GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell vs. No. 20 Penn State
FACE OFF: Saturday, March 10, at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Tierney Field (Sparks, Md.)
2018 Records: Cornell (2-2, 0-0 Ivy League); Penn State (4-2, 0-0 B1G)
SERIES RECORD: Penn State leads, 21-20
LAST MEETING: Penn State, 20-10 (2/18/2017 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
 
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* GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red men's lacrosse team will play its first neutral site game of the season when it takes on No. 20 Penn State on Saturday, Mach 10 at U.S. Lacrosse's Tierney Field in Sparks, Md. The game will be the first neutral site contest in the history of the series, which stands at 41 all-time meetings. Cornell evened its record at 2-2 with a dominant win over Binghamton on Tuesday night, while the Nittany Lions have won two in a row to improve to 4-2 on the year. The game is slated to begin at noon and fans can hear the action live at www.WHCUradio.com or locally on WHCU 870 AM with Barry Leonard and Howie Borkan on the call.
 
THE SERIES VS. PENN STATE: The teams first met in the 1923 season and went on to play 36 times prior to 1961.
• The series took a 40-year hiatus before Penn State took an 8-7 victory in the 2001 season.
• The Big Red responded by winning the next two meetings (2002, 2003), but the Nittany Lions have won two in a row (2016, 2017) to take the slim 21-20 lead in the all-time series.
 
A WIN OVER PENN STATE WOULD:
• snap the Nittany Lions two-game winning streak in the series.
• even the all-time series at 21-21.
• be the first over a ranked opponent this season.
• be the 748th win in program history.
• make Cornell 74-78 all-time when unranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• improve Cornell to 6-4 all-time vs. the 20th ranked team in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
 
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS:
• Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni spent 10 seasons on the Big Red sidelines as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse. During his time with the Big Red, Tambroni posted a record of 109-40 and won a share of eight consecutive Ivy League championships.
• Penn State volunteer assistant coach John Hogan played lacrosse for Cornel from 2012-2015 and was teammates with current Big Red assistant coaches Jordan Stevens and Connor Buczek.
• Cornell freshman Joe Wolf's uncle, Mike Wolf, played football at Penn State.
• There are four high schools represented on both the Cornell and Penn State rosters: 
    •Haverford School (CU's Parker Henderer; PSU's Grant Ament, John Nostrant, Chris Sabia)
    •St. Paul's School (CU's Patrick Karey; PSU's Hunter Pearl)
    •Boys' Latin School (CU's Christian Knight; PSU's Jake Glatz)
    •Lawrenceville School (CU's Harrison Bardwell; PSU's Dean Lamela)
 
CORNELL VS. THE BIG 10: The Big Red is 41-54-2 against the current members of the Big 10 conference.\
• Cornell has a winning record vs. Rutgers (8-1) and Michigan (1-0),
•The Big Red's series with Ohio Stat is tied (2-2).
• Cornell has a losing record vs. Penn state (20-21), Johns Hopkins (6-16-1) and Maryland (4-14-1).
 
THE HEAD COACH: Peter Milliman (2-2, .500) 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 (39-28).
 
TEWAARATON WATCH: Jeff Teat has been named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Award men's watch list.
• Teat is one of just eight Ivy Leaguers and 10 sophomores on the list.
 
PULVER'S GOT SENIOR CLASS: Jake Pulver has been named one of 20 candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate lacrosse.
• To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• Cornell has had three Senior CLASS award winners – Matt McMonagle '07, Max Seibald '09, and Connor Buczek '15.
 
CORNELL STREAKS
• Jeff Teat has the longest point-scoring streak on the team with one point in each of the last 14 games.
• Cornell goalies have posted double-digit saves in eight consecutive games.
• The Big Red defense has caused eight turnovers in two straight games.
• Cornell has posted fewer turnovers than its opponents in two consecutive games.
 
FASTEST TO 100: With 94 points in 17 career games, Jeff Teat is on pace to reach 100 career points faster than any other four-year player in Cornell history.
• Rob Pannell tallied his 100th career point in his 25th career game with the Big Red during his sophomore season in 2010.
• Michael French '76 (16 games) and Eamon McEneaney '77 (19 games) registered their 100th career point in fewer games, but due to NCAA rules that prohibited freshmen from playing varsity sports, both accomplished the feat in their junior season.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
• Christian Knight was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on March 5 after a 19-save effort vs. No. 1 Albany.
• Jeff Teat was named to the USILA Team of the Week on Feb. 27 after tallying 10 points (four goals, six assists) vs. Hobart.
 
THE PETTERSON-TEAT CONNECTION:
• Clarke Petterson and Jeff Teat both attended The Hill Academy.
• Of Petterson's 45 points since the 2017 season, just under half (26) have involved Teat.
• Teat has assisted on 13 of Petterson's 26 goals since 2017.
• Of Petterson's 19 assists since 2017, 12 have come on goals by Teat
 
MOVING ON UP IN CORNELL HISTORY:
• Christian Knight ranks sixth in career saves (496) … He needs 60 more to move into fifth place.
• Christian Knight ranks seventh in career wins (24) … He needs six more to move into sixth place.
 
ROSTER SUPERLATIVES: Cornell's 49-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. 
 
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, five are currently ranked in the USILA Coaches' Poll – Albany (first), Syracuse (seventh), Yale (11th), Penn (17th), and Penn State (20th)
• Another two opponents – Lehigh and Princeton – are all receiving votes.
 
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.
 
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).
 
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.

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).
 
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).
UP NEXT: Cornell opens Ivy League play when it welcomes No. 11 Yale to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 17 for a contest at 1 p.m.