GAME #5: No. 3 Cornell at No. 8 Virginia
FACEOFF: Saturday, March 9, at 6:00 p.m.
SITE: Klöckner Stadium (Charlottesville, Va.)
2013 Records: Cornell (4-0, 0-0 Ivy League); Virginia (5-1, 0-0 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Virginia leads, 9-3
LAST MEETING: Virginia won (OT), 9-8, March 10, 2012 in Baltimore, Md.

RADIO: HITS 103.3 FM
LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.virginiasports.com/allaccess/?media=375207
TELEVISION: None

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — The No. 3 Big Red men's lacrosse team will leave the state of New York for the first time this season when it travels to Virginia to take on the No.  8 Cavaliers at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday, March 9 at 6 p.m. Cornell and Virginia each struggled against their mid-week matchups, Canisius and Vermont, respectively, but both managed to pull away late for the victory. The game can be viewed online at VirginiaSports.com and fans in the Ithaca area can hear the game on HITS 103.3 FM with Barry Leonard on the call.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA — Despite being two of the oldest lacrosse teams in the nation, Cornell and Virginia have met just 12 times, and only five of those meetings have occurred during the regular season. The Cavaliers, who own the 9-3 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 have regained the upper-hand with four straight victories, including last year's 9-8 overtime win in the 2012 Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium.

LOOKING AT THE CAVALIERS — Virginia is off to a 4-1 start with its lone loss coming in overtime to Syracuse at the Dome on March 1.  The Cavaliers are led by a potent attack with juniors Mark Cocerton (20-2) and Nick O'Reily (7-14) leading the team with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Sophomore Owen Van Arsdale, the son of UVA Associate Head Coach Marc Van Arsdale, has eight goals and 10 assists, while senior Matt White (12) and junior midfielder Rob Emery (10) have both registered double-digit goals. Sophomore Mick Parks has picked up the faceoff duties for the Cavaliers this season and has been very good, winning 80-of-134 restarts (60 percent). In goal, freshman Dan Marino has had a bit of a bumpy start, saving just .469 percent of the shots face, but owns a respectable 8.55 goals-against average.

CORNELL VS. THE ACC – Cornell is 13-28 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 (3-9).

A WIN OVER VIRGINIA WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 28-7 and give him his first victory over the Cavaliers in four tries (1-3).
• snap a four-game losing skid to the Cavaliers and close the gap in the series to 9-4.
• be the 705th win in program history.
• make Cornell 5-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2007 campaign.

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 27-7 overall record.

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.

MOCK FROM PANNELL – So far this season, Rob Pannell has been credited with the assist on seven of Steve Mock's 11 goals (64 percent). Of the 82 goals Mock has scored while playing with Pannell (14 were scored during Pannell's injury in 2012), 31 have been assisted on by Pannell (38 percent).

THE NATURAL – Sophomore Matt Donovan registered a natural hat trick against Canisius on March 5, scoring three times in the span of 1:49 in the fourth quarter. It was the Big Red's first natural hat trick since Scott Austin posted three consecutive goals in a span of 4:39 in the fourth quarter of an 18-7 victory against Yale on March 20, 2010. Of Donovan's three goals, one was a man-down, one was a man-up and one was at even strength.

A NOBLE EFFORT – After holding the reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner to just one meaningless assist and only three shots, none of which were one goal, in Cornell's 19-3 victory against Colgate, Jason Noble was named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week. He is the first defensemen to win the award since Brown's Peter Fallon on April 26, 2010.

A PERFECT 10 – For the 10th time in his career, Rob Pannell has earned one of the Ivy League's weekly honors, as he was named the conference's Player of the Week on Feb. 25. The senior attackman was named Rookie of the Week twice during his freshman season and has gone on to pick up eight Player of the Week awards. Pannell was instrumental in the Big Red's 19-11 victory over Hobart in the season opener, as he had a hand on nearly half of Cornell's tallies, recording four goals and five assists. With his nine points he moved into second place on Cornell's all-time scoring list, surpassing the legendary Eamon McEneaney '77. He also became the second player in school history, joining McEneaney, to record 150 career assists.

NOBLE'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Jason Noble has been named a candidate for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award in men's lacrosse. One of 20 candidates who excel both on and off the field, Noble is an All-American defender for the Big Red. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. A young man of great character, Noble leads the Big Red as one of the team's four co-captains. He is an outstanding student in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management program and is involved in numerous community service projects. A brother in Alpha Tau Omega, Noble is also a member of the prestigious Sphinx Head Honor Society and serving as the men's lacrosse team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH – The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the 2013 Tewaaraton Award men's watch list and a trio of Cornell players – Connor English, Steve Mock, and Rob Pannell – have made the initial cut. The list includes the top players across all three divisions of NCAA lacrosse and highlights the early contenders for the 2013 Tewaaraton Award.

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.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 45-10 record in its last 55 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.

MOVING ON UP – With his four assists at Canisius on March 5, 2013, Rob Pannell moved into a tie for first place in Cornell history for career assists. He currently needs one more assist to pass Eamon McEneaney and become the Big Red's all-time leader … With his nine points vs. Hobart on Feb. 24, 2013, Pannell moved into second place in Cornell history, surpassing Eamon McEneaney (256; 1975-77) for career points. He needs 17 more points to overtake Mike French (296; 1974-76) and become the Big Red's all-time leader.

THE CENTURY MARK – Senior attackman Steve Mock has become the 39th player in Cornell history to reach 100 career points, doing so in the Big Red's season-opening 19-11 victory over Hobart. He currently sits at 107 (96 goals, 11 assists) and needs just four more goals to become the seventh Cornell player with 100 for his career.

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Rob Pannell is the national leader in career assists with 164. That is 71 more assists than Lehigh's David DiMara, who sits in second place with 93.

GAINING ON GOALS LIST – Rob Pannell is currently in sixth place in Cornell history with 114 career goals and needs just nine more to match Jon Levine (1975-76) in fifth place … Steve Mock currently ranks eighth overall in Cornell history with 96 career goals. He needs just three more to tie Chris Danler (1992-95) in seventh place. 

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 55 points from its attack and 44 points from its midfield and defense.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red entered the week ranking second in the nation with 40.67 ground balls per contest.

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 704-443-27 all-time, and its 704 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 (73.8 percent) overall.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 73-15 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2013 (2-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

HUMAN VACUUM – 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 42 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 116-of-169 games (.686).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 67 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 19 occasions.

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).

NEUTRAL ZONE – Cornell is 2-4 in neutral site games under head coach Ben DeLuca with the team's most recent victory coming in a 19-11 triumph against Hobart on Feb. 24, 2013 in the Carrier Dome (Syracuse, N.Y.).

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS … AND THE RUNNERS UP – Cornell had three players participate in the Federation of International Lacrosse U19 World Championships, held last summer in Turku, Finland. Connor Buczek and the United States took home the gold medal, while Dan Lintner and Brennan Donville both won silver with Team Canada.

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is 63-50-5 all-time in season openers and has won its last 10 season openers dating back to a 13-6 loss to Georgetown in the first game of the 2003 season.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For the third straight season, Rob Pannell will serve as captain of the Big Red men's lacrosse team. He is joined by fellow seniors Steve Mock, Jason Noble and Tom Trasolini.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS – Cornell had five players named to the 2013 Face-Off Magazine Preseason All-America list. Rob Pannell and Jason Noble were named first-team selections, while Matt Donovan was a third-team pick. Both Doug Tesoriero and Mike Bronzino earned an honorable mention selection.

HARD HAT – Joe Paoletta was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2013 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.

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 2012 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 27 of the 30 games under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 22 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 16 times during that same span.

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.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 26 titles (tied with Princeton), including 16 undefeated crowns. The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 236-97-1 (.708).

CONFERENCE WIN-STREAK SNAPPED – The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles was snapped by Princeton on April 28, 2012. At the time, Cornell's nine titles was the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference.
 
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 Mike O'Neil's uncle, Geoff Hall, played on the Big Red's national runner up squads in 1987 and 1988.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 42 players on the 2013 Big Red roster hail from 12 different states –California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 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.

HI, MY NAME IS – Fred Rothman, an eight-year member of the Cornell sprint football staff, has joined the Big Red lacrosse staff as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2013 season. A 1971 graduate of Oceanside High School, he played both football and lacrosse before attending SUNY Oswego, where he was a member of the lacrosse team. The former principal at nearby Whitney Point High School, Rothman will work specifically with the Big Red's goalie corps.

FRESH FACES – The Big Red added six newcomers to the 2013 roster, five of whom earned high school All-America honors. The group is consists of three midfielders, one attackman, one defenseman and one goalkeeper. Additionally, the players represent three states and one Canadian province, with two players hailing from both New York and Connecticut, and one each from California and Ontario.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR –Matt Donovan was named the unanimous 2012 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He is the fifth Big Red player to earn the honor, joining Paul Schimoler (1986), Sean Greenhalgh (2002), Max Seibald (2006) and Rob Pannell (2009).

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – In addition to being named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Matt Donovan was also named second-team All-Ivy. Roy Lang '12 and Jason Noble '13 were named first-team All-Ivy, while senior Chris Langton'12 joined Donovan on the second-team. Steve Mock '13 and Thomas Keith '13 earned honorable mention selections.

RECAPPING 2012 – Despite losing Rob Pannell, the reigning USILA National Player of the Year, in just its second game of the season, the Big Red still managed to be highly competitive throughout 2012, ranking as high as third in the country before seeing its season come to an end in the opening round of the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell finished the year with a 9-4 record overall and a mark of 4-2 in the conference, good for a second-place finish in the league standings. Freshman Matt Donovan was named the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Senior Roy Lang and junior Jason Noble were named first-team All-Ivy, while Donovan was joined on the second team by senior Chris Langton and juniors Thomas Keith and Steve Mock were named honorable mention selections. Lang (third-team) and Noble (second-team) also added All-America honors to their list of postseason awards, while Langton was selected to participate in the USILA North/South Senior All-Star Game.

NEXT UP – The Big Red will open Ivy League play next week when it travels to Yale to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m.