Game Notes (PDF)

Game Details
Game 4: No. 3/3 Cornell vs. No. 1/1 Viginia
Series Record: Virginia leads, 8-3
Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Field: M&T Bank Stadium
Location: Baltimore, Md.

Game Coverage
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Video Webcast: None
Radio: WHCU 870 AM
Radio Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com
Television: ESPNU

THE MATCHUP — No. 3/3 Cornell will have an early opportunity to test itself against the nation's top-ranked team in a showcase game against No. 1/1 Virginia on Saturday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. as part of the 2012 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. The Big Red and Cavaliers, who squared off twice a season ago, including in last year's Face-Off Classic, enter the weekend as two of the nation's seven unbeaten Division I men's lacrosse teams. Cornell and Virginia have met in two of the last three NCAA tournaments, and this will be the sixth meeting between the squads in the last four years.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA — Despite being two of the oldest lacrosse teams in the nation, Cornell and Virginia have met just 11 times, and only four of those meetings have occurred during the regular season. The Cavaliers, who own the 8-3 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 three straight victories, winning 12-4 on Schoellkopf Field in 2010 and then defeating the Big Red 11-9 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium and 13-9 in the NCAA quarterfinals at Hofstra's James H. Shuart Stadium.

LOOKING AT THE CAVALIERS — The 2011 national champions, under the direction of legendary head coach Dom Starsia, are off to another great start, opening the year with a perfect 6-0 mark. Included is a win over No. 6 Syracuse. The Cavaliers are scoring 14.5 goals per game and surrendering just 7.2 per contest, dominating on the ground and winning face-offs at a 60 percent clip. Virginia has dominated the first half of games, putting away teams in the first 30 minutes by outscoring opponents 47-21 in its six contests. Reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner Steele Stanwick is again among the nation's leading scorers with 26 points, including 19 assists, while sharp-shooter Chris Bocklet has 15 goals and 22 points. In all, seven different Cavaliers have reached double figures in the scoring column. Defensively, Wyatt Melzer has a team-high seven caused turnover. The face-off x has been ably filled Ryan Benincasa (48-of-74, .649) and Micah Parks (37-of-66, .561),  with Rob Fortunato doing the lion's share of work between the pipes (6-0, 6.66 GAA, .641 save percentage).

CORNELL VS. THE ACC – Cornell is 13-27 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 (3-8).

A WIN OVER VIRGINIA WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 18-3 and make him 1-2 against Virginia.
• make Cornell 4-0 for third time in the last six seasons and first time since 2010.
• give Cornell a 14-27 record all-time against members of the ACC and 4-8 vs. Virginia.
• move its regular season win streak to 12 games.
• give the Big Red its first win at M&T Bank Stadium (0-3).

LAST TIME VS. THE CAVALIERS –
• Cornell jumped out to a 4-1 lead early, but a nine-goal Virginia run to end the first half allowed the Cavaliers to pull away and Cornell was never able to mount a run after the break in a 13-9 UVA victory at Hofstra's James H. Shuart Stadium in the NCAA quarterfinals.
• The win made Virginia's head coach Dom Starsia the NCAA career leader in victories (327) and sent the No. 7 seed Cavaliers into the national semifinals for the fourth consecutive year.
• The Ivy League champion Big Red had its season end just shy of the NCAA semifinals for the first time in three seasons. Cornell finished the season with a 14-3 record.
• Steve Mock scored four goals and Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Rob Pannell had three goals. David Lau was credited with three assists and Roy Lang notched a goal, an assist and six ground balls in the defeat.
• Jason Noble and Thomas Keith each had two ground balls and two caused turnovers, while freshman Doug Tesoriero won 15-of-24 face-offs with seven ground balls and chipped in an assist.
• AJ Fiore made eight saves in goal for the Big Red.
• Steele Stanwick had three goals and four assists in the win, while Chris Bocklet finished with three scores and goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman made it hold up with 13 saves.

RECAPPING THE CANISIUS GAME –
•  The Big Red scored the first five goals of the game, took an 11-1 halftime lead and never looked back in a 19-4 victory over Canisius on Tuesday at Schoellkopf Field.
• Connor English had a game- and career-high five points, the Big Red won 11-of-14 first-half face-offs and seven different Big Red players scored two goals as Cornell sailed to the victory.
• The season-high 19 Cornell goals came from 12 different players.
• Cornell outshot Canisius 50-16 over the course of the game and held a dominant 39-20 edge in ground balls.
• The Big Red's dominance at the face-off “x” played a huge factor in the victory. Doug Tesoriero won 13-of-16, while Mitch McMichael claimed 7-of-10 as Cornell earned 20 wins in 26 re-starts. • Thomas Keith won six ground balls, Tom Freshour took five and Jason Noble won three to go along with his three caused turnovers.

WEEKLY HONORS – After opening the season with home wins over Binghamton and Army, senior Rob Pannell was named Ivy League Player of the Week, while freshman Matt Donovan earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 5. Pannell scored 16 points in the two wins, including posting the first 10-point contest by a Cornell player since 1995 with a six-goal, four-assist effort vs. Binghamton. Donovan had five goals and three assists in his first two collegiate games, including four goals and two assists in the win over Army.

A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING – Big Red head coach Ben DeLuca has a career 17-3 record, though two of the three losses have come against Virginia, with both coming at neutral sites (2011 Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, 2011 NCAA tournament quarterfinals at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium). Cornell's only other loss under DeLuca was at Army early in the 2011 campaign.

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.

QUICK START – Cornell has scored 54 goals in its first three games of 2012, the most in three games to open a season since the 1976 national championship squad netted 60 goals in its first three contests (defeated Adelphi 24-8, Massachusetts 22-10, Rutgers 14-6). That Big Red squad went a perfect 16-0 and averaged 17.3 goals per game for the entire season, reaching double digits in each game and never being played within three goals. 

POWER 10 – Rob Pannell became the first Cornell player to score 10 points in a game with his six-goal, four-assist effort in the season-opening win over Binghamton since Chris Danler also posted 10 points in a win over Army during the 1995 campaign.

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in all 20 games under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 18 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 12 times during that same span.

RECAPPING 2011 – In his first season at the helm of the program, head coach Ben DeLuca led the Big Red to a 14-3 record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Cornell ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation as it won its ninth consecutive Ivy League title with a perfect 6-0 conference mark, the longest stretch since Cornell won 10-straight championships between 1974 and 1983. The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference. Cornell then went on to win its first-ever Ivy League tournament title. DeLuca became 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) and is the first coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to lead the Big Red to the NCAA tournament in his first season. Following the season Rob Pannell '12 was selected as a first-team All-American and was named the USILA Player of the Year, the USILA Attackman of the Year, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and a nominee for an ESPY in the category of Best Collegiate Male Athlete. Pannell was joined on the All-American list by Max Feely '11, Roy Lang '12 and Jason Noble '13. The quartet was also named All-Ivy, along with Mike Bronzino '13 and David Lau '11.

THE HEAD COACH — 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 prior to the 2011 season. In his first campaign, he led Cornell to a 14-3 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.

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is now 62-50-5 all-time in season openers after knocking off Binghamton 17-12 on Feb. 28, 2012.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 269-157-7 (.629). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 8-1 (.889) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red faced six teams from New York state (5-1) in 2011 and is 3-0 already this season.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS – Cornell had four players named to the 2012 Face-Off Magazine Preseason All-American list. Rob Pannell, Roy Lang and Jason Noble were all named a first-team selections, while Mike Bronzino picked up an honorable mention selection.

FRESH FACES – The Big Red added 12 newcomers to the 2012 roster, six of which earned high school All-American honors. The group is comprised of six attackmen, three defensemen, two midfielders and one goalkeeper. Additionally, the players represent seven states and one Canadian province with three players hailing from New Jersey and New York, two from Maryland, and one each from California, Ohio, Tennessee and Alberta.

U-19 TEAM – This past summer, Cornell rookie Connor Buczek was selected to represent the United States on its U-19 team, which will participate in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship in Turku, Finland, in July 2012.  

MUSTACHE MADNESS – This past November, the members of the Big Red men's lacrosse team participated in Lacrosse Mustache Madness to benefit the HEADStrong Foundation. As a team, Cornell raised $11,363.85, the second most of any Division I men's lacrosse team in the nation, trailing only Syracuse, which raised $13,513.42.

EIGHT STRAIGHT NCAAS – The Big Red went to the NCAA tournament for the eighth straight season after earning the Ivy League's automatic berth with a 15-6 victory over Harvard in the conference tournament title game on May 8, 2011. Cornell advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating America East tournament champion Hartford, 12-5, but fell to eventual national champion Virginia.

PANNELL IS USILA TOP WINNER – Rob Pannell was named the USILA's 2011 Lt. Raymond Enners Award winner as the Division I national player of the year and repeated as the Jack Turnbull Award winner as the Division I national attackman of the year. Pannell became just the 11th repeat winner in the 65-year history of the Turnbull Award and is the first-ever Cornellian to win the award twice in his career.

ESPY NOMINATION – Rob Pannell was nominated for a 2011 ESPY in the category of Best Male College Athlete. The ESPYs, an award show hosted by ESPN, is a celebration of the best sports moments and athletes of the year. The 2011 ESPYs was hosted by Seth Meyers and took place on Wednesday, July 13 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, Calif.

TEWAARATON FINALIST – Cornell lacrosse player Rob Pannell was 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 became the Big Red's first Tewaaraton Trophy finalist since Max Seibald '09 was a two-time finalist in 2007 and 2009.

TEWAARATON WATCH LIST, 2012 – Cornell senior men's lacrosse players Roy Lang and Rob Pannell have been named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list. The duo are among 72 total players in all divisions and highlight the early contenders for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award.

PANNELL'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Cornell senior attackman Rob Pannell has been named one of 20 finalists for the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, given to a senior Division I student-athlete, must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR PANNELL – For the second straight year, Cornell's Rob Pannell was 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) and defender Max Feely were all first-team selections, while attackman David Lau was named to the second team.  The defensive duo of Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino were both honorable mention All-Ivy selections.

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).

G-A-P LEADER – In 2011, Rob Pannell became the first Cornell player to lead the team in goals, assists and points in the same season since David Key in 2001.

40-40 MEN – Rob Pannell and Steve Mock led Cornell last season with 42 and 40 goals, respectively. The pair became the first Big Red duo to register 40 goals each since Tom Marino (46) and Eamon McEneaney (41) accomplished that feat in 1977.

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.

OFFENSIVE ASSAULT – Cornell finished the 2011 season ranked second in the nation in scoring offense (12.71) and scored in double-digits in 13-of-17 outings.

SINGLE SEASON MARKS FOR PANNELL – Rob Pannell finished the 2011 season with 47 assists, 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 … His 89 points last season was good for seventh in program history for points in a single season.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 68-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0). Cornell is currently riding a 12-game home win streak.

11-WIN CAMPAIGN – The Big Red has posted at least 11 wins in each of the last seven seasons. Virginia is the only other team in the nation to accomplish that feat. 

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past six seasons (2007-12), Cornell has racked up the third most wins (68) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fourth best winning percentage (79.1 percent) overall.

TOP DOG —Rob Pannell finished the 2011 season ranked in the top 10 in the nation in all three offensive categories. He finished in first place overall in points per game (5.24), second overall in assists per game (2.76) and ninth overall in goals per game (2.50).

200TH POINT – With his assist on Steve Mock's goal at the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter against Dartmouth on April 2, 2011, 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 – Rob Pannell is the national leader in career assists. He currently has 149, 45 more than Virginia's Steele Stanwick, who sits in second place with 104.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red finished the 2011 season ranked sixth in the nation in ground balls per game, thanks in large part to defender Jason Noble, who ranked 41st in the country with 4.18 ground balls per game.

DEFENSIVE DUO –Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino finished the season ranked 21st and 34th in the nation, respectively, in caused turnovers. Noble averaged 1.76 and Bronzino averaged 1.53 caused turnovers per game.

GOING STREAKING – Senior Rob Pannell has the longest point-scoring streak in the nation, having registered a point in every game of his collegiate career (54 games). His mark of 54 games surpassed 2009 grad Ryan Hurley's school record (50).

HEADING FOR WIN NO. 700 – Cornell's 19-4 victory over Canisius on March 6, 2012 was the 694th win in program history. The Big Red is 694-443-27 all-time, and its 694 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

MOVING ON UP – With his three assists vs. Syracuse on April 12, 2011, Rob Pannell moved into second place in Cornell history for career assists. He currently needs 21 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, 2011, Pannell moved into third place in Cornell history, surpassing Ryan Hurley (179; 2007-10) for career points. He needs five more points to surpass Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77).

CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Two players on the 2012 Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red – Cody Levine (Jon '76) and Matt Taylor (Joe '80). Jon Levine was 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.

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 10-6 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 twice during the 2011 season (Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md. and the national quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y).

TESORIERO'S TAKES – Through the first seven games of the 2011 season, Doug Tesoriero went 12-of-26 in the face-off circle for a .462 winning percentage. In the 10 final games of the season, he took the most face-offs on the team, winning .579 of his chances (77-of-133). He has picked up right where he left off, winning 47-of-69 face-offs (.681) in the first three games of 2012, winning 25 total ground balls.

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).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 55 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 15 occasions.

BALANCED OFFENSE – Cornell's scoring was fairly balanced last season with the attack accounting for 58 percent of its goals (124-of-216), while the midfield registered 40 percent (87-of-216). The defense made up the final two percent (5-of-216).

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).

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 115-13 record (89.8 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals … The Big Red is currently riding a 16-game winning streak in games in which it holds opponents to less than 10 goals.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 39-9 record in its last 48 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.

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, 2011.

OVERTIME NOTES – With its overtime game vs. Penn on March 26, 2011, Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past five seasons, dating back to a 12-11 overtime triumph over Albany in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals. During that span, the Big Red has posted a 5-2 record in overtime games.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For the second straight season, senior Rob Pannell will serve as captain of the Big Red men's lacrosse team.

HARD HAT – Jason Noble was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2012 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 – Senior Roy Lang and sophomore Mike O'Neil each have a sister on the Big Red women's lacrosse team. Lang's sister Kelly is a junior, while O'Neil's sister Ali is a senior.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 47 players on the 2012 Big Red roster hail from 13 different states –California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and three Canadian provinces – Alberta, 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.

NEW TO THE STAFF – Mark Wittink '00, a Big Red teammate of Ben DeLuca, has joined the Cornell coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach. On the field Mark assists with the goalies, midfielders and face-off wings. He also assists in scout team preparation in practice. On game day Mark assists with the face-offs and substitution box. Off the field, Wittink has played an instrumental role in the Big Red's social media efforts, including coordinating the team's Twitter and Facebook pages.

NEXT UP – Cornell will open up Ivy League play when it faces Yale on Saturday, March 17 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.