ALBANY, N.Y. – After boasting one of the most powerful offenses in the nation a season ago, the Cornell men's lacrosse team wasted no time putting its high octane attack on display in 2020, cruising to a 19-10 victory over UAlbany in its season opener on Saturday afternoon at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.
The Big Red utilized an extremely balanced attack, as four players scored at least three goals. Midfielder Jonathan Donville opened his junior campaign on a high note, scoring a game- and career-high five goals for Cornell. Senior Cooper Telesco was also firing on all cylinders, notching a career-best four goals and picking up three ground balls. John Piatelli and JJ Lombardi tallied three goals apiece for the Big Red.
In total, Cornell had eight different student-athletes net a goal, and Jeff Teat played a vital role in a number of these scores. Teat assisted on four of the Big Red's seven assisted goals, also scoring a goal of his own.
The Big Red got on the board first just under three minutes into the first quarter on Donville's first score of the day. UAlbany scored the equalizer roughly a minute later, but the Big Red created separation after this, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead a minute into the second quarter. Cornell would score three more times in the second period on goals from Connor Fletcher, Billy Coyle, and Telesco, with Fletcher and Coyle scoring within 60 seconds of each other around the nine minute mark of the second to claim a 6-2 lead. Coyle's goal was the first of his collegiate career. Cornell ultimately entered the half with a 7-3 advantage after the two teams exchanged a pair of goals.
With the start of the third quarter, the Big Red opened the floodgates, recording the first seven goals of the half and out-scoring the Great Danes, 9-1, in the third period of play. After Donville notched the first goal of the half, his third of the game, Telesco completely took over in the next few possessions, scoring three-consecutive goals of his own.
The Big Red absolutely dominated in the third quarter, taking 17 shots as compared to UAlbany's seven and creating more scoring opportunities for itself. Cornell also scooped up 18 ground balls in the quarter as compared to UAlbany's seven. The Big Red's face-off unit definitely contributed to this, winning eight-of-10 face-offs in the third quarter.
UAlbany attempted to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring six fourth-quarter goals, but Cornell had already pulled away. Big Red goals from Lombardi, Teat, and freshman Angelo Petrakis helped keep the Great Danes out of reach. The goal for Petrakis marked his first in a Big Red uniform.
Cornell's face-off unit on Saturday out-performed the Great Danes, helping the Big Red cruise to a 19-10 victory. The Big Red won two thirds of the face-offs, finishing the contest 21-of-32. Paul Rasimowicz carried the heaviest load, winning 12-of-17 face-off attempts, while Petrakis went 6-of-10. Tim Graham also spent time in the face-off circle, winning three of the five face-offs he took.
In addition to pacing the team in face-offs, Rasimowicz led the team in ground balls as well, collecting eight. Sam Duggan picked up seven, in addition to causing two turnovers. As a team, Cornell won the ground ball battle with UAlbany, 49-32.
Sophomore goalie Chayse Ierlan picked up his first victory of the 2020 campaign, making 10 saves in the process.
The No. 14 Cornell men's lacrosse team will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Baltimore, Md. for a pair of contests. The Big Red will play at Towson on Friday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. before playing a neutral site game against High Point at Calvert Hall High School on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m.
