ITHACA, N.Y. - Cornell will attempt to start 3-0 for the third consecutive season when it renews one of college lacrosse's oldest and fiercest rivalries when the Big Red meets Hobart on Tuesday, March 1 at 5 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
 

GAME INFORMATION:

Hobart at #12 Cornell
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 5 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Hobart 2-0, 0-0 Northeast / Cornell 2-0, 0-0 Ivy League
BROADCAST: ESPN+ (es.pn/3vbYhxS)
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: CornellBigRed.com (bit.ly/3vex7Gt)   
SPECTATOR POLICY
GAME NOTES
 

STORY LINES:

• Cornell will attempt to start 3-0 for the third consecutive season when it renews one of college lacrosse's oldest and fiercest rivalries when the Big Red meets Hobart on Tuesday, March 1 at 5 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. 
• The Big Red and the Statesmen have met 138 times dating back to the first meeting in 1898 — Hobart's first intercollegiate contest. 
• This will be the first meeting between the teams since the 2019 season, as the 2020 contest and the Big Red's 2021 campaign were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Cornell has won 17 of the last 19 meetings between the teams, but the Statesmen doubled up Cornell during the 2017 season, 16-8, in its last win.
• The two seasons without games between the teams is the longest dormant stretch in the series since not playing at the 1943-46 seasons.
• Cornell has shown its versatility in beginning the year 2-0. 
• The Big Red won a shootout in its opener against Albany (16-8) and a defensive struggle on the road at Lehigh (9-5) to get off to its perfect start.
 

LAST TIME OUT:

• The Cornell defense held Lehigh at bay all day, and when they did break out, Chayse Ierlan was there to shut the door.
• The Big Red defense caused eight turnovers and won 35 ground balls with Ierlan stopping 15 shots in goal as Cornell improved to 2-0 on the season with a 9-5 win over Lehigh at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The
• CJ Kirst had two goals and an assist, both John Piatelli and Aiden Blake tallied twice and Spencer Wirtheim was credited with two assists for the Big Red offense.
• Lehigh got on the board first just 1:16 into the contest on the man-up, but Cornell scored the next four and never again trailed. 
• The Mountain Hawks cut a three-goal lead to one at 6-5 with 8:17 to play, but Blake found the back of the net twice in the span of 23 seconds and Cornell pulled back to a comfortable advantage.
• Ierlan's seven saves in a scoreless third quarter was likely the difference as the visitors entered the final stanza with the same 5-3 advantage it took into halftime.
• Angelo Petrakis won 8-of-16 faceoffs for the Big Red, while Bartolotto caused three turnovers and won two ground balls.
• Scott Cole scored three times for Lehigh, with Mike Sisselberger winning 10-of-18 faceoffs and capturing eight ground balls. 
• James Spence was credited with 11 saves in front of a defense that caused 11 turnovers against the high-octane Big Red offense.
 

THE SERIES VS. HOBART:

First Meeting: 1898
Overall: Cornell leads, 87-47-4 (54-27-3 in Ithaca)
In Overtime: Series tied, 1-1
Current Streak: Cornell, 2 games
Last Meeting: Cornell, 19-16 (2/22/2019 in Geneva, N.Y.)
Buczek vs. Hobart: 0-0 (0-0 in Ithaca)
Series vs. Hobart: The Cornell/Hobart rivalry is the most contested in the history of collegiate lacrosse, standing at 138 meetings. 
• The series began in 1898, Hobart's first season of varsity lacrosse. 
• The 1898 contest was not only the first in the series, but the first-ever lacrosse game for the Statesmen.
• The only Hobart win in the series since 2004 came on Boswell Field (2017) when the Statesmen won 16-8. 
• Cornell has won 17 of the last 19 meetings, including a 12-game win streak from 2004-16 that is the longest streak in the series for either team. 
 

A WIN OVER HOBART WOULD:

• Give Cornell a 3-0 start to the season for the third-straight season.
• Be the third in a row vs. the Statesmen.
•Make head coach Connor Buczek the xx head coach in Cornell history to begin a career 3-0
• Extend the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 88-47-4, including winning 18 of the last 20 between the teams.
 

SCOUTING HOBART:

• Hobart is 2-0 with its high-scoring offense averaging 18.0 goals in home wins over Canisius and Lehigh.
• After crushing the Golden Griffins 22-13 in the opener behind Tommy Motts' nine points (four goals, five assists), the Statesmen's Kevin Holtby made a game-saving stop with one second left in a 14-13 victory over nationally-ranked Lehigh.
• The starting attack features Ryan Archer (6-7-13) and Mott (7-5-12), who have combined for 25 points in just two contests.
• The offense is taking 52.5 shots per game and shooting at a 34 percent clip.
• Adam Shea is winning 61 percent of its face-offs with 17 ground balls, with Hobart winning 59 percent of its draws so far this year.
• Holtby is 2-0 with an 11.43 goals against average and a .532 save percentage in goal.
• Hobart was picked third in the Northeast Conference preseason poll with head coach Greg Raymond's team expected to again rank at the very top nationally in goals scored.
 

THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH:

• Connor Buczek '15 (1-0) kicks off his first season (second year) at the helm of the Cornell men's lacrosse 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 246-85 for a .742 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 106-30 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 Big Red will battle with #8 Ohio State on Saturday, March 5 at 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 3-2 and has won two straight meetings.