ITHACA, N.Y. -- John Edmonds registered the 10th hat trick of his career to pace the new-look Big Red, but a five-goal third quarter by No. 20 Penn State proved to be the difference as the No. 18 Cornell men's lacrosse team fell in its season opener, 8-7. Junior face-off specialist Domenic Massimilian won 14-of-19 restarts and scored the first goal of the contest, while senior goalie Brennan Donville finished with eight saves. 
 
The Big Red outshot the visitors, 37-29, but PSU held the edge in shots on goal (16-14). In addition to dominating the faceoff circle, Massimilian also had 10 ground balls as Cornell had the significant 25-16 advantage in ground balls. Both teams were nearly perfect on the clears with just one failed clear apiece.  Cornell finished with 12 turnovers, to Penn State's nine.
 
FROM THE COACHES
Matt Kerwick
"I thought we saw a lot of character from our team today in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately it was a sub-par third quarter. I didn't think we did much of anything in that quarter to deserve to win this game. But the fight in the fourth quarter showed who we are going to be moving forward. We knew it was going to be a 60-minute game and unfortunately I think we played 45 or 50 minutes."
 
"We made a lot of young mistakes today. There were three or four little mistakes that are magnified in a one-goal loss. A lot of them were by freshman. That's a big opponent to play your first collegiate career game. I thought those guys, the four or five freshman that played a lot of minutes for us, did  a great job, but little plays can come back to haunt you in a one-goal loss. We're gonna learn from that. They're a group of smart guys in that locker room and we're gonna get back to work on Monday."
 
Jeff Tambroni
"There were a lot of mixed emotions going on here today. It was great to see some old faces and see Schoellkopf Field. Once the game started things seemed to settle in and went back into game mode. We were happy that we were able to come out in the second half and settle in a little bit and find a way to get the ball past Brennan Donville."
 
"It's great to be here. I was thankful that we were able to schedule a game against a premier program like Cornell. I think it's great for our program and for our guys to see this kind of competition so we were thankful we were able to have this opportunity."
 
"I think Matt [Kerwick] is doing a great job. Once we get on the sidelines, he or I have little to do with what's going on. Our players do the majority of the work on the field. But it's nice to watch what Matt and his staff are doing. I think he's doing a great job. Cornell is a special place, it has a special history, and he's doing a wonderful job carrying the torch on with the young men he has. They play with a lot of heart and a lot of class. Cornell is in great hands."  
 
HOW IT ENDED
Cornell entered the final quarter trailing 7-3 but Edmonds sparked the comeback with a gola at the 10:27 mark. Less than two minutes later, Matthews unleashed a rocket, off a pass from Poccia, to make it a two-goal game. The Big Red then scored twice in a span of 38 seconds to knot the game at 7-7. The first goal was a nice individual effort from Edmonds, before Colton Rupp notched his first career goal, sending home a shot despite falling to the ground.
 
Cornell won the ensuing face-off but Matthews shot was saved and moments later Matt Florence scored the game-winner. The Big Red had one last chance when a wild final five seconds ended in a shot by Edmonds that was saved at the buzzer by Will Schreiner for his seventh and final save of the day.
 
THE TURNING POINT
The Nittany Lions' big third quarter came at the expense of Cornell miscues, as three of the five PSU goals came as a direct result of a Big Red turnover.
 
HOW IT STARTED
The game started with a bang for the Big Red as Massimillian won the opening face-off and scored six seconds later on a breakaway to stake Cornell the 1-0 lead. Just over seven minutes later Edmonds scored on a doge to the cage to make it a 2-0 game.
 
PSU scored twice in the final 5:53 of the quarter to knot the game at 2-2 with tallies from Mike Sutton and Matt Florence.
 
The second quarter was tightly contested with the goalies combining for five saves and Emmy Poccia accounting for the only tally of the stanza to put the Big Red up, 3-2, at the half.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red is back in action next weekend when it meets Hobart for the 137th meeting between the two programs. The game will take place at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla., as part of the inaugural Lacrosse News Network Florida Lacrosse Classic on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1:15 p.m. The event marks the first time in the history of the series that the game will be played outside of New York State, but is the fourth neutral site contest since the 2010 season, with the Big Red posting a record of 3-0 in the previous meetings.