GAME #13: No. 7 Cornell at Brown
FACEOFF: Saturday, April 20, at 3:00 p.m.
SITE: Stevenson Field (Providence, R.I.)
2013 Records: Cornell (10-2, 4-0 Ivy); Brown (6-5, 1-3 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 34-18
LAST MEETING: Brown won, 10-9 (4/21/12)

LIVE STATS: http://livestats.prestosports.com/brown/
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.brownbears.com/multimedia/schedule
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
TELEVISION: None

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — After coming off just its second loss of the season to instate rival Syracuse on April 10, the No. 7 Big Red men's lacrosse team saw its week take a turn for the better when Dartmouth upset No. 10 Princeton on April 13. The victory by the Big Green put Cornell in the driver's seat for its post-season fortune. With the Big Red an undefeated 4-0 with two games to go, and every other team in the conference already at two losses, Cornell has clinched a share of its 27th Ivy League title and can secure home field advantage for the conference tournament by defeating Brown at Stevenson Field on Saturday, April 20 at 3 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY VS. BROWN — The Cornell and Brown rivalry began when the Bears joined the Ivy League in men's lacrosse in 1964. The Big Red came away with an 8-7 victory in that first meeting, and won 23 of the first 28 games between the two programs. The Bears won eight-straight contests vs. Cornell from 1991 to 1997 to gain some ground in the series, which Cornell leads, 34-17. Since snapping that Brown winning streak with a 6-5 decision during head coach Ben DeLuca's senior season, the series has been very tight, despite Cornell's 11-5 record over that time. Of the last 16 meetings, 10 have been decided by three or fewer goals. The Bears have won three of the last five meetings.

LOOKING AT THE BEARS — Brown snapped a four-game losing streak when it defeated Providence, 7-6, on Tuesday evening to get back above .500 with a 6-5 record overall. The Bears are just 1-3 in the Ivy League but could still get a spot in the Ivy League tournament if they were to win out and get a little help.  The Bears have six players with at least 10 points, led by freshman Henry Blynn's 32 points on a team-high 24 goals and eight assists, while George Sherman leads Brown with 14 helpers. Tommy Capone has been the team's main faceoff man, taking 76-of-169 face-offs and winning 45 percent. Capone has been relieved by Jordan Schochet, who has won 25-of-75 restarts (.333). In net, three different Bears have earned at least one start, with freshman Jack Kelly getting the nod in eight games and posting a 10.24 goals-against average and a .493 save percentage. Junior Will Round, who started last season and earned second-team All-Ivy honors for Brown, has played in just seven games, but has started the team's last two games. Over 181 minutes, he has posted an 8.28 GAA and a .597 save percentage.

A WIN OVER BROWN WOULD –
• give Cornell its 27th Ivy League title, snapping a tie with Princeton for the most conference crowns in Ivy history.
• make the Big Red the hosts of the Ivy League tournament for the third time in four years. 
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 34-9 and 2-1 vs. the Bears.
• make Cornell 11-2 to start a season for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• make the Big Red 5-0 in Ivy League play for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• make the members of the senior class 3-2 vs. Brown.
• be the 711th win in program history.

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 33-9 overall record.

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 240-97-1 (.714).

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 21 more assists and two more points to pass Brown's Darren Lowe (1989-92), who is the Ivy League all-time leader in both categories.

FOURTH QUARTER CONTROL – When the Big Red has a lead heading into the final quarter of play, the team is nearly perfect, going 8-1 so far this season and 27-1 all-time under head coach Ben DeLuca. Cornell had won 27 games in a row when leading at the end of the third quarter before a 13-12 set-back to Syracuse on April 10, 2013.

CAUSING A COMMOTION – Senior Jason Noble has registered the third most career caused turnovers among all active Division I defenders with 109.

SAVES A LOT – Senior AJ Fiore has posted two of the best games, by save percentage, by a goalie in NCAA Division I action so far this season. His performance against Colgate (.882; 15 saves, 2 goals) and his performance against Binghamton (.813; 13 saves, 3 goals) rank third and eighth, respectively. Drexel's Cal Winkelman has the best percentage of the year, stopping all nine shots he faced in 45 minutes of action against Saint Joseph's. 

JUST WIN, BABY – Senior AJ Fiore has the second most career wins (34) of any active Division I goalie, sitting four victories behind Bucknell's Kyle Feeney (38). Also sitting in second-placed tied with Fiore is Pierce Bassett (Johns Hopkins), and John Kemp (Notre Dame).

NOBLE'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Jason Noble has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award in men's lacrosse. 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. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website or on the Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through May 13. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner.

THE 300 – With his five points vs. Siena on March 26, Rob Pannell became the eighth player in the history of NCAA Division I men's lacrosse, and second in the Ivy League, to register 300 career points. He currently ranks fifth all-time with 315 and needs just two points to pass fellow Ivy Leaguer Darren Lowe (Brown).

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).

TOP 10 NATION – The Big Red opened the week ranked in the top 10 nationally in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (second – 14.42), man-down defense (10th – .744), scoring margin (first – 6.0), assists per game (fifth – 7.33), points per game (second – 21.75), ground balls per game (fourth – 36.0), caused turnovers per game (second – 10.5) and shot percentage (ninth –.313).

MOCK FROM PANNELL – So far this season, Rob Pannell has been credited with the assist on 17 of Steve Mock's 37 goals (46 percent). Of the 108 goals Mock has scored while playing with Pannell (14 were scored during Pannell's injury in 2012), 41 have been assisted on by Pannell (38 percent).

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 185. That is 80 more assists than Lehigh's David DiMara, who sits in second place with 105.

GAINING ON GOALS LIST – Rob Pannell is currently in fourth place in Cornell history with 129 career goals and needs just six more to match Sean Greenhalgh (2002-05) in third place … Steve Mock currently sits in seventh place with 122 career goals and needs just one to match Jon Levine (1974-76) with 123.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 30-12 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to No. 8 Syracuse, 13-12, on April 10, 2013, in Ithaca, N.Y. Of the 12 losses, five have come against a team ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 47-12 record in its last 59 regular-season non-conference games (80 percent), 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 275-158-7 (.633). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 14-2 (.875) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red has faced six teams from New York in 2013 and is 5-1 in those games … Cornell had a 12-game winning streak against teams from the Empire State snapped in its 13-12 loss to Syracuse on April 10, 2013.

RANKED OPPONENTS – Cornell has played six ranked opponents so far this season. The Big Red is 4-2 vs. those opponents with both losses coming by a single goal (9-8 vs. Bucknell; 13-12 vs. Syracuse).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK BRIGADE – Cornell has had five Ivy League Player of the Week selections so far this season. Rob Pannell (Feb. 25, March 11) and Steve Mock (March 18, April 8) have each earned the honor twice, while Jason Noble (March 4) has earned the award one time.

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 143 points from its attack and 117 points from its midfield and defense.

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 710-444-27 all-time, and its 710 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red entered the week ranked fourth in the nation with 36.1 ground balls per contest, thanks in large part to Doug Tesoriero (21st – 6.17 gbpg.) and Thomas Keith (36th – 4.83 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 49 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 120-of-177 games (.678).

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 39 of the 42 games (93 percent) under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 33 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered nine or fewer goals 26 times during that same span.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 75 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 23 occasions.

DISMISSING DARTMOUTH – Cornell's 21-goal output against Dartmouth on March 30 was the Big Red's highest scoring outing in four seasons, as it defeated Penn, 21-10, on March 28, 2009.

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 … Just over one month later, senior Max Van Bourgondien posted a natural hat trick at Harvard in a span of 1:46 in the fourth quarter to give Cornell the 14-12 victory.

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.

11th HEAVEN – For the 11th 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 March 11. The senior attackman was named Rookie of the Week twice during his freshman season and has gone on to pick up nine Player of the Week awards, including twice already this season.

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.

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.

NEXT UP – The Big Red will play its regular-season finale against Princeton as part of Inside Lacrosse's Big City Classic, held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday, April 27 at 4 p.m. The Big City Classic will also feature a game between Notre Dame and Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit CornellBigRedTickets.com. Lacrosse fans can also visit BigCityClassic.com online to find out the latest information regarding the 2013 Konica Minolta Big City Classic.