GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell at Yale
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 18, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Reese Stadium (New Haven, Conn.)
2016 Records: Cornell (0-4, 0-0 Ivy League); Yale (2-3, 0-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 51-24-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 6-5, March 19, 2016 in Hamilton, N.Y.

FOLLOW THE BIG RED
GAME LINKS: Live Video | Live Stats | Audio 
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM
TELEVISION: None
Cornell Athletics Facebook I Cornell Athletics Twitter I Cornell Athletics Instagram I YouTube
Lacrosse Facebook I Lacrosse Twitter | Lacrosse Instagram 
 
GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red opens up the 62nd season of Ivy League men's lacrosse when it travels to New Haven to take on Yale at Reese Stadium on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. Cornell is off to an 0-4 start for the first time since 1997 after dropping a heartbreaking 19-18 overtime decision to No. 13 Virginia last weekend in Costa Mesa, Calif. The Bulldogs had a three-game losing streak snapped last weekend when it defeated Fairfield in double overtime, 11-10. The game can be seen online on the Ivy League Digital Network. It will also be broadcast on http://player.liquidcompass.net/WHCUAM or locally on WHCU 870 AM.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. YALE: The Cornell and Yale rivalry began in 1916 with a 5-1 Big Red victory, and Cornell has dominated ever since. The Big Red holds a 51-24-1 record in the series, thanks in large part to 22 straight victories over the Bulldogs from 1966 to 1987. In 2012, Cornell had a 14-game winning streak vs. Yale ended when the Bulldogs won the second meeting of the season in the Ivy League tournament. The Big Red went on to win the next three before falling to Yale last season on Schoellkopf Field.
 
LOOKING AT THE BULLDOGS: After defeating Villanova in its season opener, Yale dropped three in a row before defeating Fairfield in double overtime last Saturday to improve to 2-3 on the season. The Bulldogs' offense is led by preseason All-American Ben Reeves, who has registered a team-high 17 points, while senior midfielder Eric Scott leads the team in goals (10) and sophomore midfielder Joseph Sessa leads the squad in assists (11). Yale has one primary face-off man with junior Conor Mackie winning 64-of-124 chances (.516). In goal, junior Phil Huffard started the first four games of the season and posted a 10.63 goals-against average and .479 save percentage. Freshman Brody Wilson stared the Bulldogs last outing, making six saves in the win against Fairfield. 
 
LAST TIME VS. YALE: The Big Red hung with No. 4 Yale for the first 30 minutes of action, but was unable to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, falling 15-9 at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell, which had won 16 Ivy League openers in a row prior to the game, slipped to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Freshman attackman Colton Rupp and senior midfielder Ryan Matthews each registered a hat trick to lead the Big Red against a stout Bulldog defense, while John Edmonds, Jack Bolen, and Jordan Dowiak each scored once. Freshman Zach Ward had two assists, with Charlie Estill and Tony Britton adding one assist apiece. In goal, Brennan Donville made nine saves. Yale was led by Ben Reeves seven-point day (four goals, three assists), while Michael Keasey (four goals) and Jeff Cimbalista (three goals) each had a hat trick. The Bulldogs had more shots (39-32), shots on goal (24-16) and ground balls (32-24). Cornell won the face-off battle (15-of-27), with Domenic Massimilian winning 12-of-24 restarts with seven ground balls. Junior Grant Mahler saw his first action of the season and won all three of his attempts. Both teams had five failed clears, but Cornell had five more turnovers than the Bulldogs (19-14).  With the game tied at 6-6 and time winding down in the second half, Yale goalie Phil Huffard sent the ball downfield and over the Cornell cage. The referees deemed it was a shot instead of a turnover and with 0.4 seconds on the clock Eric Scott took the ball on the endline and sent a pass to Cimbalista, who caught the ball and then shot it past Donville to send Yale into the locker room up, 7-6. The Bulldogs went on to score the first two goals of the third to build a 9-6 lead at the 8:34 mark. The Big Red could not manage to get any closer than two goals the rest of the way.
 
A WIN OVER YALE WOULD:
• improve the Big Red to 52-23-1 vs. Yale and 46-16 all-time in Ivy League openers.
• improve head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 130-122 and to 3-1 vs. the Bulldogs.
• be the 742nd win in program history.
• make Cornell 67-69 all-time when unranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• improve Cornell to 247-52 all-time vs. unranked teams.
 
IVY OPENERS: The contest vs. Yale marks the 62nd Ivy League season opener for Cornell men's lacrosse. Since the conference began play in the 1956 season, the Big Red has posted a 45-16 record in Ivy League openers, including winning 16 of its last 17, 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.
 
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.
 
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS:
• Ryan Matthews uncle, Brian Matthews, played lacrosse at Yale.
• Cornell senior Andrew Keith and Yale freshman Lucas Cotler both attended Syosset HS.
• Cornell junior Jordan Dowiak, sophomore Chad Otterman, and Yale junior Conor Mackie all attended Delbarton School.
• Cornell senior Ryan Matthews, Yale junior Dylan Meyer, and sophomore Thomas Duran attended Manhassett HS.

THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (27-22, .551) 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 (129-123).
 
MILLIMAN TABBED TO ASSIST TEAM USA: Peter Milliman, the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse, has been named an assistant coach for the 2019 U.S. men's national indoor team.The team will be led by Regy Thorpe (Syracuse University), who in February was named head coach of Team USA, and will guide the team in pursuit of a gold medal at the 2019 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC), Sept. 19-28, 2019, in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Jeff Teat was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 13 following his 11-point performance vs. No. 13 Virginia. It is the first weekly award for the Big Red this season.
 
NOTING TEAT'S 11-POINT PERFORMANCE:
• Jeff Teat registered 11 points on five goals and six assists vs. No. 13 Virginia on March 11.
• The 11 points are the most scored in NCAA Division I so far this season.
• The six assists and 11 points are the most ever recorded by a Cornell rookie.
• The 11 points are the sixth most in Big Red history.
• Teat becomes the first Cornell player to register 11 points in a contest since Tim Goldstein '88 vs. Dartmouth on April 23, 1988.
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Andrew Keith and Connor Fletcher have registered one point in all four games this season.
• Connor Fletcher has registered one goal in all four games this season.
• Christian Knight has posted double-digits saves in each of the last five games dating back to the 2015 season finale.
• Brandon Salvatore has caused at least one turnover in all four games this season.
 
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 11th in career saves (336) … He needs six more to move into 10th place.
 
OVERTIME NOTES: With its 19-18 overtime loss vs. Virginia on March 11, 2017 Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past 11 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 10-6 record in OT games … Cornell had won three consecutive overtime games prior to the loss to UVA and head coach Matt Kerwick is 4-2 all-time at Cornell in overtime contests.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 36-21 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Virginia, 18-19, in overtime during the 2017 Pacific Coast Shootout. Of the 21 losses, 17 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:  Of the Big Red's 13 opponents this season, six are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Penn State (second), Syracuse (sixth), Albany (ninth), Virginia (13th), Princeton (15th) and Penn (19th) … Cornell 0-3 vs. ranked opponents this season.
 
EXPERIENCE BY THE NUMBERS:
• The 2017 Big Red roster has just three players that have played more than 35 career games – Marshall Peters (49), Andrew Keith (44), and Walt Gahagan (37).
• Cornell has just seven players with 20-35 games played – Christian Knight (33), Jake Pulver (32), Jordan Dowiak (31), Kason Tarbell (31), Jack Bolen (23), Ryan Matthews (23), and Scott Flynn (22).
• There are 37 players on the Big Red roster that have played in less than 20 career games.
 
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.
 
GOALIE ASSIST: When Christian Knight assisted on Jeff Teat's goal with one second to play in the third quarter vs. Hobart on Feb. 24 it was the Big Red's first point by a goalie since Ted Lynch registered an assist vs. Colgate on April 13, 1993.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
NEW  YORK STATE OF MIND:  Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 287-165-7 (.633) … The Big Red has four New York teams on its schedule this season – Hobart, Albany, Colgate and Syracuse and so far is 0-2 in those contests
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE:
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 230-82 for a .737 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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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). 
 
FOR STARTERS:  Cornell is 64-53-5 all-time in season openers.
 
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).
 
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).
 
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). 
 
BABY BIG RED: 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 – 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).
 
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.
 
UP NEXT: Cornell opens up a three-game home-stand when it welcomes instate rival Colgate to Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, March 21 at 5 p.m.