GAME INFORMATION
GAME #4: Cornell vs. No. 13 Virginia
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 11, at 6:00 p.m. PST
SITE: LeBard Stadium (Costa Mesa, Calif.)
2016 Records: Cornell (0-3, 0-0 Ivy League); Virginia (4-2, 0-3 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Virginia leads, 10-6
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 14-10, March 12, 2016 in Ithaca, N.Y.


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GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red men's lacrosse team will make its first-ever trip to California to take on No. 13 Virginia at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Saturday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. PST. Cornell is off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 1997, while the Cavaliers have dropped two of its last three outings, including its ACC opener to No. 13 Syracuse, to slip to 4-2 on the year. Fans on the West Coast interested in attending Cornell's pre-game tailgate or buying tickets can click here. The game will be streamed live on YouTube and live stats will also be available. 
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA: Despite being two of the oldest lacrosse teams in the nation, Cornell and Virginia have met just 16 times, and only nine of those meetings have occurred during the regular season. The Cavaliers, who own the 10-6 lead in the series, defeated Cornell, 10-9, in the first meeting in 1971 at Virginia. The teams met again in the 1974 NCAA tournament, with the Big Red taking the commanding 15-8 victory. It would be five years before the teams squared off again, also in the NCAA tournament, but this time the Cavaliers took the 15-8 victory. Virginia managed two more one-goal wins in the NCAA tournament (1980; 9-8 in overtime, and 2002; 11-10), while Cornell used a 19-6 victory over the Cavaliers in the 1988 NCAA tournament to propel into the national championship game. During the 2009 regular season, Virginia used a second-half comeback to defeat the Big Red, 14-10, at Klöckner Stadium, but Cornell won the rematch, 15-6, in the national semifinal to advance to the 2009 NCAA title game. The Cavaliers regained the upper-hand with four straight victories, but the Big Red has won three of the last four meetings.
 
LOOKING AT THE CAVALIERS: After winning its first there contests, No. 13 Virginia has dropped two of its last three, including its ACC opener at No. 12 Syracuse last weekend to slip to 4-2 on the season. The Cavaliers offense is led by preseason All-American Zed Williams who has registered a team-high in points (28) and assists (13). Freshman midfielder Dox Aitken leads the team with 19 goals, while junior attackman Mike D'Amarico has 15 on the season. Defensively, preseason All-American Tanner Scales has started all six games and has 21 ground balls and has caused eight turnovers on the year. UVA has two primary face-off men, with both winning better than .600 percent, led by Jason Murphy (67-of-111; .604). In goal, junior Will Railey is in his first season as a starter, posting a 12.39 goals-against average and .460 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME VS. UVA: A youthful Cornell team found its offense and the team's senior goalkeeper made sure it held up as the Big Red toppled No. 17 Virginia 14-10 on March 12 at Schoellkopf Field. Brennan Donville made a career-high 16 saves, surpassing his previous best of nine in a game with 10 in the third quarter alone, and the Big Red closed strong with a 5-0 run in the fourth that put some separation between themselves and the Cavaliers. Nine of the team's goals and 17 total points came from the underclassmen, with freshman Colton Rupp scoring four times, classmate Ryan Bray posting a goal and two assists and rookie Clarke Petterson scoring his first two career goals. Senior John Edmonds had one goal and three assists, senior Ryan Matthews netted a pair of goals, and sophomores Jack Bolen and Jordan Dowiak each had a goal and an assist. Ryan Lukacovic led Virginia with three goals and an assist and James Pannell, the younger brother of Cornell's all-time leading scorer and Tewaaraton Trophy Award winner Rob Pannell '13, had two goals and an assist. Jeff Kratky won 11-of-21 face-offs and Michael Howard had an assist and eight ground balls for the Cavaliers, whose lead in the all-time series was cut to 10-6. Matt Barrett made seven saves in goal for the visitors. A high-scoring first half that featured 17 combined goals gave way to a defensive battle after halftime, thanks in large part to the play of Donville. The senior had a new career high save total midway through the third quarter and made a number of highlight-reel stops at point-blank range. Cornell snapped a tie in the opening three minutes of the fourth when Edmonds beat the shot clock with a straight line drive to the cage and finished off his seventh goal of the season. After Domenic Massimilian won the ensuing face-off, he found Andrew Keith to put the home team up 11-9. That opened up the floodgates for Cornell, who scored five straight before Virginia got on the board late to cap the scoring.
 
CORNELL VS. THE ACC: Cornell is 57-82-1 all-time vs. the current members of the ACC, thanks mostly to its newest member Syracuse, which owns the lead in the series, 64-38-1. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Duke (5-4), North Carolina (4-3) and Notre Dame (5-1) but has a losing mark vs. Virginia (6-10).
 
A WIN OVER VIRGINIA WOULD:
• be the first for Cornell over a ranked opponent this season.
• be the second in a row vs. UVA.
• give the Big Red back-to-back wins in the series for just the second time (2013, 2014).
• narrow the Cavaliers lead in the series to 10-7.
• improve head coach Matt Kerwick's career record to 130-121 and to 3-1 vs. Virginia.
• be the 742nd win in program history.
• make Cornell 67-68 all-time when unranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• improve Cornell to 12-3 all-time vs. the No. 13 ranked team in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
 
GOING BACK TO CALI:
• Cornell is playing its first-ever game in California when it travels to Costa Mesa to take on Virginia.
• There is one player on the Big Red roster from the state of California – Conor O'Brien (Westlake).
 
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS:
• Fleet Wallace's mother, Elizabeth, ran track for one season at UVA, while his uncle Charles McDaniel was a member of the Cavaliers' football team.
• Virginia volunteer assistant coach Rocco Romero is a 2009 graduate of Cornell and was a four-year letter winner at midfield for the Big Red.
• Sophomore Liam Stauss' cousin Meg Hutchinson swam for UVA.

THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (27-21, .574) 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 (129-122).
 
INDIVIDUAL STREAKS
• Andrew Keith and Connor Fletcher have registered one point in all three games this season.
• Connor Fletcher has registered one goal in all three games this season.
• Christian Knight has posted double-digits saves in each of the last four games dating back to the 2015 season finale.
• Brandon Salvatore has caused at least one turnover in all three 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 (321) … He needs 21 more to move into 10th place.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS:  Of the Big Red's 13 opponents this season, seven are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Penn State (third), Syracuse (8th), Albany (9th), Penn (10th), Virginia (13th), Yale (15th), and Princeton (19th) … Cornell 0-2 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 (48) and Andrew Keith (43), Walt Gahagan (36).
• Cornell has just seven players with 20-35 games played –Christian Knight (32), Jake Pulver (31), Jordan Dowiak (30), Kason Tarbell (30), Jack Bolen (22), Ryan Matthews (22), Scott Flynn (21).
• 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. 
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
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 Ivy League play next weekend at No. 15 Yale on Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m.