, '77). Cornell has won the Ivy League Player of the Year award in six of the past 11 seasons.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Cornell placed six players on the various All-Ivy teams, joining Yale as the most of any team in the conference. Attackman Rob Pannell (unanimous), midfielder Roy Lang (unanimous) defender Max Feely were all first-team selections, while attackman David Lau was named to the second team. The sophomore defensive duo of Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino were both honorable mention All-Ivy selections.

SEASON LONG STREAK – The Big Red is currently riding an 11-game winning streak, the longest streak in the nation along with Denver. The streak is the longest for Cornell since winning 15-straight in 2007. Both streaks, however, fall well short of the school mark of 42 games (1976-78), which is also the NCAA record.

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE — With its 9-7 victory over Princeton, Cornell capped the 16th undefeated Ivy League season in program history, its first since the 2007 campaign. That accomplishment made head coach Ben DeLuca only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell; 1966).

G-A-P LEADER – Rob Pannell is the first Cornell player to lead the team in goals, assists and points since David Key in 2001. While Pannell has a firm grip as the category leader in assist and points, sophomore Steve Mock is hot on Pannell's goal trail, sitting just three back.

LONG TIME GONE – The Big Red played three straight road games in a stretch of 27 days between home contests with Dartmouth on April 2 and Princeton on April 30. That is the longest stretch away in a single season since 1992 when the Big Red played four away games also in a span of 27 days.

IT'S A CLINCH — With its 18-5 victory over Brown on April 23, the Big Red claimed the outright Ivy League title, winning at least a share of the crown 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.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 65-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

OFFENSIVE ASSAULT – Cornell currently ranks third in the nation in scoring offense (12.94) and has scored in double-digits in 13-of-16 outings.

SINGLE SEASON MARKS FOR PANNELL – Rob Pannell currently has 47 assists on the season, good for fifth place in Cornell history for assists in a single season. Pannell also owns the fourth (51 in 2010) and eighth (42 in 2009) spots on the list … With his 86 points on the season, he has surpassed his career-high for a season and currently ranks seventh in program history for points in a single season.

TESORIERO'S TAKES – Through the first seven games of the season, freshman Doug Tesoriero went 12-of-26 in the face-off circle for a .462 winning percentage. In the nine games since, he has taken the most face-offs on the team, winning .569 of his chances (62-of-109).

HITTING THEIR SPOTS – The Big Red has put at least 20 shots on goal in each of its 16 games this season. Meanwhile, the Cornell defense has allowed opponents to put 20 shots on goal just five times.

40-40 MEN – Rob Pannell and Steve Mock lead Cornell this season with 39 and 36 goals, respectively. The pair has an opportunity to become the first Big Red duo to register 40 goals each since Tom Marino (46) and Eamon McEneaney (41) accomplished that feat in 1977.

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).

12-WIN CAMPAIGN – With its win over Yale on May 6, Cornell has registered at least 12 wins in each of the past three seasons.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2007-11) Cornell has racked up the third most wins (65) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the third best winning percentage (79.0 percent) overall.

TOP DOG —Rob Pannell ranks in the top 10 in the nation in all three offensive categories. He sits in first place overall in points per game (5.38), second overall in assists per game (2.94) and ninth overall in goals per game (2.44).

MOCK'S IVY SURGE – Sophomore attackman Steve Mock had some struggles early in the season, but has returned to form with exceptionally strong performances against Ivy League opponents. In six non-conference games, Mock averaged just 1.5 goals per game, a mark that rose to 3.4 against Ivy League foes.

ROUGH ROAD – The Big Red played against six nationally ranked opponents in just over a month from March 5 to April 12. Five of those six contests occurred away from Ithaca, as Cornell played at Army, vs. Virginia at M&T Bank Stadium, at Yale, at Stony Brook, and at Syracuse with the lone home game coming against Penn on March 26. The Big Red posted a record of 4-2 in those games.

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).

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite being only a junior, Rob Pannell is currently the national leader in career assists, having posted 140. He has a double-digit lead on second place Jeremy Boltus, a senior at Army that has 124 career assists. Other than Pannell, Virginia's Steele Stanwick (9th) is the only other junior in the top 10.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks seventh in the nation in ground balls per game, thanks in large part to defender Jason Noble, who ranks 40th in the country with 4.31 ground balls per game.

DEFENSIVE DUO – Sophomores Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino are proving to be a dynamic defensive duo, ranking 21st and 26th in the nation, respectively, in caused turnovers. Noble averages 1.75 and Bronzino averages 1.63 caused turnovers per game.

BALANCED OFFENSE – Cornell's scoring has been fairly balanced this season with the attack accounting for 57 percent of its goals (117-of-207), while the midfield has registered 41 percent (85-of-207). The defense makes up the final two percent (5-of-207).

GOING STREAKING – Junior Rob Pannell has the longest point-scoring streak in the nation, having registered a point in every game of his collegiate career (51 games). His mark of 51 games surpassed 2009 grad Ryan Hurley's school record (50).

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 113-13 record (89.7 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals … The Big Red is currently riding a 14-game winning streak in games in which it holds opponents to less than 10 goals.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 51 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 13 occasions.

MOVING ON UP – With his three assists vs. Syracuse on April 12, Rob Pannell moved into second place in Cornell history for career assists. He currently needs 25 more assists 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 Ryan Hurley (179; 2007-10) for career points. He needs 24 more points to surpass Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77).

THRICE AS NICE – Twice this season, the Big Red has won three straight Ivy League Player of the Week accolades. The first time happened from March 7 through March 21, with the second streak happening between April 4 and April 18. During the first set, junior attackman Rob Pannell earned the award on March 7 & March 14 before sophomore attackman Steve Mock was honored on March 21 … Pannell was instrumental in the second streak as well, with honors on April 4 and April 18 sandwiched around an award for senior attackman David Lau.

AND THE WINNER (AGAIN) … – Rob Pannell earned his fourth Ivy League Player of the Week award of the season on April 18 after registering six points to help the Big Red upset then-No. 1 Syracuse, 11-6, at the Carrier Dome. Five of Pannell's six points came in the first half as Cornell built a commanding 7-2 lead that it would not relinquish.

LAU WINS NATIONAL ACCOLADE – Senior attackman David Lau earned Nike Player of the Week Honors on April 12 after he led the Big Red to a 13-12 victory at Harvard. Lau scored the final two goals of the game, first tying the game at 12-12 and then putting the Big Red up 13-12 with just 1:18 to play. He registered five goals and three assists and was extremely efficient throughout, 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.

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 a 12-2 record to go along with an 7.96 goals-against average and a .516 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).


NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 36-9 record in its last 45 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 266-157-7 (.627). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 5-1 (.833) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red has faced six teams from New York state (5-1), with none others left on the schedule, however, Syracuse could be a potential matchup in the NCAA tournament.

BUILDING A LEAD – The Princeton contest was the first game of the season in which the Big Red trailed at the end of the first quarter. It was also the only game this season in which it trailed at halftime.

HALFTIME COMEBACK – Prior to the victory over Princeton, the Big Red had lost seven straight contests when trailing at halftime, dating back to March 22, 2008 when Cornell trailed Yale 6-4 at halftime before defeating the Bulldogs, 8-7.

ENDING A SINGLE DIGIT STREAK – Cornell had lost seven-straight games in which it had scored less than 10 goals prior to defeating Princeton, 9-7, on April 30.

RUNNING INTO A BRICK WALL – Princeton's Tyler Fiorito made 20 saves, but the Big Red still managed to earn the 9-7 victory on April 30. It was the first victory in a game in which an opposing goalie made 20+ saves since defeating Army, 9-8, on Feb. 28, 2009 (Tom Palesky; 22).

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.

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 19 face-off wins on the season, the most by a Cornell defenseman since Brett Wilderman won 25-of-55 in 1999.

WIN NO. 690 – Cornell's 15-6 victory over Harvard on May 8, 2011 was the 690th win in program history. The Big Red is 691-442-27 all-time, and its 691 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, becoming 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.

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.

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.

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 Ali 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.

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.

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 following the 2010 season. 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.

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 winner of the NCAA quarterfinal game between Cornell and Viriginia will advance to the final four to meet the winner of the Johns Hopkins/Denver match-up at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, May 28 at either 4:00 or 6:30 p.m.