GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell vs. Lehigh
FACE OFF: Saturday, April 15, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2017 Records: Cornell (3-7, 2-2 Ivy League); Lehigh (6-5, 3-4 Patriot)
SERIES RECORD: Lehigh leads, 9-5-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 13-12, April 16, 2016 in Bethlehem, Pa.

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 men's lacrosse team closes out its non-conference schedule on Saturday when it welcomes Lehigh to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m. Both teams played on Tuesday evening, with Cornell coming off a 15-8 loss to No. 1 Syracuse, while the Mountain Hawks took down No. 13 Princeton, 15-10. The game can be seen online on the Ivy League Digital Network or heard locally on WCHCU 870 AM.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. LEHIGH: Lehigh is the first collegiate opponent ever faced by the Big Red. The teams first met in 1893, and shared a pair of Intercollegiate Championships in 1914 and 1916, but have faced off just twice since the 1955 season. The initial meeting in 1893 was won by the Mountain Hawks, 5-0, which began a 7-0 run for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks own the lead in the all-time series 9-5-3, but the Big Red is riding a four-game winning streak, earning victories in 1954, 1955, 2006, and 2016.
 
LOOKING AT THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS: Lehigh has split its last eight games of the season, including a win over No. 13 Princeton earlier this week to sit at 6-5 overall. The Mountain Hawks offense has a versatile weapon in sophomore attackman Tristan Rai, who leads the team in points (41) and assists (20), while classmate Andrew Petit has a team-high 28 goals. In the face-off circle, Conor Gaffney ranks 15th nationally (.589), and leads the team with 71 ground balls, but he did not play against the Tigers. The Mountain Hawks defense has been solid, holding five of its 11 opponents to fewer than six goals. The unit is led by sophomore Craig Chick, who ranks among the national leaders with 3.1 caused turnovers per game. Behind the defense stands senior Donny Stires, who has started the first three games of his career in the Mountain Hawks last three outings. He has posted a 10.32 goals-against average to go along with a .596 save percentage. He took over starting duties from sophomore Chris Kiernan, who emerged as the team's starter midway through his rookie campaign. This season Kiernan owns a 9.64 GAA and a .510 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME VS. LEHIGH: For the second time in a week, the Big Red won a thriller, as Colton Rupp bounced in a shot with 0.1 showing on the clock to lift the Big Red over Lehigh, 13-12, at Goodman Stadium on April 16, 2016. John Edmonds assisted on Rupp's tally, giving the senior a career-high six points on the day. Just two minutes earlier, it looked as though the Big Red was headed for its sixth loss of the season, but some late game heroics by Clarke Petterson turned the tide, as the freshman midfielder scored twice in a span of 1:01 to spur a wild comeback in the final 1:19 of the contest. Petterson and Rupp both finished with two goals, with Petterson adding one assist, while Ryan Matthews finished with a team-high four goals. Cornell dominated time of possession, thanks to a 25-of-27 performance in the face-off circle, including a perfect 13-of-13 after halftime. Domenic Massimilian won 17-of-19 and matched a career-high with 17 ground balls, while Grant Mahler was a perfect 8-of-8 with six ground balls. Lehigh countered the Big Red's face-off dominance with relentless pressure, forcing the visitors into 23 turnovers, 20 of which were caused by the Mountain Hawks.      Lehigh was led by Reid Weber's six points on five goals and one assist. The senior scored three consecutive goals late in the second quarter in the midst of a 6-1 Lehigh run that erase what had been a 4-1 Cornell lead to put the home team up, 7-6 at the half. The second half of play featured three ties and neither team led by more than one-goal until consecutive goals by Weber and Chris Appell made it an 11-9 contest heading into the final quarter. Edmonds scored with just over six minutes gone in the final quarter, but Andrew Pettit scored his second of the game to make it 12-10 with 6:47 to play.
 
A WIN OVER LEHIGH WOULD:
• be the fifth in a row vs. the Mountain Hawks.
• be the sixth in a row vs. the Patriot League.
• make Cornell 6-9-3 all-time in the series.
• keep head coach Matt Kerwick undefeated vs. the Mountain Hawks at 5-0.
• be the 745th win in program history.
• make Cornell 70-72 all-time when unranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• improve Cornell to 250-54 all-time vs. unranked teams.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Matt Kerwick (30-25, .545) 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 (132-126).
 
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS:
• Cornell head coach Matt Kerwick and Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese were both members of the 2006 US men's lacrosse national team. Kerwick was an assistant coach of the squad, while Cassese played for the team.
• Lehigh was the Big Red's first collegiate opponent. Cornell first fielded a men's lacrosse team in 1892, playing one game vs. Toronto. Its first opponent of the 1893 season was Lehigh.
• Cornell and Lehigh were both named Intercollegiate Champions in 1914 and 1915.
• Freshman Cooper Telesco's brother, Tripp, was an USILA All-American for Lehigh.
• Liam Stauss and Lehigh sophomore Mickey Fitzpatrick both attended Duxbury High School.
• Dan Bockelman and Lehigh senior midfielder Anthony Ramaizel both attended Half Hollow Hills High School East.
• Andrew Keith and Lehigh sophomore goalie Jonathan Klobus both attended Syosset High School.
• Connor Fletcher and Lehigh senior midfielder Cody Triolo both attended Princeton Day School.
• Clarke Petterson and Lehigh junior attackman Nolan Apers both attended The Hill Academy.
• Scott Flynn and Lehigh senior midfielder Mike Sammarro are both from Mountain Lakes, N.J.
 
CURRENT CAREER LEADERS:
• Freshman Jeff Teat has more career points (46) and more career assists (25) than any other player on the current Big Red roster.
• Not including first-year program Cleveland State, Teat is the only freshman in the nation to currently lead his team in career points ... He is also the only freshman in the nation to currently lead his team in career assists.
• The player on the team with the second most career points is sophomore Colton Rupp (40), while the player with the second most career assists is sophomore Ryan Bray (15).
• Sophomore Colton Rupp has more career goals (36) than any other player on the current Big Red roster.
• There are only three players on the 2017 roster that have more than 30 points – sophomores Colton Rupp (40), Clarke Petterson (33), and freshman Jeff Teat (46).
• There are only nine players on the 2017 roster that have more than 20 points. Of those, more than half (5) are underclassmen.
 
UPWARD TRENDS:
• Since moving into the starting line-up vs. Colgate, Walt Gahagan caused at least one turnover in five straight games, averaging 3.0 over the five contests. Prior to that, in his role as a man-down specialist he had caused just three turnovers in three seasons.
• Of Cornell's first six opponents, five currently rank in the top 25 in the country in face-off winning percentage. During that time, Paul Rasimowicz won just 40-of-107 chances for a .374 winning percentage. Since that time, he has gone 44-of-80 for a .550 win percentage.
• Through the first five games of the season, opponents cleared the ball successfully .865 percent of the time (90-of-104). Since that time, Cornell has implemented a 10-man ride and has held opponents to a .729 percent success rate (70-of-96).
• After registering just two points in his first three collegiate games, Jeff Teat has been phenomenal, registering 44 points over seven games (6.3 points per contest).
• With 46 points and 24 assists this season, Jeff Teat has registered more career points and career assists than any other player on the current Cornell roster.
 
NATIONAL FRESHMAN:
• Jeff Teat ranks seventh nationally, and is the second highest ranked freshman, in assists per game (2.50).
• Jeff Teat ranks 12th in the nation and second among all freshman in points per game (4.60).
• In both categories, Princeton freshman Michael Sowers ranks first.
• Jeff Teat ranks 50th in the nation and seventh among all freshman in the nation in goals per game (2.10).
 
FRESHMAN CLASS POINTS:
• The Big Red's current freshman class has amassed 79 points from six players – Jeff Teat (46), Connor Fletcher (26), Austin Fingar (3), Paul Rasimowicz (2), Sam Duggan (1), and Ryan Maloney (1).
• The Class of 2020's 79 points is the third most in program history for a rookie class behind the 2009 freshmen (86) and the 2016 freshmen (82).
• During the 2009 season, the 86 freshmen points came from three players – Rob Pannell (67 points), Roy Lang (11 points), and Mitch McMichael (eight points).
• Last season's freshmen 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).
• There are just four rookie classes in program history that have amassed more than 75 points, with the fourth class coming from 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 41 seasons since freshmen became eligible to participate in varsity athletics, Cornell has had a freshman class register at least 40 points just eight times (2017, 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).
 
THE PETTERSON-TEAT CONNECTION:
• Clarke Petterson and Jeff Teat both attended The Hill Academy.
• Of Petterson's 18 points on the season, more than half (10) have involved Teat.
• Teat has assisted on six of Petterson's 11 goals this season.
• Of Petterson's seven assists on the year, four have come on goals by Teat.
 
FRESHMAN SCORING: Freshman Jeff Teat and Connor Fletcher are already two of the highest scoring rookies in Cornell history. 
• Jeff Teat ranks second among all Big Red freshman in assists (25), behind only Rob Pannell who handed out 42 assists as a rookie in 2009.
• Teat is also second among Cornell freshman in points (46) and fifth overall in goals (21).
• Connor Fletcher also ranks eighth among all Big Red freshman in points (26), ninth in goals (18) and eighth in assists (8).
 
CORNELL STREAKS
• Clarke Petterson has the longest point scoring streak on the team having registered one point in each of the last eight games.
• Jeff Teat has registered at least three points in seven consecutive games.
• Walt Gahagan has caused at least one turnover in five straight games.
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red has several players ranked in the top 25 in the nation in …
• Saves per game – Christian Knight (18th; 11.40)
• Assists per game – Jeff Teat (7th; 2.50)
• Points per game – Jeff Teat (12th; 4.60)
• Caused turnovers per game – Walt Gahagan (11th; 2.00)
• Caused turnovers per game – Brandon Salvatore (23rd; 1.60)
 
IN THE NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red ranks in the top 25 in the nation in …
• Ground balls per game (11th – 32.20)
• Caused turnovers per game (12th – 8.40)
• Clearing percentage (13th – .899)
• Saves per game (24th – 11.50)
 
MOVING ON UP IN CORNELL HISTORY:
• Marshall Peters ranks fourth in caused turnovers (55) … He needs eight more to move into third place.
• Christian Knight ranks eighth in career saves (400) … He needs 54 more to move into seventh place.
 
NO SHOT: The Big Red held Dartmouth without a single shot during the first quarter of its 14-5 victory over the Big Green on April 1.
• Dating back to the 2003 season, when shots by quarter began being recorded regularly, Cornell had never held an opponent without a shot in a quarter.
• The previous low had been one shot, last done by Penn in the fourth quarter of a 16-11 Big Red victory on March 24, 2012.  
 
SINGLE GAME ASSISTS:
• Jeff Teat has posted two of the highest single-game assist tallies by a freshman in Cornell history.
• His six assists vs. Virginia are the most ever recorded by a Cornell rookie.
• Teat's five assists vs. Dartmouth are tied for the second most by a freshman in Big Red history.
 
GAHAGAN'S GAME RECORD:
• Senior defender Walt Gahagan tied the Cornell school record for caused turnovers in a single game with six vs. Dartmouth on April 1.
• The make was previously held by Jason Noble, who achieved it twice during his career.
• The six caused turnovers were also the most this season in NCAA Division 1 until Virginia's Scott Hooper posted seven vs. Robert Morris on April 11.
 
FLETCHER'S FIVE GOALS:
• Freshman Connor Fletcher had a hand in six of Cornell's nine goals vs. Penn with five goals and one assist.
• His five goals are tied for the second-most ever scored in a game by a Big Red freshman, behind Sean Greenhalgh's six goals vs. Syracuse in 2002
• Fletcher is the first Cornell rookie to record five goals since Greenhalgh did so vs. Dartmouth on April 13, 2002.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE:
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 232-83 for a .773 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 99-29 overall (.773) with perfect slates in 2015 (6-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
 
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 were the most scored in NCAA Division I this season for one week before Hobart's Chris Aslanian registered 13 points vs. Wagner.
• 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.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS:  Of the Big Red's 13 opponents this season, six are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Syracuse (first), Penn State (fifth), Albany (sixth), Princeton (13th), Yale (14th), and Virginia (18th) … Cornell 0-4 vs. ranked opponents this season.
 
EXPERIENCE BY THE NUMBERS:
• The 2017 Big Red roster has just seven players that have played more than 35 career games – Marshall Peters (55), Andrew Keith (50), Walt Gahagan (42), Christian Knight (39), Jake Pulver (38), Jordan Dowiak (37), and Kason Tarbell (37).
• Cornell has just 10 players with 20-35 games played – Ryan Matthews (29), Scott Flynn (28), Jack Bolen (27), Dan Bockelman (25) Charlie Estill (25), Clarke Petterson (23), Colton Rupp (23) and Grant Mahler (22), Chad Otterman (21), Fleet Wallace (21) and Ryan Bray (20).
• There are 29 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.
 
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 36-22 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was lowered when the Big Red fell to Penn, 8-9, on March 25. Of the 22 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.
 
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. 
 
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 … Petterson is the first sophomore captain in the history of the men's lacrosse program. 
 
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.
 
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 he is the 22nd member of his family to attend Cornell.
  
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).
 
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.
 
UP NEXT: Cornell will enter the final Ivy League stretch when it travels to Providence to take on Brown on Saturday, April 22 at 4 p.m.