ITHACA, N.Y. -- After shepherding the Cornell men's lacrosse program through a challenging 2020-21 school year with strength and grace, the Big Red coaching staff, led by Connor Buczek, has been elevated to permanent positions. Buczek will continue as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach, Jordan Stevens will serve as the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach and Paolo Ciferri will take over as a full-time assistant coach.

Before taking the reins in April 2020, Buczek had spent five seasons on staff for the Big Red, first as a volunteer assistant coach for two years while playing professionally and then as an assistant coach for the past three seasons. Buczek has used his knowledge of the offensive systems to turn Cornell into one of the most powerful in the country, year-in and year-out.

In 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cornell wasted no time putting its high-octane offense on display, as the Big Red finished the season ranked first in the nation in shot percentage (.404), second in scoring offense (18.40) and assists per game (10.40), and third in points per game (28.80). A year prior, Buczek coached the only team in the nation to boast three attackmen ranked in the top-30 in points per game, as Jeff Teat, John Piatelli and Clarke Petterson became just the third set of Cornell teammates to each register 50+ points in a single season.

Buczek graduated as the top scoring midfielder in Big Red history with 155 points. He earned the 2015 Senior CLASS Award, a national recognition for his notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The 2014 Ivy League Player of the Year, he was a three-time unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and two-time Tewaaraton Trophy nominee. In 2015, Buczek became the first midfielder in Cornell history to score 40 goals in a season, and is just the seventh midfielder in the history of the Ivy League to record both 40 goals in a single season and 100 goals in a career.

A two-time All-American for the Big Red as a defender, Stevens has served as the team's defensive coordinator since 2016 and took over as recruiting coordinator a year later. He served as a four-year starter on the defense from 2012-15, earning unanimous first-team All-Ivy honors twice. In 2019, Stevens coached a Big Red defense that ranked in the top-15 in the nation in caused turnovers and was just outside the top-20 in man-down defense.

Stevens was the 21st overall pick by the Rochester Rattlers of the MLL following his college career. In his four playing seasons, the Big Red went 44-19 overall (19-5 Ivy) with three Ivy League regular season titles and NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national semifinal appearance in 2013.

Ciferri was elevated to a full-time assistant coach in July 2020 after joining the staff as volunteer the previous summer. He was a part of the staff that helped the Big Red get off to a 5-0 start in 2020 before the season came to a screeching halt due to COVID-19. Cornell ended the season ranked No. 2 in both the Inside Lacrosse/Maverik Media Poll and USILA Coaches' Poll, marking the team's highest USILA ranking since 2014.

His family has a long-rooted history within the Cornell men's and women's lacrosse programs. With his mother, Lyn Reitenbach '85, and two uncles, Keith Reitenbach '78 and Bruce Reitenbach '82, having played lacrosse at Cornell, Ciferri is very familiar with what Big Red lacrosse is all about.