GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: No. 10 Cornell vs. Canisius
FACE OFF: Tuesday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2015 Records: Cornell (7-3, 3-1 Ivy League); Canisius (2-8, 2-2 MAAC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 11-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 19-6, March 4, 2014 in Ithaca, N.Y.
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Canisius

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THE MATCHUP: The No. 10 Big Red men's lacrosse team will play a pair of home games this week, beginning with Tuesday's contest vs. Canisius. Cornell saw its four-game winning streak come to an end last weekend as a heartbreaking 10-9 loss at Harvard drops the Big Red to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the Ivy League. The Golden Griffins have lost three of their last four outings and sit at 2-8 overall and 2-2 in the MAAC. The game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network. 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 http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mlax/.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. CANISIUS: Cornell first faced the Golden Griffins in the final game of the 1997 season. That game, a 24-14 victory for the Big Red, was the final contest of legendary head coach Richie Moran's illustrious career. The teams have met 10 times since then (1998, 2002-03, 2008-14), all of which have been victories for Cornell, as it owns a perfect 11-0 record in the series … Head coach Matt Kerwick is 6-0 all-time vs. Canisius.

LOOKING AT THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS: After going 0-5 to start the season, Canisius has won two of its last five contests to improve to 2-8 overall and 2-2 in the MAAC. In total, just four Golden Griffins have at least 10 points with junior attackman Billy Jacobbi leading the team with 14 goals, while senior midfielder Tim Edwards is first on the squad in assists (11) and points (22). Edwards has also taken the majority of face-offs for Harvard, going 83-of-152 (.546) and picking up a team-high 4.9 ground balls per game. In goal, senior Alex Govenettio has started all 10 contests and has posted a 10.83 goals-against average and a .485 save percentage. 
 
LAST TIME VS. CANISIUS: Cornell went on a 12-0 run to erase an early Canisius lead and remain unbeaten (4-0) with a 19-6 victory over the Golden Griffins on March 4, 2014 at Schoellkopf Field. Eleven different players scored goals for the Big Red, who also held dominant advantages in ground balls (46-19), shots (44-28), saves (10-7), face-offs (17-12) and caused turnovers (11-7) in picking up its 11th win in the all-time series without a loss. Cornell also went 3-of-5 on its man-up chances, while holding the Griffs to a 1-of-3 performance. Connor Buczek scored four goals and John Edmonds had four points on three goals and an assist to lead the Cornell offense. Both Matt Donovan and Sean Doyle registered a goal and two assists, while Connor Entenmann and Dan Lintner each had two goals and an assist as part of their three-point days. In all, seven players had multi-point games, with John Hogan's two goals making him the seventh. Defensively, Mike Huttner, Connor Hunt and Mike O'Neil each caused two turnovers, while the goalkeeping trio of Brennan Donville, Christian Knight and William Joyce made a combined 10 saves. Knight entered the game at halftime and played just over 24 minutes, making seven saves in his first collegiate appearance while surrendering four goals before Joyce closed out the victory. Doug Tesoriero won 12-of-20 face-offs and earned a game-high 12 ground balls, while Cole McCormack won 5-of-8 restarts. Canisius got two goals and two assists from Tim Edwards and two goals and an assist from Vince Gravino. Edwards also won 8-of-16 face-offs, scooped up five ground balls and caused one turnover. In goal Alex Govenettio started out strong but ended the afternoon with just five saves and allowed 12 goals before giving way to Jeff Wilson at the half. Wilson finished with just two saves. The Big Red scored the final 11 goals of the first half after falling behind midway through the first quarter. Cornell turned a 3-2 game after the first 15 minutes into an 8-3 lead just 5:22 into the second period and never looked back. After Cornell scored just 56 seconds into the contest, the Griffs scored consecutive goals to take an early 2-1 with 8:01 left in the period. That was the highlight of the game for the Griffs, as soon after the Big Red seized control. A suffocating defense, a quick-strike offense and dominant play by Tesoriero at the face-off "x" were the ingredients for what turned out to be a runaway as Cornell held the Griffs without a goal for a span of 29:25.
 
A WIN OVER CANISIUS WOULD:
• keep Cornell a perfect 4-0 on Schoellkopf Field.
• keep the Big Red undefeated in the series, improving to 12-0 all-time vs. the Griffs.
• improve head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 128-109 and to 6-0 vs. Canisius.
• be the 733rd win in program history, improving Cornell to 733-459-27 all-time.
• Improve the Big Red to 283-161-7 all-time and 5-1 this season vs. teams from New York State.
• make Cornell 16-8 all-time when ranked No. 10 in the USILA Coaches' Poll.

THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (18-8, .692) 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 (127-109) with stints at Jacksonville University, Hobart, Alfred and Randolph-Macon. 
 
CANADIAN CONNECTION: Cornell junior goalie Brennan Donville won a gold medal this past summer at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships as a member of Team Canada. The head coach for Team Canada was Canisius head coach Randy Mearns. 
 
50/50: Matt Donovan needs just six points to become just the 10th player in Cornell history to post at least 50 points in consecutive seasons.
 
SEASON STREAKS:
• Cornell has won the face-off battle in 9-of-10 games this season.
• The Big Red has won the ground ball battle in 9-of-10 games this season.
• Cornell has registered double-digit goals in seven of its last nine contests.
• The Big Red has taken at least 40 shots in seven of its last nine contests.
• Cornell has put at least 25 shots on goal in six of its last nine games.
• The Big Red has won two straight overtime contests.
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Domenic Massimilian has won the face-off battle in all 9-of-10 games this season
• Domenic Massimilian has picked up at least 10 ground balls in 8-of-10 games this season.
• Domenic Massimilian has won at least 15 face offs in seven of the Big Red's last nine games.
• Dan Lintner has registered a hat trick in five of the Big Red's last six games.
• Matt Donovan has registered at least four points in eight of the Big Red's last nine games.
• Matt Donovan has registered a hat trick six of the Big Red's last nine games.
• Connor Buczek has registered at least one point in 13 consecutive games.
• John Hogan has registered at least one point in 11 consecutive games.
• Chris Cook has picked up at least two ground balls in 9-of-10 games this season.
• Jordan Stevens has picked up at least one ground ball in each of the Big Red's last 30 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. Four of the top five spots are held by Ivy League schools (Cornell, Princeton, Brown, Yale), with Bucknell coming in at third overall.  
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE: Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 225-73 for a .755 winning percentage. Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 91-22 overall (.805) 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 is 4-1 so far this season vs. teams from New York with games vs. Canisius and Hofstra remaining.
 
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 six opponents ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Syracuse (second), Virginia (sixth), Albany (eighth), Yale (ninth), Brown (12th) and Princeton (14th). … Cornell is 2-2 so far this season vs. ranked opponents.

GROUND BALL GUY: With his career high 14 ground balls vs. Harvard, Domenic Massimilian jumped into the top 10 in Cornell history for ground balls in a single season (102). Massimilian is averaging 10.2 ground balls per game and is on pace to break the school record of 133, set by Doug Tesoriero during the 2013 season.
 
MOVING ON UP:
•Jordan Stevens currently ranks third in Cornell history for career caused turnovers (56) and needs 13 more to surpass Thomas Keith in second place.
•Matt Donovan ranks eighth in Cornell history for career goals (108) and needs 16 more to surpass Jon Levine in seventh place.
•Matt Donovan is tied with Sean Greenhalgh in sixth place in Cornell history for career points (169) and needs six more to pass Jon Levine in fifth place.
•Matt Donovan is tied with John Glynn in ninth place in Cornell history for career assists (61) and needs just two more to pass Bruce Burno in eighth place.
•Connor Buczek ranks 17th in Cornell history for career points (136) and needs just two more to surpass Tom Marino in 16th place.
•Connor Buczek is in 16th place in Cornell history for career goals (90) and needs just one more to tie Max Seibald in 15th place.
•Connor Buczek is tied with David Key, Billy Fort, Pat Gallagher, and Vince Angotti in 20th place in Cornell history for career assists (46) and needs just one more to tie Matt Crowley in 19th place.
•Dan Lintner ranks 28th in Cornell history for career goals (77) and needs just three more to tie Al Rimmer in 27th place.
•Christian Knight ranks 15th in Cornell history for career saves (236) and needs just eight more to surpass Rich Yost and move into 14th place.
•Domenic Massimilian currently ranks 15th in Cornell history for career face-offs won (165) and needs just three more to jump into 13^th place, passing J.D Nelson (167) and Austin Boykin (166).
 
NCAA CAREER LEADERBOARD:
•Matt Donovan ranks 13th among current Division I players for career goals with 108. He is 13th overall in career points (169) and 24th in career assists (61).
•Connor Buczek ranks 23rd among current Division I players for career goals with 90. He is 27th overall in career points (136) and 44th in career assists (46).
•Dan Lintner ranks 39th among current Division I players for career goals with 77.
 
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 is currently ranked second all-time among midfielders with 136 career points and needs just six more to surpass Max Seibald (2006-09) and move into first place.
 
FACE-OFF FRENZY: In his first season as a starter, sophomore Domenic Massimilian has been outstanding for the Big Red. He ranks fifth in the nation with a .664 face-off winning percentage. He is also second in the country with 10.20 ground balls per game … Massimilian has won the face-off battle in 9-of-10 Big Red games this season and has led the team in ground balls in 9-of-10 games.

TOP 10 NATION: The Big Red is ranked in the top 10 nationally in just two statistical categories – face-off winning percentage (fourth – .657) and ground balls per game (sixth – 35.80).

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 82-of-178 points coming from the attack unit (46 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 9.3 saves per game, ranking 41st 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).
 
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; 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; Canisius; Manhattan – 6 games

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 732-449-27 all-time, and its 732 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
  
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Connor Buczek was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on March 30. It was the first conference weekly award for the Big Red this season, as well as the first-ever weekly honor for Buczek. The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Buczek was instrumental in Cornell's 8-2 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday. With the Big Red clinging to a slim 3-1 lead at halftime Buczek took over the game. He scored a man-up goal early in the third quarter, then assisted on a goal two minutes later, before closing the quarter with a pair of tallies to put the Big Red up 8-1.
 
FEWEST GOALS: Christian Knight allowed just one goal in 51:27 of action in an 8-2 victory over Dartmouth on March 28. The single goal allowed was the fewest by Knight, and the fewest by a Cornell goalie playing more than 45 minutes in a game since Matt McMonagle held Army to a single goal during the 2006 season … The two goals surrendered by the Big Red was the fewest since that same 13-1 victory over the Black Knights.
 
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 remains in Ithaca this weekend as it welcomes Hofstra to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 11 at noon.