GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell at No. 11 Penn State
FACE OFF: Saturday, February 18, at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Penn State Lacrosse Field (University Park, Pa.)
2016 Records: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League); Penn State (2-0, 0-0 B1G)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 20-20
LAST MEETING: Penn State won 8-7, Feb. 20, 2016 in Ithaca, N.Y.

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GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Cornell men's lacrosse team opens its 122nd season this weekend as it travels to Penn State to take on former head coach Jeff Tambroni's Nittany Lions on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. Penn State opened its season with a 15-11 victory over Robert Morris on Feb. 4, before beating Hobart, 21-15 this past Saturday. The game can heard at www.WHCUradio.com or locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard on the call.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN STATE: Cornell and the _­­Nittany Lions first met in the 1923 season and went on to play 36 times prior to the 1961 season. The series took a 40-year hiatus before Penn State took an 8-7 victory in the 2001 season. The Big Red responded by winning the next two meetings (2002, 2003), but the Nittany Lions earned an 8-7 decision a year ago to tie the series at 20-20 all-time.
 
LOOKING AT THE NITTANY LIONS (portions courtesy GoPSUsports.com):  For the second year in a row, Penn State men's lacrosse was picked to finish third in the Big Ten by the conference's coaches. Additionally, senior attackman Nick Aponte, sophomore attackman Grant Ament and sophomore defenseman Chris Sabia were all named preseason All-Big Ten honorees. The team is off to a 2-0 record thanks to some blistering offense, averaging 18.0 goals per game to earn wins over Robert Morris and Hobart. Freshman Mac O'Keefe leads the team in goals (11) and points (14), while Ament has a team-high five assists to go along with five goals. In addition to O'Keefe, another freshman – Gerard Arceri – is proving to be extremely valuable for the Nittany Lions, winning 43-of-61 face-offs (.705) and picking up 11.5 ground ball per contest.  In goal, junior Will Schreiner and freshman Colby Kneese have started one game apiece. Kneese has allowed 12.59 goals-per game and saved .438 percent of the shots he has faced, while Schreiner has a 14.01 GAA and a .333 save percentage.

CORNELL VS. THE BIG 10: The Big Red is 41-53-2 against the current members of the Big 10 conference, due mostly to a 6-16-1 record vs. Johns Hopkins and a 4-14-1 record vs. Maryland. Cornell holds a winning record vs. Rutgers (8-1) and Michigan (1-0), while the series with Ohio State (2-2) and Penn State (20-20) are tied  ... Coach Kerwick is 7-13 all-time vs. B1G.
 
A WIN OVER PENN STATE WOULD:
• make Cornell 12-2 in its last 14 season openers.
• be the 742nd win in program history.
• make the Big Red 21-20 all-time in the series.
• improve head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 130-119 and to 3-6 vs. the Nittany Lions.
 
DON'T I KNOW YOU?: Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni spent 10 seasons on the Big Red sidelines as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse. During his time with the Big Red, Tambroni posted a record of 109-40 and won a share of eight consecutive Ivy League championships. Now in his seventh season with Penn State, Tabroni enters the game with a record of 50-40.
 
FOR STARTERS:  Cornell is 64-52-5 all-time in season openers and had won 11 straight season openers before dropping back-to-back openers to Syracuse (2015; 14-6) and Penn State (2016; 8-7).
 
RECAPPING 2016: One of the youngest teams in the nation, the Big Red finished the 2016 season with a 6-7 record overall (1-5 Ivy), with four of its seven losses coming to nationally ranked opponents. Cornell managed two upsets on the season, defeating No. 17 Virginia, and taking down No. 11 Syracuse in overtime for Cornell's first win over the Orange since 2012. Of the 39 players that saw action during the 2016 season, more than one-third (15) were freshmen, including seven that started at least one game. The freshman class proved to be the second highest scoring rookie class in program history with 82 points coming from seven players. Following the season, Cornell had five players named All-Ivy. Brennan Donville '16, John Edmonds '16, Domenic Massimilian '17 and Jake Pulver '18 were named second-team, while Ryan Matthews '16 earned an honorable mention selection. All five players were first-time honorees. Donville was also named an YRL Unsung Hero finalist, and was a USILA Scholar All-American, along with Matt Schattner '16.
 
WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red lost three All-Ivy selections from a year ago – John Edmonds (second team), Brennan Donville (second team), and Domenic Massimilian (second team) … Edmonds was Cornell's most dangerous offensive threat with a team-high 26 points on 14 goals and 12 assists …   Donville had the best year of his career in goal,  ranking  fourth in the Ivy League in save percentage (.511), saves per game (10.38), and goals-against average (10.22) … Massimilian finished the season ranked fifth in the nation in face-off winning percentage (.640), third in the country with 9.42 ground balls per game.

WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns nine of its top 11 scorers from a year ago, highlighted by the team's leader in goals (Colton Rupp – 23) and its leader in assists (Ryan Bray – 13). The Big Red also returns the 2014 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Christian Knight in goal.
 
COACHING CONNECTIONS: Matt Kerwick, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Lacrosse, is a former teammate of PSU head coach Jeff Tambroni. The pair played together for two seasons at nearby Hobart College. Both coaches lettered during the 1990 season, as the Statesmen went 15-1, including a 15-14 OT victory over Cornell, and won the DIII National Championship.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (27-18, .600) 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' 121-year history ... Kerwick has 18 years of head coaching experience (129-119).
 
TICKLE THE ALL-IVY: The Big Red returns two All-Ivy selections from a year ago –Jake Pulver (second-team) and Ryan Matthews (honorable mention). Both were first-time honorees. 
 
RUPP'S ROOKIE RANKING: Colton Rupp finished the 2016 season ranked fourth in Cornell history for the most goals scored by a freshman (23), behind Sean Greenhalgh (39 in 2002), Matt Wise (29 in 1995), and Rob Pannell (25 in 2009).
 
THE NOTABLE JEFF TEAT:
• Jeff Teat was named the No. 1 overall recruit in the Inside Lacrosse 2016 Power 100 Freshmen Rankings.
• He is the Big Red's first-ever Inside Lacrosse No. 1 recruit.
• He is Inside Lacrosse's first-ever overall No. 1 to hail from Canada.
• Last year, as a member of the Ontario Junior A League's Brampton Excelsiors, he finished the regular season as the leading scorer in the league with 145 points (7.6 points per game), the highest point total since John Grant Jr. registered 160 in 1994.
 
THROWBACK NUMBERS:
• The 2017 roster features two unique numbers on it - #51 and #77.
• Freshman Jeff Teat is the first player to wear #51 since Jerome Dolins wore it in 1966.
• Sophomore Tom Reilly is the first Big Red men's lacrosse player to ever wear #77.  
 
CLASS OF 2019 NOTES:
• Last season's freshman class was the second highest scoring rookie class in program history with 82 points coming from seven players – Colton Rupp (24 points), Ryan Bray (22 points), Clarke Petterson (15 points), Anthony Teixeira (nine points), Zach Ward (seven points), Jake McCulloch (four points) and Conor O'Brien (one point).
• The 82 points ranks second behind the freshman class of 2009 that saw 86 points come from three players – Rob Pannell (67 points), Roy Lang (11 points), and Mitch McMichael (eight points).
• The 2016 rookies are just the third in Cornell history to register more than 75 points, surpassing the 2002 freshmen that had 76 points come from three players – Sean Greenhalgh (42 points), Justin Redd (31 points) and J.D. Nelson (eight points).
• In the 40 seasons since freshmen became eligible to participate in varsity athletics, Cornell has had a freshman class register at least 40 points just seven times (2016, 2009, 2006, 2002, 2003, 2000, 1995).
• There have been 17 seasons in which the Big Red received just single-digit points from its freshmen (2015, 2014, 2008, 2007, 2005, 1994, 1993, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1978, 1977).
• Cornell has had three seasons in which a freshman did not register a single point (2007, 1986, 1978).
 
BABY BIG RED: Of the 39 players that saw action during the season, more than one-third (15) were freshmen, including seven that started at least one game – Colton Rupp (13 starts – attack), Ryan Bray (11 starts – midfield), Clarke Petterson (10 starts – midfield), Anthony Teixeira (6 starts – attack), Zach Ward (5 starts – attack), Chad Otterman (3 starts – defense) and Jake McCulloch (1 start – midfield).
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Colton Rupp has registered one point in each of the last eight games.
• Clarke Petterson has registered one point in each of the last seven games.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS:  Of the Big Red's 13 opponents this season, seven are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Syracuse (sixth), Virginia (seventh), Yale (eighth), Brown (10th), Penn State (11th), Albany (12th), and Penn (19th) … Cornell went 2-4 vs. ranked opponents during the 2016 season.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 36-20 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Princeton, 6-7, in the 2016 season finale. Of the 20 losses, 16 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.
 
MOVING ON UP IN CORNELL HISTORY:
• Marshall Peters ranks sixth in caused turnovers (45) … He needs six more to move into fifth place.
• Christian Knight ranks 13th in career saves (286) … He needs 23 more to move into 12th place.
 
FRESHMAN FOUR: Cornell started at least four freshmen in each of its final 11 games of the 2016 season. Dating back to the 2003 season, when the games-started statistic began to be kept regularly, the Big Red started four freshmen five times in a season just once – the final five games of the 2010 campaign. In that stretch, Cornell started Mike Bronzino (defense), Jason Noble (defense), AJ Fiore (goalie) and a combination that featured either Ross Gillum (midfield) or Steve Mock (attack). 
 
EXPERIENCE BY THE NUMBERS:
• The 2017 Big Red roster has just two players that have played more than 35 career games – Marshall Peters (45) and Andrew Keith (40).
• Cornell has just five players with 20-35 games played – Walt Gahagan (33), Christian Knight (29), Jake Pulver (29), Jordan Dowiak (27) and Kason Tarbell (27).
• There are 40 players on the Big Red roster that have played in less than 15 career games.
 
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND:  Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 287-163-7 (.636) … The Big Red has four New York teams on its schedule this season – Hobart, Albany, Colgate and Syracuse ... A year ago, Cornell played those same four opponents and went 3-1 in those contests
 
OVERTIME NOTES: With its 10-9 overtime win vs. Syracuse on April 12, 2016 Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past 10 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 10-5 record in OT games … Cornell has won three consecutive overtime games and head coach Matt Kerwick is 4-1 all-time at Cornell in overtime games.
 
U19 TEAM CANADA: Three Big Red – sophomore Clarke Petterson, and freshmen Jeff Teat and Caelahn Bullen – were members of the Team Canada squad that won the silver medal at the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) U19 Men's Lacrosse World Championship this past summer.
 
LOTS OF WINS: Cornell's 12-10 victory over Princeton on April 26, 2014 was the 725th win in program history. The Big Red now has 741 victories, ranking seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.
 
IVY KINGS:
• Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 29 titles, including 17 undefeated crowns.
• Cornell has won a share of 12 of the last 14 Ivy League titles, with its last crown coming in 2015.
• The Big Red also has the best regular season Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 252-104-1.
 
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 regular season conference victories … The Big Red's 252 regular season conference wins are also the most conference wins by any school in Division I men's lacrosse history.
 
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET: On Dec. 21, 2014, Marshall Peters tied the Cornell Department of Athletics record for fastest 40-yard dash, running it in a time of 4.38 seconds and matching the mark set by Max Seibald in 2008. Administered by Tom Howley, Associate Director of Athletics for Athlete Performance, the dash is laser timed and the record is across several sports in the department.
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN:  The Big Red has four captains this season – seniors Ryan Matthews and Marshall Peters, junior Jake Pulver, and sophomore Clarke Petterson.
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE:
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 230-81 for a .740 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 95-27 overall (.782) with perfect slates in 2015 (6-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
 
ELITE COMPANY:  Over the past 10 seasons (2007-2016) only 10 schools have registered 100 victories – Duke (151), Syracuse (126), Denver (122), Maryland (122), Notre Dame (120), UVA (116), Cornell (115), North Carolina (110), Hopkins (105), Loyola (105) … During that span, only seven teams have won at least 70 percent of its games – Duke (.766), Notre Dame (.755), Syracuse (.754), Cornell (.723), Maryland (.713), Denver (.709), and UVA (.703).
 
HARD HAT: Jake Pulver was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2016 season. The tradition of the Hard Hat began in the fall of 1999. Midway through the fall season, a player is selected to carry the Hard Hat for the year. The recipient is someone that the coaches feel demonstrates a blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse; he is driven and selfless, not the most talented player on the field, but consistently the hardest worker. He puts the team first, and embodies how the coaches want Cornell players to act and respond on or off the field.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS:  Junior defenseman Jake Pulver was named a preseason honorable mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:  The 14-member Class of 2020 consists of five US Lacrosse All-Americans, as well as two members of the Team Canada U19 squad, and consists of nine midfielders, two attackmen, two defenders, and one goalie. The group hails from six different states, including a class-high four New Yorkers, as well as one player coming from both Alberta and Ontario.
 
BUCZEK'S BACK: Former Cornell men's lacrosse great Connor Buczek '15 joined the Big Red staff as a volunteer assistant prior to the 2016 season. Buczek, a recipient of a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, is currently a student in Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. One of the best business school's in the country, Buczek is in rare company, as one of just two individuals, and the only one from Cornell, to be admitted directly from undergraduate studies.
 
FAMILY TIES:
• Head Coach Matt Kerwick's parents Thomas and the late Patricia, as well as his sister Ann, all graduated from 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 Matthews' cousin Matt Sutherland played lacrosse at Cornell.
• Sam Welch's parents, Patrick '85 and Ruth Welch '87, are both former Big Red athletes. A two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion at 150 pounds, Patrick is in the Cornell Hall of Fame, while Ruth was a three-year letter winner for gymnastics, serving as team captain as a senior.
• 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.
• Anthony Teixeira's great-uncle Stephen W. Fillo graduated from Cornell in 1959.
• Connor Fletcher's father, Daniel, graduated from Cornell in 1985 and his great uncle, Bob Mealy '51, is considered one of the best runners in Cornell track history and is a member of the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame.
• Griffin Buczek's brother, Connor '15, was an All-American lacrosse player for Cornell and currently serves as the team's volunteer assistant coach while attending Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management and playing professionally for the Florida Launch … His aunt, Colleen Cottrell Calderwood, also attended Cornell.
• Ryan McDonald's uncle, Dan McDonald, played lacrosse at SUNY Potsdam and served as an assistant coach for the Big Red under Richie Moran from 1995-96 ... His aunt, Tina Mahoney graduated from Cornell in 1988.
• Griff Gosnell's great-uncle, John Gude Gosnell, graduated from Cornell in 1950.
Josh Gully's father, Josh '83, lettered twice for the Big Red lacrosse team and is the 22nd member of his family to attend Cornell.
 
MLL DRAFT FACTS:
• Cornell has the ninth most Major League Lacrosse draft picks (25) of any school in the nation.   
• Since having a program-high five players selected in the 2007 MLL Draft, the Big Red has had multiple picks in five of the last 10 drafts.
• Beginning with the 2007 MLL Draft, Cornell has had five first round draft picks, including one selection at No. 1 (Rob Pannell), and two at No. 2 (Connor Buczek and Max Seibald). 
 
UP NEXT: Cornell will take on its oldest rival and Coach Kerwick's alma mater, Hobart in Geneva on Saturday, Feb. 25 at noon. The game will be the 137th meeting between the two programs, with the Big Red holding an 86-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1896. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings with Hobart from 1996-2000, Cornell has won 15 of the last 16 meetings. In his fourth season at the helm of the Statesmen's program, Greg Raymond led Hobart last season to its first 10-win campaign since joining Division I in 1995. Hobart finished the year with a record of 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the NEC before winning the NEC Tournament and competing in the NCAA play-in game.