GAME #9: No. 3 Cornell vs. Siena
FACEOFF: Tuesday, March 26, at 4:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2013 Records: Cornell (7-1, 2-0 Ivy League); Siena (2-6, 0-1 MAAC)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting

LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mlax/scoreboard.aspx
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
TELEVISION: None

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — After picking up a key Ivy League win on Saturday, the No. 3 Cornell men's lacrosse team will look to keep its momentum going in a midweek tilt at Schoellkopf Field against instate foe Siena on Tuesday, March 26 at 4 p.m.  After dropping several close games in a row, the Saints are also coming off a big win over the weekend, as they defeated Providence, 13-11.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SIENA — Tuesday's game will be the first meeting between the Cornell and Siena men's lacrosse programs.

LOOKING AT THE SAINTS — Of its eight games played so far this season, Siena has had all but one contest decided by three or fewer goals with the lone exception coming in a 15-6 season-opening loss to Johns Hopkins. The Saints snapped a four-game skid on Saturday, defeating Providence, 13-11 to improve to 2-6 on the year. Siena has won four straight MAAC regular season titles and was selected to win again in 2013 in the preseason coaches' poll. The team is led by Conor Prunty's 23 points (16 goals, 7 assists), while Kyle Curry has added 15 goals. Danny Martinsen, the MAAC's Preseason Player of the Year, has registered nine goals and six assists. In the face-off circle, Casey Dowd has taken nearly every draw for Siena and has posted a .522 winning percentage (105-of-201). In cage, Matt Sharp ranks seventh in the nation in save per game (13.5) but owns a 12.58 goals-against average and a .517 save percentage.

CORNELL VS. THE MAAC – The Big Red owns a perfect 10-0 record vs. the current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, thanks solely to a 10-0 record vs. Canisius. Cornell has never faced Detroit, Jacksonville, Manhattan, Marist, Siena or VMI … Head Coach Ben DeLuca is 3-0 vs. the MAAC.

A WIN OVER SIENA WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 31-8 and 4-0 vs. the MAAC.
• make Cornell 7-1 to start a season for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• extend its win streak over the MAAC to 11 games.
• be the 708th win in program history.
• be the Big Red's 12th straight victory against a team from New York state.

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. Now in his third season with Cornell, he holds a 30-8 overall record.

LEADING MAN – With his three points against Penn on March 23, Rob Pannell became the Big Red's all-time leading point scorer, surpassing Mike French (296; 1974-76). Earlier in the season, his four assists at Virginia on March 9, 2013 moved him into first place in Cornell history for career assists, overtaking Eamon McEneaney '77 (164).

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 274-157-7 (.632). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 13-1 (.929) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red will face six teams from New York in 2013 and is currently 4-0 in those games … Cornell currently has an 11-game winning streak against teams from the Empire State.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK BRIGADE – Over the course of the first four weeks of the season, Cornell had four players named the Ivy League Player of the Week. Rob Pannell earned the honor twice (Feb. 25, March 11), while Jason Noble (March 4) and Steve Mock (March 18) earned the award one time each.

TOP 10 NATION – The Big Red opened the week ranked in the top 10 nationally in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (third – 13.63), scoring defense (sixth – 7.75), man-down defense (eighth - .778), scoring margin (second – 5.88), points per game (eighth – 20.25), ground balls per game (second – 36.1) and caused turnovers per game (second – 10.75).

MOCK FROM PANNELL – So far this season, Rob Pannell has been credited with the assist on 12 of Steve Mock's 23 goals (52 percent). Of the 94 goals Mock has scored while playing with Pannell (14 were scored during Pannell's injury in 2012), 36 have been assisted on by Pannell (38 percent).

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 46-11 record in its last 57 regular-season non-conference games (81%), dating back to the Big Red's 16-14 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on April 12, 2005.

THE CENTURY MARK – In the 2013 season opener against Hobart, senior attackman Steve Mock became the 39th player in Cornell history to reach 100 career points. On March 16 against Yale, he became just the seventh Cornell player all-time to accumulate 100 career goals.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Rob Pannell is the national leader in career assists with 174. That is 77 more assists than Lehigh's David DiMara, who sits in second place with 97.

GAINING ON GOALS LIST – Rob Pannell is currently in fifth place in Cornell history with 124 career goals and needs just four more to match Mark Webster (1968-70) in fourth place … Steve Mock currently sits in sixth place with 108 career goals and needs just 15 to match Jon Levine (1974-76) with 123.

IVY MARKS IN SIGHT – With his assault on the Cornell record book complete, Rob Pannell has the all-time Ivy League points and assists records in his sight. He ranks second in conference history in both categories, needing just 32 more assists and 19 more points to pass Brown's Darren Lowe (1989-92), who is the Ivy League all-time leader in both categories.

THE 300 – Rob Pannell needs just two points to become the seventh player in the history of NCAA Division I men's lacrosse to register 300 career points.

BALANCED OFFENSE – During the 2012 season, the Big Red showed tremendous balance in its scoring with the attack accounting for 73 goals and 38 assists (111 points), while the midfielders and defensive players combined for 81 goals and 35 assists (116 points). So far this season, Cornell has gotten 94 points from its attack and 68 points from its midfield and defense.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 74-16 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

RANKED OPPONENTS – Six of Cornell's 2013 opponents are ranked in the current USILA Coaches Poll, including a recently completed stretch of four foes in a row, between March 9 and March 23.

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 now 707-444-27 all-time, and its 707 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks second in the nation with 36.1 ground balls per contest, thanks in large part to Thomas Keith (27th – 5.25 gbpg.) and Doug Tesoriero (40th – 4.88 gbpg.).

HUMAN VACUUM – Jason Noble has been the Big Red's most consistent ground ball guy, registering at least one ground ball in all but one game during his career. He currently has the longest streak on the team at 45 games.

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 118-of-173 games (.682).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 71 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 21 occasions.

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 35 of the 38 games (92%) under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 29 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 20 times during that same span.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 30-11 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to No. 15 Bucknell, 9-8, on March 19, 2013, in Ithaca, N.Y. Of the 11 losses, five have come against a team ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.

NEXT UP – The Big Red will play its final regular season game at Schoellkopf Field and honor the Class of 2013 when it welcomes Dartmouth on Saturday, March 30 at noon.