FACEOFF: Saturday, April 27, at 4:00 p.m.
SITE: MetLife Stadium (Rutherford, N.J.)
2013 Records: Cornell (11-2, 5-0 Ivy); Princeton (8-4, 3-2 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 38-34-2
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 14-9 (4/28/12)

LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mlax/scoreboard.aspx
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: http://es.pn/mlax-PRIvsCORNELL
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
TELEVISION: ESPNU

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — In its final regular season game of the season, the No. 6 Big Red men's lacrosse team is seeking the 17th undefeated Ivy League season in program history as it takes on No. 12 Princeton at one of Inside Lacrosse's premiere events, the Big City Classic, held at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, N.J. The teams will faceoff in front of a nationwide audience on ESPNU on Saturday, April 27 at 4.p.m.

SERIES HISTORY 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 38-33-2 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 has won eight of the last 11 after a victory by Princeton last season.

LOOKING AT THE TIGERS — Princeton is 8-4 on the season (3-2 Ivy League), with each of its four losses coming in one-goal decisions.  The Tigers have six players with at least 20 points, led by midfielder Tom Schreiber's 48 points on a team-high 25 assists and 23 goals, while Mike MacDonald leads Princeton with 31 goals. Justin Murphy has been the team's main faceoff man, taking 96-of-182 face-offs and winning 53 percent. In net, Matt O'Connor has done well to replace the 2012 Ivy League Player of the Year Tyler Fiorito, posting a 9.43 goals-against average and a .514 save percentage. However, Eric Sanschargrin started Princeton's last outing against Harvard and in two games this season has posted a 5.69 GAA and a .625 save percentage.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD –
• be Cornell's 17th undefeated Ivy League season in program history. 
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 35-9 and 2-1 vs. the Tigers.
• make Cornell 12-2 to start a season for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• make the Big Red 6-0 in Ivy League play for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• make the members of the senior class 3-2 vs. Princeton.
• be the 712th 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 34-9 overall record.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 27 titles, including 16 undefeated crowns. The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 241-97-1 (.712).

ALL-TIME IVY LEADER – With his three points at Brown on April 20, Rob Pannell set the all-time Ivy League points record, passing Brown's Darren Lowe (316; 1989-92).

SEEKING IVY ASSIST RECORD – The all-time Cornell career assist leader, Rob Pannell ranks second in Ivy League history,  needing just 20 more assists to pass Brown's Darren Lowe (205; 1989-92).

THE DIRTY DOZEN – For the 12th 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 April 22.  The senior attackman was named Rookie of the Week twice during his freshman season and has gone on to pick up 10 Player of the Week awards, including three times already this season.

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.).

FOURTH QUARTER CONTROL – When the Big Red has a lead heading into the final quarter of play, the team is nearly perfect, going 9-1 so far this season and 28-1 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.

JUST WIN, BABY – Senior AJ Fiore has the second most career wins (35) of any active Division I goalie, sitting three 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).

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 four all-time with 318 and needs just three points to pass Tim Nelson (N.C. State/Syracuse).

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 – 14.31), man-down defense (seventh – .766), scoring margin (first – 6.0), assists per game (seventh – 7.23), points per game (third – 21.54), ground balls per game (fourth – 36.9) and caused turnovers per game (second – 10.46).

MOCK FROM PANNELL – So far this season, Rob Pannell has been credited with the assist on 17 of Steve Mock's 40 goals (43 percent). Of the 111 goals Mock has scored while playing with Pannell (14 were scored during Pannell's injury in 2012), 41 have been assisted on by Pannell (37 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 187. That is 80 more assists than Lehigh's David DiMara, who sits in second place with 107.

GAINING ON GOALS LIST – Rob Pannell is currently in fourth place in Cornell history with 132 career goals and needs just four more to match Sean Greenhalgh (2002-05) in third place … Steve Mock currently sits in sixth place with 125 career goals and needs just three more to match Mark Webster (1968-70) with 128.

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.

RANKED OPPONENTS – Princeton will be the seventh nationally ranked opponent that Cornell will play  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 six Ivy League Player of the Week selections so far this season. Rob Pannell (Feb. 25, March 11, April 22) has earned the award three times, including being this week's selection, while Steve Mock (March 18, April 8) has earned the honor twice. Jason Noble (March 4) has earned the award one time.

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.

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 151 points from its attack and 128 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 711-444-27 all-time, and its 711 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 36.9 ground balls per contest, thanks in large part to Doug Tesoriero (15th – 6.62 gbpg.) and Thomas Keith (35th – 4.92 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 50 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 121-of-178 games (.680).

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 40 of the 43 games (93 percent) under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 34 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered nine or fewer goals 27 times during that same span.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 76 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.

NEXT UP – The Big Red will play host to the Ivy League tournament next weekend as the number-one seed for the third time in the past four years. Cornell's game will be the second semifinal, held on Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m., against an opponent yet to be determined.