GAME #11: No. 2 Cornell at Harvard
FACEOFF: Saturday, April 6, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Harvard Stadium (Cambridge, Mass.)
2013 Records: Cornell (9-1, 3-0 Ivy); Harvard (4-5, 1-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 63-23
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 14-10 (4/7/12)

LIVE STATS: http://livestats.prestosports.com/harvard/
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE VIDEO: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/harvard.portal#
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
TELEVISION: None

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP — The No. 2 Big Red men's lacrosse team will open up a four-game road swing when it travels to Cambridge, Mass., to take on Harvard on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. Cornell sits atop the Ivy League standings with a perfect 3-0 record after a dominating victory over Dartmouth, while the Crimson are 1-1 in the conference and coming off a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to No. 12 Duke.  

SERIES HISTORY VS. HARVARD — Although official Ivy League play began in 1956, the Cornell and Harvard rivalry dates back nearly as far as both teams' lacrosse programs, as the two squads first squared off in the 1895 season. The Big Red won that first meeting, 2-1, and has dominated the series ever since, holding a 63-23 overall record against the Crimson, and is currently riding a series-best 15-game winning streak.

LOOKING AT THE CRIMSON — Harvard has dropped its last two outings, falling to Albany and No. 12 Duke last week to slip to 4-5 overall (1-1 Ivy). The Crimson are led by Devin Dwyer and Peter Schwartz who each have a team-high 24 points and 13 assists, while Alex White has a team-best 15 goals. Faceoff man Rick Mole is winning 50 percent of his restarts (68-136) and he is relieved by Ithaca native Gabe Mendola who has won 49 percent (24-49) and has won a team-high 35 ground balls. In net, senior Harry Krieger has played all but 7:11 this season and has posted a .548 save percentage and a 9.46 goals-against average. 

A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD –
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 33-8 (16-3 Ivy) and 4-0 vs. Harvard.
• make Cornell 9-1 to start a season for the second time in three seasons under DeLuca.
• extend the Big Red's winning streak over the Crimson to a series-best 16 games.
• improve the Big Red to 4-0 in Ivy League play for the 11th time since the 2000 season.
• make the members of the senior class 5-0 vs. Harvard.
• be the 710th 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 32-8 overall record.

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.

DISMISSING DARTMOUT – 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 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.

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).

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 27 more assists and 11 more points to pass Brown's Darren Lowe (1989-92), who is the Ivy League all-time leader in both categories.

TOP 10 NATION – The Big Red opened the week ranked in the top 10 nationally in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (second – 14.7), scoring defense (seventh – 7.6), man-down defense (eighth - .781), scoring margin (first – 7.1), points per game (second – 22.0), ground balls per game (third – 37.3) and caused turnovers per game (third – 10.8).

MOCK FROM PANNELL – So far this season, Rob Pannell has been credited with the assist on 14 of Steve Mock's 30 goals (47 percent). Of the 101 goals Mock has scored while playing with Pannell (14 were scored during Pannell's injury in 2012), 38 have been assisted on by Pannell (39 percent).

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 76-16 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

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 179. That is 81 more assists than Lehigh's David DiMara, who sits in second place with 98.

GAINING ON GOALS LIST – Rob Pannell is currently in fifth place in Cornell history with 127 career goals and needs just one more to match Mark Webster (1968-70) in fourth place … Steve Mock currently sits in seventh place with 115 career goals and needs just eight to match Jon Levine (1974-76) with 123.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 275-157-7 (.634). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 14-1 (.933) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red will face six teams from New York in 2013 and is currently 5-0 in those games … Cornell currently has an 12-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.

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 124 points from its attack and 96 points from its midfield and defense.

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. The Big Red is 3-1 vs. ranked opponents this season.

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 709-444-27 all-time, and its 709 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red entered the week ranked third in the nation with 37.3 ground balls per contest, thanks in large part to Doug Tesoriero (21st – 5.8 gbpg.) and Thomas Keith (31st – 5.0 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 47 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-175 games (.686).

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 37 of the 40 games (93 percent) under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 31 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered nine or fewer goals 26 times during that same span.

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 73 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.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 47-11 record in its last 58 regular-season non-conference games (81 percent), dating back to the Big Red's 16-14 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on April 12, 2005.

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.

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 have a short turnaround as it travels to No. 8 Syracuse to take on the Orange on Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.