Game Notes (PDF)

Game Details
Game 12: No. 8/7 Cornell vs. No. 12 Princeton
Series Record: Princeton leads, 37-34-2
Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Field: Class of '52 Stadium
Location: Princeton, N.J.

Game Coverage
Live Stats: www.GoPrincetonTigers.com
Video Webcast: www.ESPN3.com
Radio: WHCU 870 AM
Radio Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com
Television: ESPNU; Mark Dixon (PxP), Matt Ward (Color)


THE MATCHUP — The No. 8 Cornell men's lacrosse team finds itself in a must-win situation when it travels to Princeton on Saturday, April 28 for a showdown in front of a nationwide television audience on ESPNU. Face-off is slated at 7 p.m. The Big Red is looking to continue the longest conference title winning streak in the nation, as a victory over the Tigers would give Cornell a share of its 10th consecutive Ivy League crown, as well the number one seed and home field advantage for the upcoming Ivy League Tournament.

A FAMILIAR ENDING – Once again, the Ivy League title comes down to the Cornell-Princeton game. The two squads have combined for 49 conference titles in the 55-year history of the league. The Tigers have already secured a share of the 2012 crown, but a victory on Saturday by Cornell would see the two squads sharing the title for the sixth time over the past 10 years.

THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON – The Cornell and Princeton rivalry began in 1922 with an 11-1 victory for the Tigers. Princeton would dominate the next 24 meetings, winning or tying all but one contest, to help it to a 37-33-2 record in the all-time series. Cornell would win 22-straight games vs. the Tigers from 1968 to 1989, but Princeton is still the only Ivy League team to boast a winning record against the Big Red, as they again dominated the series throughout the 1990s. Cornell, however, has won eight of the last 10 after defeating Princeton last season.

LOOKING AT THE TIGERS — The Tigers have won seven of their last eight games to improve to 9-3 on the season and 5-0 in the Ivy League. Princeton has one of the stingiest defenses in the nation (third overall; 6.67 goals per game) thanks in large part to senior goalie Tyler Fiorito, who ranks second in the country with a .622 save percentage. The Tigers also have the second best man-down defense in the nation (.839) and ranks 20th overall in caused turnovers (7.83 per game). Offensively, Tom Schriber leads the charge, ranking seventh in the country with 4.17 points per game. He is also 15th in the nation in assists per game (1.75 pg) and 16th overall in goals per game (2.42). Jeff Froccaro is the only other Tiger with more than 30 points (21 goals, 9 assists).

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 24-5.
• give Cornell a share of its 27th Ivy League title.
• make the Big Red the top seed in the 2012 Ivy League Tournament.
• extend the longest conference title winning streak in the nation, as Cornell wins a share of its 10th consecutive title.
• match the Big Red's school record of 10 consecutive Ivy League titles, originally set from 1974-83.
• cut Princeton's lead in the series to 37-35-2.
• be the 701st win in program history

LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS –
• No. 3 Cornell clinched the program's 16th unbeaten Ivy League season with a 9-7 victory over Princeton at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Big Red overcame a five-goal deficit and an outstanding 20-save effort from Tiger goalkeeper Tyler Fiorito to earn the win.
• Princeton jumped out to a 6-1 lead with less than five minutes gone in the second period, but Cornell used an extended 7-0 run to take the lead.
• The Big Red caused 11 turnovers, including three by Jason Noble and two by Mike Bronzino.
• Backup goalie Andrew West was solid off the bench, collecting five saves and allowing two scores in the final 43:36 to earn his second career win.
• Offensively, Rob Pannell had two goals and an assist and Jack Dudley found the back of the net twice, with Roy Lang, David Lau and Steve Mock each having a goal and an assist.
• The Big Red held the edge in shots (45-30) and ground balls (39-31).
• Cornell also held the Tigers scoreless on three man-up opportunities, while converting 2-of-4.
• The Big Red took care of the ball with just 12 turnovers.
• Princeton held the edge in face-offs, winning 13-of-20.

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.

RECAPPING THE BROWN GAME –
• Sam Hurster found himself open in front of the net with 4.7 seconds remaining and finished off the upset for Brown, knocking off No. 3 Cornell 10-9 on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.
• The loss ruined Cornell's Senior Day celebration and snapped its national-best 15-game win streak.
• Max Van Bourgondien scored three goals and added an assist, including scoring the game-tying goal on a superb individual effort with 58 seconds to play to knot the game up at 9-9.
• Connor English chipped in two goals and an assist, while Steve Mock and Chris Langton each scored twice.
• Andrew West made nine saves in goal and Doug Tesoriero won 15-of-20 face-offs for the Big Red.
• Will Round made 14 saves for Brown, while the Bears defense caused seven of Cornell's 13 turnovers.
• Sam Hurster finished with three goals and one assist, while Parker Brown had three assists and two goals.
• Nick Piroli and Stephen Chmil chipped in two goals apiece for the Bears.  

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 236-96-1 (.710).

CONFERENCE WIN-STREAK – The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference.

SO WHAT'S THE SCENARIO – The winner of the Cornell-Princeton game will earn the top seed in the upcoming 2012 Ivy League Tournament, as well as home field advantage. A win by the Tigers would also give them the outright League title, while a win by the Big Red would mean the squads would be named Co-Ivy League Champions, and the Big Red would move back ahead of Princeton in the all-time League championship count (27 to 26) … Last weekend, Princeton clinched at least a share of the Tigers' 26th Ivy League title with victory at Harvard, while Dartmouth's victory over Penn dashed the Quakers' remaining Ivy tournament hopes … With its win at Cornell last weekend, Brown also stayed in the Ivy Tournament hunt. At 2-3, the Bears would claim the fourth seed with a win next over Dartmouth coupled with a Harvard loss at Yale … The Crimson still controls its own destiny, as a victory at Yale would propel it to the No. 3 seed …  If both Brown and Harvard were to win (making each team 3-3 on the Ivy season), the Crimson would advance to the Ivy Tournament by virtue of its win over Brown (10-9 in overtime on March 17) … Finally, wins by both Dartmouth and Yale would see the Crimson advance as the Ivy Tournament's No. 4 seed because it would have a 2-0 record versus the other 2-4 teams in this scenario (Dartmouth and Brown).

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE — With its 9-7 victory over Princeton last season, 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).

STREAK STOPPERS – When Brown defeated the Big Red on April 21, the Bears ended several Cornell winning streaks, including:
• The nation's longest home-game winning streak (14 games).
• The Big Red's 14-game winning streak against unranked opponents.
• Cornell's 12-game winning streak against Ivy League opponents.
• The Big Red's seven-game winning streak in games played during the month of April.
• Cornell's five-game winning streak in games in which it scores first.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 29-9 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Brown, 10-9, on April 21, 2012, at Schoellkopf Field. Of the nine 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).

BALANCED OFFENSE – So far this season, the Big Red has shown tremendous balance in its scoring with the attack accounting for 63 goals and 37 assists (100 points), while the midfielders and defensive players have combined for 73 goals and 27 assists (100 points).

NEXT TO 100? – Junior attackman Steve Mock is looking to become the 39th player to reach 100 career points in school history and enters the Princeton contest with 93 (82 goals, 11 assists). He also is 18 goals away from becoming the seventh Cornell player with 100 goals. Rob Pannell became the sixth 100-goal scorer earlier this season.

TEAM EFFORT – With its well-balanced offense, Cornell is one of only three teams ranked in the top 10 of this week's USILA coaches' poll to not have a player ranked in the top 50 in the nation for points per game. No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 9 Maryland are the other two schools.

REVERSING THE TREND – Since taking over the Big Red program, head coach Ben DeLuca's squad has scored less than 10 goals on just nine occasions. In the four single-digit games in his first season (2011), Cornell went 1-3 but the Big Red has reversed that trend in the 2012 campaign, posting a record of 3-2 in games in which it scored less than 10 goals.

WIN NO. 700 – Cornell's 12-6 victory over Syracuse on April 10, 2012 was the 700th win in program history. The Big Red is 700-443-27 all-time, and its 700 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2008-12), Cornell has racked up the fifth most wins (59) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (75.6 percent) overall.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 71-15 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0). Cornell owned the longest home game winning streak in the nation (15 games) before Brown defeated the Big Red, 10-9, on April 21.

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.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 270-157-7 (.630). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 9-1 (.900) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red faced six teams from New York state (5-1) in 2011 and is 4-0 already this season.

PANNELL'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Cornell senior attackman Rob Pannell has been named one of 10 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.

HUMAN VACUUMS – Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino have been the Big Red's most consistent ground ball guys. Noble has registered at least one ground ball in all but one game during his career and currently has the longest streak on the team at 36 games. Bronzino has collected at least one ground ball in all but three games during his career and had a streak of 29 consecutive games snapped on March 31 at Dartmouth.

SINGLE-DIGIT DEFENSE – Since his time as the defensive coordinator of the Big Red began during the 2002 season as an assistant coach, now head coach Ben DeLuca has led a defensive unit that has held opponents to single-digits in 113-of-163 games (.693).

PLAYING WINNERS – So far this season, Cornell has played only three teams that had losing records at the time of their meeting – Penn, Dartmouth and Brown.

UNLUCKY NUMBER 7 – With its 7-5 victory over Dartmouth, the Big Red snapped a four-game losing streak in games in which it scored seven or fewer goals dating back to a 6-4 victory over Princeton on May 16, 2009.

WEEKLY HONORS IV – Freshman Matt Donovan won his fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 9 after helping the Big Red to a key 14-10 victory over Harvard with two goals and one assist. The rookie attackman scored the first goal of the second quarter and assisted on Cornell's next tally as the Big Red blew open a tight game and built a 6-1 halftime lead. Donovan than scored a big goal as time wound down in the contest to snap a two-goal Crimson run and break Harvard's momentum.

WEEKLY HONORS III – Freshman Matt Donovan won his third Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 2 after leading the Big Red to a 7-5 win at Dartmouth by assisting on a career-high three goals. The rookie attackman provided feeds that led to three consecutive Cornell tallies spanning the second and third quarters to help the Big Red jump out to a 5-1 lead.

WEEKLY HONORS II – For the second time this season, Cornell men's lacrosse players swept the Ivy League weekly awards, this time on March 26. Junior attackman Steve Mock was named Ivy Player of the Week, while freshman attackman Matt Donovan was named Ancient Eight co-Rookie of the Week. Mock scored four goals and assisted on three others as the Big Red knocked off No. 8 Denver in overtime before rallying for a 16-11 win at Penn. Donovan earned his second rookie of the week nod of the season after posting three goals and two assists in two starts for the nationally ranked Big Red.

WEEKLY HONORS I – 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.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks 6th in the nation in ground balls per game (34.18).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 62 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 17 occasions.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 119-14 record (89.5 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals … The Big Red had its 16-game win streak in games limiting opponents to single digit goals snapped in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia earlier this season, but has run a new streak to four straight after defeating Syracuse, 12-6, on April 10.

A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING – Big Red head coach Ben DeLuca has a career 23-4 record, with three of the four losses coming against Virginia, with each coming at neutral sites (the 2011 and 2012 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.

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 25 of the 28 games under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 21 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 16 times during that same span. Cornell scored eight goals in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia on March 10, 2012, snapping a streak to 20 consecutive games of at least nine goals.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 41-10 record in its last 51 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.

QUICK START – Cornell 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. 

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

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.  

EIGHT STRAIGHT NCAAS – The Big Red has made eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament.

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 is among 72 total players in all divisions and highlights the early contenders for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award.

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. 

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite having not played since March 3, Rob Pannell is still the national leader in career assists with 149. That is 13 more assists than Virginia's Steele Stanwick, who sits in second place with 136.

OVERTIME NOTES – With its overtime game vs. Virginia on March 10, 2012, Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past six 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 6-3 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.

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 10-7 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 three times, including twice during the 2011 season (Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md. and the national quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y). The Cavaliers also won a 9-8 overtime decision in the 2012 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md.

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.

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.

NEXT UP – The Big Red will make its third consecutive trip to the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell's opponent and the location of the game will be contingent on the results of Saturday's contest at Princeton.