Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #12: Cornell at Hofstra
FACE OFF: Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m.
SITE: Shuart Stadium (Hempstead, N.Y.)
2014 Records: Cornell (9-2, 3-1 Ivy); Hofstra (8-3, 3-0 CAA)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 6-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 11-8, May 9, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
LIVE STATS: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?gid=hof&theme=hofstra
LIVE MOBILE STATS: http://hofstrastats.com/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.gohofstra.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=22200
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell 
TELEVISION: None
 
THE MATCHUP: The No. 6 Cornell men's lacrosse team will look to end a two-game skid when it travels to No. 16 Hofstra on Saturday, April 12 at 1 p.m. The game can be heard online through the Ivy League Digital Network and fans in the Ithaca area can hear the game on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Howie Borkan on the call. Live video will also be available through GoHofstra.com.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. HOFSTRA: The Big Red holds a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series with Hofstra, which began in the 1972 season. After Cornell won the first meeting, 5-3, the two squads didn't meet again for nearly 20 years when the rivalry was renewed with a 15-14 Big Red victory in 1990. Cornell won the other two meetings that decade before falling to the Pride, 13-5, in 2003. The Big Red responded the next season with a 14-12 victory. Cornell made it two in a row over the Pride with an 11-8 victory in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament.

LOOKING AT THE PRIDE: After opening the season with back-to-back two-goal losses to Marquette and Princeton, Hofstra has won eight of its last nine contests to improve to 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the CAA. During that span, the Prides' lone loss was an overtime defeat at St. John's on March 18. Sophomore attackman Sam Llinares leads the team with 36 points and 21 assists, while senior attackman Torin Varn has a team-high 21 goals. Out of the midfield, senior Drew Coholan and junior Mike Malave have 17 and 14 goals, respectively. In the face-off circle, freshman Kris Clarke has taken the majority of draws, winning 129-237 (.544). Junior netminder Chris Selva has played all but 3:17 on the season and has posted an 8.52 goals-against average and a .505 save percentage.  
 
CORNELL VS. THE CAA – The Big Red is 46-26 vs. the current members of the CAA and is currently riding a four-game winning streak against the conference. Cornell is 20-19 all-time vs. Penn State, 16-5 vs. UMass, 6-1 against Hofstra, 2-0 vs. Towson and 2-1 against Delaware, but has never faced Drexel.
 
A WIN OVER HOFSTRA WOULD:
• keep the Big Red undefeated in road games this season at 6-0.
• give Cornell its third consecutive win over the Pride.
• be the Big Red's fifth straight win over a CAA opponent.
• improve interim head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 119-103 and to 1-1 vs. the Pride.
• be the 724th win in program history.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (9-2) will serve as the Interim Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse for the 2014 season ... Kerwick comes to Cornell with 15 years of head coaching experience (118-103) with stints at Jacksonville University, Hobart, Alfred and Randolph-Macon. 
 
WHAT A START!: Coach Kerwick's 9-0 record to start his Cornell career is the second best in Big Red men's lacrosse history, second only to Ned Harkness, who's 1966 and 1967 squads won 22-straight games before falling to Princeton, 7-5, on May 20, 1967. The loss to the Tigers was the lone defeat during Harkness' time with the lacrosse team, going 35-1 over three seasons.  
 
SEASON STREAKS:
• The Big Red has had at least one man-up goal in 10-of-11 games.
• Cornell has registered more ground balls than its opponents in 9-of-11 games.
• The Big Red has taken at least 40 shots in 8-of-11 games.
• The Big Red has had at least two man-up goals in 8-of-11 games.
• The Big Red has put at least 25 shots on goal in 7-of-11 games.
• Cornell has held its opponents to less than 10 goals in 7-of-11 games.
• The Big Red has had more penalties than its opponents in 7-of-11 games.

INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Doug Tesoriero has picked up at least one ground ball in 31 straight contests dating back to April 28, 2012.
• Tom Freshour has caused at least one turnover in 9-of-11 games this season.
• Dan Lintner has registered a hat trick in 8-of-11 games this season.
• Matt Donovan has registered at least three points in 8-of-11 games this season.
• Connor Buczek has registered at least three points in eight of Cornell's last nine games.
 
THE LAST UNDEFEATED: Cornell was the last undefeated team remaining in Division I men's lacrosse before falling to Harvard on April 5.
 
OFFENSIVE CONSISTANCY: Cornell opened the week ranked second in the nation in points per game (22.10), and scoring offense (14.30), while ranking fifth in scoring margin (5.20) and sixth in assists per game (7.80)  … The Big Red finished the 2013 season also ranked second in the nation in points per game (22.28), scoring offense (14.56), and assists per game (7.22), while topping the rankings in scoring margin (5.50). 
 
CORNELL DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK:
• Prior to its 14-9 loss to Harvard on April 5, Cornell had scored in double-digits in 20 games, going 17-3 in the process, dating back to a 9-8 loss to Bucknell on March 19, 2013.
• That streak ranks as the second-longest in program history. The Big Red reached double-figures in 51 straight contests from April 26, 1975 to May 20, 1978. During that streak, Cornell posted a 50-1 record.
• In all, the Big Red has scored in double-digits in at least 10 consecutive contests seven times in program history.
    51 -- April 26, 1975 to May 20, 1978
    20 -- March 23, 2013 to March 29, 2013              
    17 -- April 10, 1974 to April 12, 1927
    15 -- April 16, 1986 to May 25, 1987
    11 -- March 24, 2007 to May 26, 2007                  
    10 -- March 4, 1995 to April 18, 1995
    10 -- March 5, 1989 to April, 26, 1989 

STARTING 9-0: The Big Red's nine-straight wins to open the season was the best start since the 2007 season when the squad went 15-0 before losing to Duke, 12-11, in the national semifinals.
 
FACE-OFF FRENZY:
• With his 12 face-off wins on April 8 vs. Syracuse, Doug Tesoriero became the 21st player in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse history to win 600 career face-offs.
• Tesoriero set the school record for face-off wins in a career vs. Michigan on March 1, passing Addison Sollog (1999-2002). He currently has 610 career face-off wins.
• With 610 career face-off wins, Tesoriero ranks fourth in NCAA Division I among active players.  
• Tesoriero entered the week ranked fifth in the Ivy League and 33rd in the nation in face-off winning percentage (.533).
• Last season, Tesoriero set the single season record with 241 face-off wins, breaking the old mark of 192, which was set by Clayton Weber 1995.
 
GROUND BALL GUY:
• With nine ground balls on March 22 at Penn, Doug Tesoriero became the school's career ground ball record holder, surpassing Paul Schimoler (299; 1986-89).
• With his 322 career ground balls, Tesoriero ranks fifth overall in NCAA Division I among active players.  
• Tesoriero entered the week ranked first in the Ivy League and 12th in the nation with 7.80 ground balls per game.
• With his 133 ground balls in 2013, Tesoriero broke the school record by edging out Craig Jaeger, who had won 127 ground balls in 1978.
 
STEPPING UP: With 10 goals in the first two games of the season, Dan Lintner matched his season total from a year ago. He has registered a hat trick in seven of 10 games so far this season and currently leads the Big Red with 36 goals.
 
BALANCED OFFENSE: So far this season, Cornell has received 110 points (80 goals, 30 assists) from its attack (46.6 percent) and 126 points (72 goals, 54 assists) from its midfield and defense. 
 
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 278-159-7 (.634) … The Big Red, which will face six teams from New York in 2014, is currently 4-1 against teams from the Empire State.
 
TOP 10 NATION: The Big Red opened the week ranked in the top 10 nationally in seven statistical categories, including points per game (second – 22.10), scoring offense (second – 14.30), ground balls per game (third – 36.80), scoring margin (fifth – 5.20), assists per game (sixth – 7.80), man-up offense (seventh – .511) and shot percentage (seventh –.341).
 
RANKED OPPONENTS: The Big Red's 2014 season features seven opponents currently ranked in the USILA Coaches Poll – Syracuse, Virginia, Penn, Yale, Princeton, Hofstra and Hofstra … Cornell is 3-1 so far this season vs. opponents that were ranked during the time of the meeting (UVA, Yale, Penn, Syracuse).
 
FRESHMAN STOPPER: Christian Knight is the first freshman goalie to start a game for the Big Red since AJ Fiore started 17 contests in 2010. In his first start vs. No. 2 Virginia, Knight stopped 15 shots. Fiore made 15 saves twice during his rookie season, posting 20 in a loss to Syracuse and 15 in a triple overtime win against Loyola in the NCAA tournament.
 
TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH: The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the 2014 Tewaaraton Award men's watch list and a pair of Cornell players – Connor Buczek and Matt Donovan – 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 2014 Tewaaraton Award.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Matt Donovan earned back-to-back Ivy League Player of the Week honors on March 3 and March 10. His first honor came after registering eight goals, including the overtime game-winner vs. Michigan, in a pair of games vs. Binghamton and the Wolverines. The next week, he posted two goals and one assist in just three quarters vs. Canisius before helping the Big Red upset No. 2 Virginia with two goals and three assists. Of his five points vs. the Cavaliers, four came as Cornell fought back from an early deficit to take a 6-5 halftime lead.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman goalie Christian Knight earned three consecutive Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors earlier this season (March 10, March 17, March 24). He was the first Big Red player to take home back-to-back Rookie of the Week honors since Matt Donovan did so on April 2 and April 9, 2012. Knight's three selections are the most since Donovan won the award an Ivy League record five times in 2012.
 
ELITE COMPANY: Over the span of the past five seasons (2009-13), Cornell has racked up the third-most wins (62) and the fourth best winning percentage (.747) of any Division I men's lacrosse program.
 
FAMILY TIES: Connor Entenmann's father, Ken '85, and Russell Scott's uncle, Sam Happel '82, both played on the Big Red's national semifinal team in 1982, while Mike O'Neil's uncle, Geoff Hall '88 and Cole McCormack's uncle, Brian MCormack '88 both played on the national runner up squads in 1987 and 1988. Chris Cook's father Kevin '84 and his uncle Ed Cook '86 were All-American lacrosse players for the Big Red. 
 
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 723-447-27 all-time, and its 723 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
 
HI, MY NAME IS: The Big Red has two new faces on the sideline, as Peter Milliman and MJ Kiekebelt have joined the staff as assistant coaches. Milliman came to Cornell after one season as a member of the Princeton coaching staff. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Milliman spent four seasons as the head coach at Division II Pfeiffer, where he was twice named the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year. Kiekebelt comes to East Hill after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater RIT. Kiekebelt joined the Tigers coaching staff after a highly successful playing career that culminated in being named the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Player of the Year and leading RIT to the NCAA Division III national semifinals in 2011.
 
FRESH FACES: The Big Red added 12 newcomers to the 2013 roster, three of whom are transfer students. The group features four high school All-Americans and is comprised of eight midfielders, two defensemen and two goalkeepers. Additionally, the players represent six states, with seven players hailing from New York and one each from Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Cornell had three players named to the 2014 Face-Off Magazine Preseason All-American list. Connor Buczek was a first-team selection, while both Matt Donovan and Doug Tesoriero earned honorable mention selections.
 
GEOGRAPHY LESSON: The 35 players on the 2014 Big Red roster hail from 12 different states – California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and two Canadian provinces – Alberta and Ontario.
 
NEXT UP: The Big Red returns home for a pivotal Ivy League matchup against Brown on Saturday, March 19 at noon.