GAME INFORMATION
GAME #2: Cornell vs. Hobart
FACE OFF: Saturday, February 24, at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2018 Records: Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League); Hobart (0-2, 0-0 NEC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 85-47-4 (
LAST MEETING: Hobart, 16-8 (2/25/2017 in Geneva, N.Y.)
 
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* GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red men's lacrosse team will play its home opener on Saturday, Feb. 24 when it welcomes Hobart for the 137th edition of the most contested rivalry in collegiate lacrosse. Both teams are winless on the season after the Cornell dropped its season-opener to Colgate (14-11), while the Statesmen fell to both No. 12 Penn State (15-8) and Siena (12-11) last week. The game can be viewed on the Ivy League Network, or heard at www.WHCUradio.com or locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard on the call.
 
THE SERIES VS. HOBART: The Cornell/Hobart rivalry is the most contested in the history of collegiate lacrosse, standing at 136 meetings.
• The series began in 1898, Hobart's first season of varsity lacrosse.
• The 1898 contest was not only the first in the series, but the first-ever lacrosse game for the Statesmen.
• Cornell has won nine consecutive vs. Hobart on Schoellkopf Field dating back to a 13-12 loss in 1999. 
• The Big Red had a 12-game winning streak vs. Hobart snapped last season ... The streak was the longest in the series for either team.
• Cornell has won 15 of the last 17 meetings.
 
A WIN OVER HOBART WOULD:
• give Interim Head Coach Peter Milliman his first win at the helm of the Big Red program and his first Division I victory.
• be Cornell's 10th straight over the Statesmen on Schoellkopf Field.
• be the 746th win in program history.
• make Cornell 72-74 all-time when unranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• improve Cornell to 251-56 all-time vs. unranked teams.
 
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS:
• Cornell Interim Head Coach Peter Milliman and Hobart Head Coach Greg Raymond were both assistants on Chris Bates' Princeton staff during the 2013 season.
• There are seven high schools represented on both the Cornell and Hobart rosters
   • The Hill Academy (Cornell's Clarke Petterson and Jeff Teat; Hobart's Cole Bardawill and Christoper William)
   • Jamesville-DeWitt (Cornell's Andrew Barclay; Hobart's Ryan Archer and Sam Mueller)
   • Kent Denver School (Cornell's Matt Pinto; Hobart's Kyle Nalen)
   • Landon School (Cornell's Colton Rupp, Jack Bolen, and Andrew Fowler; Hobart's Riley McTague and Koko Avedisian)
   • Ridgewood High School (Cornell's Cooper Telesco; Hobart's Owen Smith and Wylie Sherman)
   • St. Paul's School (Cornell's Patrick Karey; Hobart's D. Bennett Moore)'
   • Trinity Pawling School (Cornell's Paul Rasimowicz and Caelahn Bullen; Hobart's Chris Nole, Justin Scott, Bayley Tranmer, and Ethan Black-Fernandes).
 
CORNELL VS. THE NEC: The Big Red had never played a member of the NEC conference prior to the 2014 season when Hobart joined the league.
• Cornell is 85-47-4 all-time vs. Hobart.
• The Big Red has never faced Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Saint Joseph's or Wagner.
 
RECAPPING 2017: After opening the season with five consecutive losses, the Big Red rebounded to go 5-3 down the stretch, including an upset of No. 13 Princeton in the season finale to finish with a mark of 5-8 overall and a fourth place finish in the Ivy League (3-3). Following the season, Jake Pulver and Jeff Teat were named second-team All-Ivy, while Christian Knight, Marshall Peters, and Clarke Petterson were all named honorable mention. Teat finished the regular season ranked first in the Ivy League in both points (5.54) and assists per game (3.00) and broke Rob Pannell's Cornell freshman scoring record with 72 points. Teat was named an honorable mention USILA All-America, as well as an Inside Lacrosse All-American, while Marshall Peters was named a USILA Scholar All-American.
 
WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red lost one All-Ivy selection from a year ago – Marshall Peters (honorable mention) – as well as seven other letter winners.

WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns 21 letter winners and nine starters, including All-American scoring sensation Jeff Teat, who finished his rookie season as the Ivy League leader in both points (5.54) and assists per game (3.00).
• Teat is joined by returning All-Ivy selections Clarke Petterson '19 on attack, Jake Pulver '18 on defense, and Christian Knight '18 in goal.
• Cornell returns 141-of-152 goals (.927), 99-of-103 assists (.961) and 240-of-255 points (.941) from a year ago.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Peter Milliman (0-1, .000) was named the interim head coach of the Cornell men's lacrosse program on May 8, 2017. For the past four seasons, Milliman has served the program, first as an assistant coach and then as the program's Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse. He begins his fifth season as a head coach (37-27).
 
MILLIMAN TABBED TO ASSIST TEAM USA: Interim Head Coach Peter Milliman 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 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.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN:  Sophomore attackman Jeff Teat was named a preseason second-team All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN:  The Big Red has four captains this season – seniors Jordan Dowiak, Christian Knight, Jake Pulver, and junior Clarke Petterson.
 
HARD HAT: Clarke Petterson was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2018 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.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:  The 13-member Class of 2021 features three US Lacrosse All-Americans, and consists of six midfielders, three attackmen, three defenders, and one goalie. The group hails from six different states, including a class-high six New Yorkers, as well as one player coming from Ontario.
 
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN: Jeff Teat was named an honorable mention All-American by both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse following the 2017 season.
 
TICKLE THE ALL-IVY: The Big Red returns four All-Ivy selections from a year ago –Jake Pulver (second-team), Jeff Teat (second-team), Christian Knight (honorable mention) and Clarke Petterson (honorable mention).
 
CORNELL STREAKS
• Clarke Petterson has the longest point scoring streak on the team having registered one point in each of the last 12 games.
• Jeff Teat has registered one point in 11 consecutive games.
• Jeff Teat has tallied at least five points in seven consecutive games.
• Christian Knight has double-digit saves in five consecutive games.
 
MOVING ON UP IN CORNELL HISTORY:
• Christian Knight ranks eighth in career saves (451) … He needs 23 more to move into seventh place.
• Christian Knight ranks eighth in career wins (441) … He needs one more to move into seventh place.
 
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND:  Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 287-166-7 (.632) … The Big Red has five New York teams on its schedule this season – Colgate, Hobart, Albany, Binghamton, and Syracuse.
 
ROSTER SUPERLATIVES: Cornell's 50-man roster is the largest since the program carried a jayvee team in the mid-1980s, surpassing the 47-man roster of the 2008 season. 
 
THROWBACK NUMBERS:
• The 2018 roster features five unique numbers on it - #51, #61, #77, #78, and #93.
• Jeff Teat is the first player to wear #51 since Jerome Dolins wore it in 1966.
• Selden Leonard is the first player to wear #78 since Marshall Grode in 1959
• Parker Henderer (#61), Tom Reilly (#77) and Kiernan Coles (#93) are the first. Big Red men's lacrosse player to ever wear their numbers. 
 
THE PETTERSON-TEAT CONNECTION:
• Clarke Petterson and Jeff Teat both attended The Hill Academy.
• Of Petterson's 36 points since the 2017 season, more than half (23) have involved Teat.
• Teat has assisted on 10 of Petterson's 17 goals since 2017.
• Of Petterson's 19 assists since 2017, 12 have come on goals by Teat
 
CLASS OF 2019 NOTES:
• The Big Red's 2017 freshman class amassed 112 points from seven players – Jeff Teat (72), Connor Fletcher (32), Austin Fingar (3), Paul Rasimowicz (2), Sam Duggan (1), Ryan Maloney (1), and Brandon Salvatore (1).
• The Class of 2020's 112 points are the most in program history for a rookie class ahead of 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).
• The 2016 season's freshmen class is now the third 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 from three players – Sean Greenhalgh (42 points), Justin Redd (31 points) and J.D. Nelson (eight points).
• In the 42 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).
 
ELITE COMPANY:  Over the past 10 seasons (2008-2017) only 10 schools have registered 100 victories – Duke (147), Syracuse (134), Denver (122), Maryland (128), Notre Dame (118), UVA (112), North Carolina (110), Loyola (108), Cornell (105), and Hopkins (100) … During that span, only nine teams have won at least 65 percent of its games – Syracuse (.788), Duke (.754), Notre Dame (.742), Maryland (.736), Denver (.728), Loyola (.692), UVA (.683), Cornell (.673), and  UNC (.671).
 
RANKED OPPONENTS:  Of the Big Red's 14 opponents this season, six are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Albany (second), Yale (11th), Syracuse (14th), Penn State (16th), Penn (17th) and Colgate (18th).
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 37-22 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised when the Big Red defeated No. 13 Princeton, 18-17, on April 29, 2017. 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.
 
BIG RED INTERNATIONAL:
• Three former Big Red players – Rob Pannell (USA), Max Seibald (Israel), and Mat Martinez (Puerto Rico) – have already been selected to participate in the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Men's Lacrosse World Championship, scheduled for this July in Netanya, Israel.
• Two other alumni – Brennan Donville and Jason Noble – and current player Jeff Teat are still on the training roster for Team Canada.
• Cornell senior Kason Tarbell is on the training team for the Iroquois Nationals.
 
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE:
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 234-83 for a .737 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 101-29 overall (.775) with perfect slates in 2015 (6-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
 
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 255-105-1.
 
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 255 regular season conference wins are also the most conference wins by any school in Division I men's lacrosse history.
 
UP NEXT: Cornell face its toughest test of the young season when it travels to No. 2 Albany on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m. The Big Red returns to Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, March 6 when it welcomes Binghamton for a contest at 5 p.m.