GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: No. 12 Cornell vs. No. 14 Princeton
FACE OFF: Saturday, April 25, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2015 Records: Cornell (9-4, 3-2 Ivy League); Princeton (8-4, 4-1 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 39-36-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 12-10, April 26, 2014 in Bethpage, N.Y.
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Princeton

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RADIO: WHCU 870 AM / 95.9 FM (Ithaca)
TELEVISION: Fox College Sports (Time Warner 372 in Ithaca; 608 on DirectTV; 449 on Dish)
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THE MATCHUP: The No. 12 Big Red men's lacrosse team will honor its 14-member Class of 2015 and look to earn a share of its 29th Ivy League title when it plays host to No. 14 Princeton on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. Cornell is coming off its worst loss in more than a decade in a 15-6 setback to Brown, knocking the Big Red out of first-place in the conference standings. Princeton, on the other hand, took over sole possession of first place with a one-goal victory over Harvard on April 17 to improve to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Cornell, No. 11 Brown and No. 9 Yale sit in a tie for second place in the conference with identical Ivy League records of 3-2. If Princeton loses to Cornell it will fall to 4-2 in Ivy play and give all three of the second place teams an opportunity to share the conference title with a victory in their respective contests. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox College Sports (Time Warner Ch. 372 in Ithaca; 608 on DirectTV) and can be seen online at http://www.foxsports.com/foxsportsgo/. Fans can hear Barry Leonard and Tom LaFalce on WHCU 870 AM / 95.9 FM or via the Ivy League Digital Network.  Lives stats will also be available at www.CornellBigRed.com.
 
SO WHAT'S THE SCENARIO?: Cornell's loss to Brown a week ago sets up an exciting final weekend for the Ivy League. The Big Red had already secured a spot in the Ivy League Tournament but will need to defeat Princeton today, and have Dartmouth beat the Bears, in order to host. If the Tigers defeat the Big Red, they will earn the top seed. Brown would earn it if they defeat Dartmouth and Cornell beats the Tigers. Yale has also secured a spot in the tournament, but cannot host. If Dartmouth beats Brown, Penn gets in over the Bears.
 
THANK YOU, SENIORS: The Cornell/Princeton game is the final regular season home contest for the Class of 2015 – Connor Buczek, Chris Cook, Matt Donovan, John Hogan, Connor Hunt, Mike Huttner, William Joyce, Tim LaBeau, Dan Lintner, Jack Molloy, Russell Scott, Jordan Stevens, Brian Sullivan, and Erik Turner – group of 14 seniors that has played instrumental roles in the recent success of the men's lacrosse program. As a group, these young men have won two Ivy League championships, with an opportunity to earn a third with a victory today, and will graduate having participated in four consecutive Ivy League Tournaments. To date the class holds a record of 43-17 overall (.716) with a mark of 18-5 in Ivy League play (.783). They have also appeared in two NCAA Tournaments, helping Cornell to reach the 2013 national semifinal game. Through their strong leadership and unselfish team play they have tirelessly committed themselves to improving their game to help make the team better, and for that, they will be greatly missed.
 
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 39-36-2 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 10 of the last 14 after a 12-10 victory over the Tigers last season.

LOOKING AT THE TIGERS: No. 14 Princeton earned a share of its 27^th Ivy League title with a victory last weekend vs. Harvard to improve to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference. The team is led by Mike MacDonald's 66 points (40 goals, 26 assists), as he becomes the first player in Tigers' men's lacrosse history to record 40 goals and 20 assists in the same season. Kip Orban (36 goals) and Ryan Ambler (19 goals, 22 assists) are also having tremendous campaigns as all three have registered more than 40 points on the  year. In the face-off circle, Sam Bonafede has taken the majority of draws for the Tigers, winning .482 percent (107-of-222). In goal, Tyler Blaisdell has played in just five games this season, but has started the last three. He has posted a 9.98 goals-against average and a .532 save percentage. Blaisdell took over starting duties from Eric Sanschagrin, who had started 9-of-10 games (11.19 GAA; .500 sv%).
 
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: Cornell freshman goalie Christian Knight made a career-high 16 saves, including six in the dramatic fourth quarter, as the No. 11 Big Red held on to defeat No. 19 Princeton, 12-10, on April 26 at Bethpage High School in Bethpage, N.Y. With the win, the Big Red finished at 5-1 in the Ivy League and shared the conference crown with Harvard. Knight wasn't the only freshman that impressed on the day, as defender Marshall Peters had an outstanding game, scoring the first two goals of his collegiate career and adding three ground balls to go along with one caused turnover. On the offensive end of the field, Cornell saw nine different players reach the point column, as the visitors assisted on 8-of-12 goals. Connor Buczek led the way with one goal and three assists, while attackman John Edmonds registered his sixth hat-trick of the season.  Matt Donovan added two goals and one assist, including the lone tally of the fourth quarter for either team, and Dan Lintner finished with a pair of goals. Senior face-off specialist Doug Tesoriero won 12-of-26 restarts and picked up eight ground balls to help the Big Red to a 34-26 advantage off the ground. Tesoriero also handed out two assists. Cornell also held the edge in shots (41-36) and turned the ball over four fewer times than Princeton (17-13). The Tigers had three failed clears (22-25) to Cornell's two (19-21) and despite some impressive offense by both teams, neither managed to register a man-up goal. Princeton (7-6, 2-4 Ivy) was led by Tucker Shanley's four goals, while Mike MacDonald handed out three assists. Ryan Ambler had three points (one goal, two assists), while Zach Currier scored twice. In goal, Eric Sanschagrin made 13 saves in the loss. The game was back-and-fourth throughout with seven ties, before back-to-back goals by Buczek and Donovan late in the third quarter gave Cornell a lead it would not relinquish.
 
A WIN OVER PRINCEOTN WOULD:
• hand the Big Red a share of its Ivy-best 29th conference title.
• give the Big Red at least a share of the Ivy League title for the third straight season and the 12th time in the last 13 campaigns.
• improve the Big Red to 6-0 on Schoellkopf Field, giving Cornell its fifth undefeated home season in the last 11 years. 
• give Cornell at least 10 wins in three consecutive seasons and in 10 of the last 11 seasons overall.
• Improve the Big Red to 3-3 vs. nationally-ranked opponents.
• cut Princeton's lead down to two games (39-27-2) in the series, while improving Head Coach Matt Kerwick's record to 2-0 vs. the Tigers.
• make the senior class 3-2 vs. Princeton.
• give Cornell 11 wins in the last 15 meetings with the Tigers dating back to a 12-11 overtime victory in 2004.
• improve Coach Kerwick's career record to 130-110 overall and 21-9 at Cornell.
• be the 735th win in program history, improving Cornell to 735-460-27 all-time.
• be Cornell's 251st Ivy League win, improving the team to 251-100-1 all-time vs. Ivy League opponents.
• make Cornell 15-6 all-time when ranked No. 12 in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• be the Big Red's 10^th consecutive victory when ranked No. 12 in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• give Cornell a 9-6 record all-time vs. the No. 14 ranked team in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• be the Big Red's fourth consecutive victory  vs. the No. 14 ranked team in the USILA Coaches' Poll.

THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (20-9, .690) 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 (129-110) 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 250-100-1.
• Princeton clinched a share of the 2015 Ivy League crown when it improved to 4-1 last weekend in a win over Harvard … It is the 27th conference title in Tiger history.
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE:
• With its win over Hofstra on April 11, the Big Red improved to 5-0 on Schoellkopf Field and remains one of just eight NCAA DI teams to have an undefeated home record on the season, joining North Carolina (10-0), Syracuse (8-0), Maryland (6-0), Denver (5-0), Detroit (5-0), Albany (4-0), and Hobart (4-0). 
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 227-73 for a .757 winning percentage. Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 93-22 overall (.807) with perfect slates in 2014 (5-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
 
BUCZEK'S GOT SENIOR CLASS: Cornell senior Connor Buczek has been named one of 10 finalists 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. Fans can vote for Buczek at: http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/lacrosse_2015/
 
GROUND BALL GUY: Domenic Massimilian currently sits in third place in Cornell history for ground balls in a single season (126). Massimilian is averaging 9.7 ground balls per game and is on pace to break the school record of 133, set by Doug Tesoriero during the 2013 season.
 1) 133 by Doug Tesoriero (2013)
 2) 127 by Craig Jaeger (1978)
 3) 126 by Domenic Massimilian (2015); Doug Tesoriero (2014)
 
50/50: With his four points vs. Hofstra on April 11, Matt Donovan became just the 10th player in Cornell history to post at least 50 points in consecutive seasons.
 
BIG IN THE MIDFIELD: With two goals vs. Hofstra on April 11, Connor Buczek broke Max Seibald's school record for career point by a midfielder … Wit 145 career points, Buczek is one of just 14 midfielders in Cornell history to reach 100 career points.
 
SEASON STREAKS:
• Cornell has won the face-off battle in 11-of-13 games this season.
• The Big Red has won the ground ball battle in 11-of-13 games this season.
• Cornell has registered double-digit goals in nine of its last 12 contests.
• The Big Red has taken at least 40 shots in 10 of its last 12 contests.
• Cornell has put at least 25 shots on goal in eight of its last 12 games.
• The Big Red defense has held opponents to fewer than 15 shots on goal in five of its last eight games.
• The Cornell defense has held its opponents to fewer than 10 goals in eight of its nine win.
• The Big Red has won two straight overtime contests.
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Domenic Massimilian has won the face-off battle in 11-of-13 games this season
• Domenic Massimilian has picked up at least 10 ground balls in 9-of-13 games this season.
• Domenic Massimilian has won at least 15 face offs in seven of the Big Red's last 12 games.
• Dan Lintner has registered a hat trick in six of the Big Red's last nine games.
• Matt Donovan has registered at least four points in nine of the Big Red's last 12 games.
• Matt Donovan has registered a hat trick seven of the Big Red's last 12 games.
• Connor Buczek has registered at least one point in 16 consecutive games.
• John Hogan has registered at least one point in 14 consecutive games.
• Chris Cook has picked up at least two ground balls in 12-of-13 games this season.
• Jordan Stevens has picked up at least one ground ball in each of the Big Red's last 33 games.

250 IVY WINS: With its 8-2 victory over Dartmouth on March 28, 2015, Cornell became the first program in the Ivy League history to reach 250 conference victories … The 250 conference wins are also the most conference wins by any school in Division I men's lacrosse history.
1. Cornell - 250 (Ivy)
2. Princeton -  237 (Ivy)
3. Bucknell - 211 (MAC/ECC/Patriot League)
4. Brown - 176 (Ivy)
5. Yale - 153 (Ivy)
                     
 
100 POINTS: Dan Lintner needs just nine points to become the 41^st player in Cornell history to record 100 career points. Last season, Matt Donovan and Connor Buczek joined the club. The last time the Big Red had three players reach the 100 point plateau while playing together came in 1976 with Mike French, Eamon McEneaney, John Levine and Bill Marino. 
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 33-18 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Harvard, 10-9, on April 4, 2015. Of the 18 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.

RANKED OPPONENTS:  The Big Red's 2015 season currently features seven opponents ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Syracuse (four), Albany (seventh), Virginia (eighth), Yale (ninth), Brown (11th), Princeton (14th), and Colgate (18th). … Cornell is 2-3 so far this season vs. ranked opponents. The Big Red also defeated Colgate but the Raiders were not ranked at the time of the contest.
 
MOVING ON UP:
•Jordan Stevens currently ranks third in Cornell history for career caused turnovers (62) and needs seven more to surpass Thomas Keith in second place.
•Matt Donovan ranks eighth in Cornell history for career goals (115) and needs nine more to surpass Jon Levine in seventh place.
•Matt Donovan sits in fifth place in Cornell history for career points (178) and needs two more to pass Ryan Hurley in fourth place.
•Matt Donovan sits in eighth place in Cornell history for career assists (63) and needs 20 more to pass Al Rimmer in seventh place.
•Connor Buczek ranks 14th in Cornell history for career points (145) and needs seven more to pass Mark Webster in 13th place.
•Connor Buczek is in 10th place in Cornell history for career goals (98) and needs two more to pass Chris Danler in ninth place.
•Connor Buczek is tied with Matt Crowley in 19th place in Cornell history for career assists (47) and needs just one more to tie Bruce Cohen in 18th place.
•Dan Lintner is tied with Steve Meyer in 24^th place in Cornell history for career goals (85) and needs just two more to jump into the top 20.
•Christian Knight ranks 14th in Cornell history for career saves (252) and needs 19 more to surpass Tom Wagner and move into 13th place.
•Domenic Massimilian ranks 11th in Cornell history for career face-offs won (203) and needs just eight more to move into 10^th place, passing Scott Raasch.
 
NCAA CAREER LEADERBOARD:
•Matt Donovan ranks 14th among current Division I players for career goals with 115. He is 14th overall in career points (177) and 26th in career assists (63).
•Connor Buczek ranks 24th among current Division I players for career goals with 98. He is 30th overall in career points (145) and 46th in career assists (47).
•Dan Lintner ranks 37th among current Division I players for career goals with 83.
•John Hogan ranks 49th among current Division I players for career assists with 45.
 
FACE-OFF FRENZY: In his first season as a starter, sophomore Domenic Massimilian has been outstanding for the Big Red. He ranks seventh in the nation with a .649 face-off winning percentage. He is also second in the country with 9.69 ground balls per game … Massimilian has won the face-off battle in 11-of-13 Big Red games this season and has led the team in ground balls in 11-of-13 games.

TOP 10 NATION: The Big Red is ranked in the top 10 nationally in just two statistical categories – face-off winning percentage (fourth – .649), and ground balls per game (fifth – 35.85).

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 103-of-211 points coming from the attack unit (49 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. 
 
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 734-460-27 all-time, and its 734 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
 
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).

NEXT UP:  The Big Red has earned a spot in the 2015 Ivy League Tournament and will play on Friday, May 1, but the opponent and game location are still to be determined.