ITHACA, N.Y. - The wait is finally almost over, as the #13 Cornell men's lacrosse team will be back in action for the first time in 713 days when it hosts UAlbany on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.

GAME INFORMATION:

#13 Cornell vs. UAlbany
DATE/TIME: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell (2020 record) 5-0, 0-0 Ivy League / UAlbany (2021 record) 8-5, 5-3 America East
BROADCAST: ESPN+ (es.pn/3I2PJgo)
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: cornellbigred.com (bit.ly/3JBLWXF)   
SPECTATOR POLICY
GAME NOTES (PDF)

STORY LINES:

• For the first time in 713 days, the Cornell men's lacrosse team will take the field when it hosts UAlbany for its 2022 season opener on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.
• The contest marks the Big Red's first home game since April 27, 2019, a span of 1,029 days.
• Head coach Connor Buczek '15 will coach the very first game of his head coaching career on Saturday, as he enters his first season (second year) at the helm of the Big Red program.
• Saturday's game will also be the season opener for UAlbany, who posted an 8-5 (5-3 AE) record a year ago.
• Cornell has squared off against UAlbany in each of its last seven seasons and is winners of the last two matchups. UAlbany has been the Big Red's season opener in each of its last two campaigns.
• Cornell opens the 2022 season among the top-20 teams in the nation, coming in at #13 on USILA Coaches Poll and #17 on the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

FOR STARTERS:

• The Big Red holds a 66-54-5 all-time record in its season openers. 
• Cornell has won each of its last two season 
openers, including a 19-10 victory over UAlbany to open the 2020 campaign. 

THE SERIES VS. UALBANY:

• UAlbany and Cornell are deadlocked, 4-4, in the all-time series.
• Cornell and UAlbany first met in the 2007 NCAA tournament 
quarterfinals where the Big Red defeated UAlbany in overtime in Princeton, N.J.
• Cornell won the first-ever regular season meeting in 2015 in the 
seventh annual Patriot Cup held in Dallas. 
• The Great Danes earned its first series victory in the 2015 NCAA tournament.
• UAlbany won four-straight from 2015-18, but Cornell has taken the last two, including a 19-10 season-opening victory in 2020 in Albany, N.Y.
• John Piatelli and JJ Lombardi both had the Great Danes' number when the two teams faced off in 2020, both notching hat tricks.

A WIN OVER UALBANY WOULD:

• Be Cornell's third-straight season-opening victory, and its second over the Great Danes.
• Be Cornell's third-consecutive win over UAlbany.
• Give Cornell the 5-4 edge in the series history.
• Give head coach Connor Buczek '15 his first career victory.

SCOUTING UALBANY:

• UAlbany opens the 2022 season receiving votes in both the USILA Coaches' and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls.
• The Great Danes are coming off a season that saw them go 8-5 (5-3 AE) and advance to the finals of the America East 
Tournament before falling to Vermont.
• UAlbany was selected to finish third in the America East this season with 26 points, one point behind second-place Stony Brook (27) and one point ahead of fourth-place UMBC (25).
• UAlbany returns a pair of student-athletes who earned second team All-America East honors a season ago in junior LSM Jake Piseno and junior A/M Graydon Hogg.

CORNELL VS. THE AMERICA EAST:

• The Big Red is 25-10 all-time vs. the current members of the America East.
• Cornell is 12-0 all-time vs. Binghamton, 5-0 vs. Stony Brook, and 1-0 vs. Hartford.
• The Big Red has an even record vs. Albany (4-4) and a losing mark vs. UMBC (5-6).
• Cornell has never faced Vermont.

THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH:

• Connor Buczek '15 (0-0) kicks off his first season (second year) at the helm of the Cornell men's lacross program.
• He was elevated to the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse in the spring of 2020 after five seasons on staff in the capacities of volunteer assistant coach for two years and assistant coach for three.
• His first year in the head coaching role saw the 2021 season get canceled due to COVID-19 and have to navigate his team through the challenges of having the season eliminated due to the pandemic.
• He has served as the offensive coordinator since 2018, and his duties have also included working with the goalies.
• He has helped turn the Big Red offense into one of the most potent units in the country, as Cornell has finished each of its last two seasons ranked among the top-five nationally in shooting percentage, assists per game, shots per game, and goals per game.
• Buczek was a decorated student-athlete during his playing days at Cornell, 
being named a three-time All-American and unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, among various other awards.

PLENTIFUL PRESEASON FOR PIATELLI:

• Although he hasn't taken the field since 2020, senior attackman John Piatelli remains among the top players in Division I, earning a spot on the Tewaaraton Watch List and being named Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media All-America honorable mention in advance of the 2022 campaign.
• The preseason accolades for Piatelli come after he received All-America honorable mention honors from Inside Lacrosse the last time the Big Red took the field in 2020.
• A two-time team captain for Cornell, including for the upcoming season, Piatelli has led Cornell in goals in each of the last two seasons in which the Big Red has competed, finishing the 2019 campaign ranked in the top-25 in the nation in individual man-up goals (10th – 7), goals per game (13th – 3.00), shooting percentage (14th - .459), and points per game (22nd – 4.27).
• Through five games in 2020, he ranked fourth in all of Division I in goals per game (4.00).

MEET THE CAPTAINS:

• Joseph Bartolotto III '22, John Piatelli '22, and Chayse Ierlan '22 will serve as the Big Red's captains for the 2022 campaign.
• This marks the second time Bartolotto and Piatelli have been elected captains, having also done so in 2021, while it's Ierlan's first time steering the ship.

2020 INSIDE LACROSSE MEDIA ALL-AMERICANS:

• Cornell returns a pair of student-athletes who donned Inside Lacrosse/Maverik Media All-America honorable mention recognition at the conclusion of the abbreviated 2020 campaign in senior attackman John Piatelli and senior defenseman Gavin Adler.

WHAT SEEMS LIKE EONS AGO:

• The last time Cornell took the field in 2020, the Big Red was off to an impressive 5-0 start, having just downed #2 Penn State, 18-17, when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• With the victory, Cornell shot all the way up to #2 in the USILA Coaches' and Inside Lacrosse/Maverik Media Polls, marking the team's highest USILA ranking since 2014.
• Cornell wasted no time putting its high-octane offense on display that season, as the Big Red finished the year 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). 
• The Big Red has finished among the top-five of the nation in those statistical categories in each of its last two seasons.

A NEW AND FAMILIAR FACES:

• The juxtaposition on the Big Red roster between fifth-year seniors and graduate students who put their lives on hold for a year to finish out their Cornell lacrosse careers, combined with two full classes who have yet to see a lick of collegiate lacrosse 
action , makes for a one-of-a-kind roster.
• Seven Big Red players that were initially in the Class of 2021 elected to come back for the 2022 season, bringing the senior class to 17 members, along with two graduate students.
• On the other end of the spectrum, Cornell's 12 sophomores and seven freshmen will get their first taste of collegiate lacrosse this season, totaling 19 newcomers. Of the Big Red's 48-member roster, 20 will suit up for the Big Red for the first time in 2022. 
• The Big Red's roster breakdown is comprised of two graduate students, 17 seniors, 10 juniors, 12 sophomores, and seven freshmen.

DOTTING THE MAP: 

• Cornell has six international players on the 2022 roster (five Canadians, one Australian).
• Tim Graham is the first Cornell men's lacrosse player to come from a foreign country other than Canada since John E. Beeby 
(Dersingham, Eng.), Thomas H. Beeby (Dersingham, Eng.) and John S. Roederer (Paris, France) all appeared on the 1961 roster.

FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER: 

• Tim Graham is the first Australian to play men's lacrosse in the Ivy League. 
• Graham became just the eighth Australian to play Division I men's lacrosse, and the first since Adam Sear (Yokin) and James Watson-Galbraith (Perth) played for Maryland and UMBC, respectively, during the 2010 season.

THIS IS OUR HOUSE: 

• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 245-85 for a .742 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 105-30 overall (.782) with perfect slates in 2015 (6-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).

UP NEXT:

• The #13 Cornell men's lacrosse team will hit the road for the first time of the 2022 campaign when it faces #16 Lehigh on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa.
• Cornell will then return home for back-to-back home contests against Hobart on March 1 at 5 p.m. and Ohio State on March 5 at noon at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.