ITHACA, N.Y. – Fans will have an opportunity to get their first look at the 2019 Big Red men's lacrosse team this weekend when the squad plays host to Maryland and Nazareth College. Both games will take place on Sunday, Oct. 14 at noon and 2 p.m., respectively at Schoellkopf Field.
 
The scrimmage vs. the Terrapins will be a rematch of last season's NCAA quarterfinal game that saw Maryland defeat the Big Red, 13-8. Led by Cornell alumni John Tillman '91, the Terrapins won the 2017 NCAA National Championship, the programs first since 1975, and returned to the final four for the seventh time in Tillman's eight-year tenure in 2018. Maryland returns two All-Americans – junior attackman Jared Bernhardt (third team) and senior defender Curtis Corley (honorable mention) – from a squad that fell to Duke in the national semifinal to finish the 2018 season with a record of 14-4.
 
Nazareth, a perennial power in the Empire 8, is coming off an uncharacteristically down year after finishing the 2018 season with a 5-12 record overall and a mark of 3-4 in the conference. The team returns five all-conference selections including senior attackers Anthony Basile and Jack Crowley, sophomore midfielder Jeremy Jacob, junior face-off specialist Tim Vinton and junior defenseman Owen Penoyer.
 
Cornell finished the 2018 season with an overall record of 13-5, posting eight more wins than it did during the 2017 campaign (5), matching the best single-season turnaround in program history. The team won the 2018 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Cornell upset Syracuse in first round action at the Carrier Dome before falling to No. 1 Maryland at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Big Red returns first-team All-American Jeff Teat, as well as All-Ivy selections Jake McCulloch, Ryan Bray, Fleet Wallace, Paul Rasimowicz and Brandon Salvatore.