ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior goalkeeper Christian Knight posted a career-high 19 saves and Cornell used a 9-0 scoring run to gallop past Hobart 15-8 on Saturday afternoon in the team's home opener at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red improved to 1-1 on the year, while the Statesmen fell to 0-3 in the 137th meeting of the most-played rivalry in college lacrosse.
 
"It's good to get our first win of the season," said interim head coach Peter Milliman, who earned his first win at the helm of the Big Red program. "I thought the boys showed some grit coming back from a bad start and we finished the game well."
 
Knight overcame a slow start to register a career-best saves total and blanked the Statesmen for more than 21 minutes as the Big Red turned around a 5-1 deficit late in the first quarter to double up the visitors 10-5 early in the third. Sophomore Jeff Teat was again fantastic with a 10-point day offensively (4 goals, 6 assists), while Clarke Petterson scored four times himself. Cornell won more ground balls (28-25), stayed even at the face-off X (13-13) and limited the Statesmen to 1-of-6 with the extra man.
 
Hobart, who outshot the Big Red 39-32, got five points from Eric Holden (three goals, two assists) in the loss. The Big Red avenged last season's 16-8 Hobart win in Geneva while capturing its 10th straight against the Statesmen in Ithaca.
 
The visitors jumped out to a 5-1 lead before a man-up goal from Jake McCulloch sparked the decisive run for the Big Red. The goal was assisted on by freshman Jonathan Donville, who registered his first collegiate point when he looked off a defender and zipped a pass to McCulloch on the crease.
 
Teat had a hand in Cornell's next five goals, scoring twice and assisting on goals by Matt Licciardi, Petterson and Jordan Dowiak. The run continued with goals by Dowiak, Connor Fletcher and Licciardi, who made it a 10-5 game at the 12:22 mark of the third quarter.  
 
Dowiak and Licciardi both finished with two goals, with Licciardi winning 10-of-19 face-offs in his first appearance in the circle.
 
Holden ended the Big Red run with just under 11 minutes to play in the third, but that's when Knight took over making 13 saves and allowing just two goals over the final 25:59 of the contest.
 
Cornell face its toughest test of the young season when it travels to No. 2 Albany on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m.