GAME INFORMATION
GAME #7: No. 7 Cornell vs. Penn
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2015 Records: Cornell (5-2, 1-0 Ivy League); Penn (3-4, 0-1 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 64-23-3
LAST MEETING: Penn won 11-10, May 2, 2015 in Cambridge, Mass.
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Penn

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THE MATCHUP: The No. 7 Cornell men's lacrosse team will play its Ivy League home opener when it welcomes Penn to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 24 at 3 p.m. The Big Red is riding a two-game win streak with a  decisive 14-7 victory over No. 6 Yale in its Ivy League opener before squeaking past Colgate in overtime this past Tuesday night to improve to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The Quakers have lost its last two outings to No. 19 Villanova and No. 11 Princeton by identical scores of 17-11 to slip to 3-4 on the year and 0-1 in the Ivy League. The game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.  Local fans can hear Barry Leonard and Tom LaFalce on WHCU 870 AM / 95.9 FM, and lives stats will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mlax/.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN: The Cornell and Penn rivalry is the second-oldest in the Ivy League and eighth longest in the nation, beginning in the Quakers' second varsity season, 1901. The Big Red, which had already been fielding a team for nine seasons, took the 3-1 victory, the first of six-straight for Cornell. The two programs began playing each other regularly in 1920, meeting nearly every season since. Saturday's edition will be the 91st meeting in the series, with the Big Red holding a dominating 64-23-3 record overall. Cornell saw its eight-game winning-streak come to an end in last season's Ivy League Tournament.

LOOKING AT THE QUAKERS: Penn sits at 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Ivy League after a pair of 17-11 losses to No. 19 Villanova and No. 11 Princeton over the past two weekends. The Quakers' offense is led by Nick Doktor with team highs in points (33) and assists (23), while Joe McCallion has registered a team best 14 goals. Reilly Hupfeldt (12) and Isaac Bock (10) are the only other members of the team to reach double-digit points. The Quakers have used two different players to take face offs, posting a .497 winning percentage as a team, with Rob Savage (53-107; .495) taking the majority of restarts for Penn. In goal, junior Jimmy Sestilio has seen the majority of playing time, posting a 2-3 record to go along with a 12.10 goals-against average and a .500 save percentage.  Senior John Lopes has gone 1-1 on the year with a 10.51 GAA and a .290 save percentage.  
 
LAST TIME VS. PENN: The Quakers' Zack Losco scored the final four goals of the contest, including the game-winner with 50 seconds to play, to help No. 10 Penn to an 11-10 win over No. 11 Cornell in the first semifinal of the Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Tournament on May 2, 2014 at Harvard Stadium. The victory ended the Big Red's eight-game winning streak over Penn and advanced the Quakers into the championship game. Losco's four-goal performance in the fourth completely erased all the momentum form Cornell's 6-0 scoring as the Big Red built a 10-7 lead heading into the final stanza. Cornell was led by Matt Donovan with three goals and three assists, while Dan Lintner tallied three goals and one assist. Connor Buczek finished with two points (one goal, one assist) and Joe Paoletta finished with two goals. Losco had a career-high six points on five goals and one assist, while Pat Berkery and Drew Belinsky had two goals and two assists, respectively, to lead Penn. The Quakers, winners of seven games in a row, held the edge in shots (35-29), ground balls (40-32) and face-offs (14-of-25). They scored on 3-of-5 extra-man chances and held the Big Red to just a 1-of-4 performance. In goal, Brian Feeney made nine saves, while Christian Knight stopped seven for the Big Red.
 
A WIN OVER PENN WOULD:
• improve the Big Red to 65-23-3 vs. Penn and 249-98-1 all-time vs. Ivy League.
• be Cornell's ninth win in the last 10 meetings the Quakers.
• improve head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 126-108 and to 2-1 vs. the Quakers.
• be the 731st win in program history.
• be Cornell's 249th Ivy League win.
• make Cornell 18-7 all-time when ranked No. 7 in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• be the Big Red's ninth straight victory when ranked seventh in the USILA Coaches' Poll.

THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (16-7, .696) was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse at Cornell University on June 11, 2014. Kerwick, who served in the position on an interim basis during the 2014 season, became the 11th head coach in the programs' 122-year history ... Kerwick has 16 years of head coaching experience (125-108) with stints at Jacksonville University, Hobart, Alfred and Randolph-Macon. 
 
IVY KINGS:
• Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 28 titles, including 17 undefeated crowns.
• Cornell has won a share of 11 of the last 12 Ivy League titles.
• The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 248-98-1.
 
SEASON STREAKS:
• Cornell has won the face-off battle in all seven games this season.
• The Big Red has won the ground ball battle in all seven games this season.
• Cornell has registered double-digit goals in its last six contests.
• The Big Red has taken at least 40 shots in each of its last six games.
• Cornell has put at least 25 shots on goal in each of its last six games.
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Domenic Massimilian has picked up at least 10 ground balls in each of the Big Red's last six games.
• Domenic Massimilian has won at least 15 face offs in each of the Big Red's last six games.
• Dan Lintner has registered a hat trick in each of the Big Red's last three games.
• Matt Donovan has registered at least five points in each of the Big Red's last six games.
• Matt Donovan has registered a hat trick in each of the Big Red's last six games.
• Connor Buczek has registered at least one point in 10 consecutive games.
• John Hogan has registered at least one point in eight consecutive games.
• Chris Cook has picked up at least three ground balls in each of the Big Red's last six games.
• Jordan Stevens has picked up at least one ground ball in each of the Big Red's last 27 games.
• Matt Donovan has score each of the Big Red's last two overtime game-winners (Michigan in 2014; Colgate in 2015).
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE: Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 223-73 for a .753 winning percentage. Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 89-22 overall (.802) with perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
 
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND:  Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 282-161-7 (.634) … The Big Red will face seven teams from New York in 2015.
 
OPEN LATE: Cornell played its first home game of the season vs. Colgate on March 17. That was the latest home opener since the 1994 squad played its first game on Schoellkopf Field on March 26 vs. Yale. In 1994, the season began on March 6 and the Big Red played just two games before its home opener. ... Only two other teams in Division I have a season-opener as late, or later than the Big Red:
1) Marquette – April 4
2) Cornell – March 17; Canisius – March 17
 
ON THE ROAD: With freezing temperatures forcing the Big Red to relocate its Feb. 24 contest vs. Binghamton to a neutral site, Cornell played its first six games away from Schoellkopf Field. That was the longest stretch of consecutive games away from Ithaca since the 1953 team opened the season with a stretch of six games played at Baltimore, Duke, UNC, RPI, Syracuse and Hobart ... Only three other teams in Division I have had roads swings of six or more games to open the season:
1) Marquette – 10 games
2) Cornell – 6 games; Canisius – 6 games; Manhattan – 6 games

CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 32-17 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised when the Big Red defeated Colgate, 10-9, in overtime on March 17, 2015. Of the 16 losses, 15 have come against ranked opponents, including 11 against squads ranked in the top-10, five of which were ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.
 
OVERTIME NOTES: With its 10-9 overtime win vs. Colgate on March 17, 2015 Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past nine 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 8-5 record in OT games … Matt Donovan has registered consecutive OT game-winners for the Big Red, scoring against the Raiders after notching the game-winner at Michigan in 2014.

RANKED OPPONENTS:  The Big Red's 2015 season currently features seven opponents ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Syracuse (first), Virginia (eighth), Yale (ninth), Princeton (10th), Brown (12th), Albany (13th), and Harvard (15th) … Cornell is 2-2 so far this season vs. ranked opponents.

MOVING ON UP:
•Jordan Stevens currently ranks fourth in Cornell history for career caused turnovers (54), needing just two more to surpass Tom Freshour in third place.
•Matt Donovan ranks eighth in Cornell history for career goals (106) and needs 18 more to surpass Jon Levine in eighth place.
•Matt Donovan ranks 10th in Cornell history for career points (161) and needs just two more to surpass Al Rimmer (1969-71) and move in ninth place.
•Matt Donovan ranks 11th in Cornell history for career assists (55) and needs just three more to surpass Eric Pittard (2006-07) and move into 10th place.
•Connor Buczek ranks 22nd in Cornell history for career points (126) and needs just two more to tie Matt Crowley (1980-83) and John Glynn (2005-09) in 20th place.
•Connor Buczek ranks 24th in Cornell history for career goals (84) and needs just one more to tie Steve Meyer (1986-89) in 23rd place.
•Connor Buczek ranks 29th in Cornell history for career assists (42) and needs just one more to tie Tom Peddy (1964-66) in 28th place.
•Dan Lintner ranks 31st in Cornell history for career goals (71) and needs just two more to pass Vince Angotti (1987-90) in 30th place.
•Christian Knight ranks 16th in Cornell history for career saves (205) and needs just four more to surpass Joe D'Amelio (1973-75) and move into 15th place.
 
NCAA CAREER LEADERBOARD:
•Matt Donovan ranks eighth among current Division I players for career goals with 106. He is 12th overall in career points (161) and 25th in career assists (55).
•Connor Buczek ranks 21st among current Division I players for career goals with 84. He is 28th overall in career points (126) and 43rd in career assists (42).
•Dan Lintner ranks 37th among current Division I players for career goals with 71.
 
BIG IN THE MIDFIELD: With two points vs. Penn on May 2, 2014 Connor Buczek became just the 14th midfielder in Cornell history to reach 100 career points … He currently ranks fourth all-time among midfielders with 126 career points and needs just two more to tie John Glynn (2005-09) and move into third place overall.
 
FACE-OFF FRENZY: In his first season as a starter, sophomore Domenic Massimilian has been outstanding for the Big Red. As of March 18, he ranked seventh in the nation with a .677 face-off winning percentage. He was also first in the country with 10.43 ground balls per game … Massimilian has won the face-off battle in all seven Big Red games this season and has led the team in ground balls in each game.

TOP 10 NATION: At of March 18, the Big Red ranked in the top 10 nationally in four statistical categories, including face-off winning percentage (fourth – .667); ground balls per game (sixth – 35.86);  man-up offense (ninth – .522); and scoring offense (10th – 13.29).

BALANCED OFFENSE: After a slow start by the attack unit that saw a disproportionate amount of its offense come from the midfield, the Big Red has seen its scoring come back into balance with 62-of-132 points coming from the attack unit (47 percent). During the 2014 season, Cornell received 156 points (114 goals, 42 assists) from its attack (49.1 percent) and 162 points (90 goals, 72 assists) from its midfield and defense. 
 
SAVES A LOT: So far this season, Christian Knight has averaged 8.9 saves per game, ranking 45th in the nation. A year ago, his 11.00 saves per game ranked 25th in Cornell history and was the most by a Big Red goalie since Matt McMonagle averaged 11.25 saves per game during the 2007 season.
 
ELITE COMPANY:  Over the past 10 seasons (2005-2014) only eight schools have registered 100 victories – Duke (151), UVA (127), Cornell (121), Syracuse (118), Notre Dame (114), Denver (113), Maryland (112), Hopkins (111) … During that span, only six have won at least 70 percent of its games – Duke (.803), Cornell (.766), Virginia (.760), Notre Dame (.735), Syracuse (.728) and Hopkins (.715).
 
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The Big Red was named the NCAA Team of the Week on March 2 after improving to 3-1 on the year with wins over Binghamton and No. 8 Albany. Cornell opened the week with a 17-9 victory over the Bearcats, before downing the Great Danes, 16-9.
 
BUCZEK'S GOT SENIOR CLASS: Cornell senior Connor Buczek has been named one of 20 candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate men's lacrosse, as one of the top NCAA student-athletes who excels both on and off the field. 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.
 
IVY OPENERS: The Big Red earned a convincing 14-7 victory over Yale on March 14 in its 60th Ivy League opener. Since the conference began play in the 1956 season, the Big Red has posted a 45-15 record in Ivy League openers (.750), including winning its last 16, dating back to the 1999 season when it fell to the Bulldogs, 7-6. More often than not, Cornell has met either Yale or Harvard in the conference opener, playing a different school on only six occasions.

WIN NO. 725: Cornell's 12-10 victory over Princeton on April 26, 2014 was the 725th win in program history. The Big Red is now 730-448-27 all-time, and its 730 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
 
FAMILY TIES:
• Head Coach Matt Kerwick's parents Thomas and the late Patricia Kerwick, as well as his sister Ann, all graduated from Cornell.
• Russell Scott has a total of 14 family members that attended Cornell, while his grandfather, Thomas W. Scott, is a retired Cornell professor of Agronomy … His father, Tom (football), his uncles John Dentes (football), George Dentes (football/sprint football/baseball), Terry Scott (sprint football), and Sam Happel (lacrosse) and his cousins Scott Dentes (sprint football) and Zak Dentes (sprint football) all played sports at Cornell … Happel played on the Big Red's national semifinal team in 1982.
• Chris Cook's father, Kevin '84, and uncle, Ed Cook '86, were All-American lacrosse players for Cornell.
• Andrew Keith's brother, Thomas '13, was an All-American long-stick midfielder for the Big Red, earning four varsity letters from 2010-13.
• Ryan Matthew's cousin Matt Sutherland played lacrosse at Cornell.
• Tim LaBeau's father Tim '77 played football for the Big Red from 1973-77, while his mother, Nancy '78, and two sisters, Kristi '09 and Kate '10, all graduated from Cornell.
• Matt Schattner's uncle, Mark Major, played hockey at Cornell from 1984-87, while his aunt, Martha Manilla Major, played soccer for the Big Red from 1986-87.
• Dan Nemirov's mother, Jamie, as well as one aunt and his maternal grandfather all graduated from Cornell. 
• Scott Flynn's grandfather Norman Penney attended Cornell Law School and later served as both a professor in the law school and Dean of University Faculty. 
•Charlie Estill's grandfather Frederick Siefke graduated from Cornell in 1948.
•Troy Revello's older sister Grace attends Cornell.
 
NEXT UP:  The Big Red will play its third consecutive home game when it welcomes Dartmouth to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m.