GAME INFORMATION

#6 Cornell at Syracuse
DATE/TIME: Monday, April 11, 2022 at 7 p.m.
SITE: The Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 9-1, 3-1 Ivy League / Syracuse 4-6, 1-2 ACC
BROADCAST: ACC Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: Cuse.com
GAME NOTES
 

STORY LINES

• A pair of Central New York rivals will clash for the 108th time on the lacrosse field when No. 6 Cornell visits perennial national power Syracuse on Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
• The contest will be televised on the ACC Network with Anish Shroff and Ryan Boyle on the call and will also air live on WHCU 97.7 FM/870 AM with Jason Weinstein.
• Cornell is coming off a 17-9 triumph over No. 11 Harvard on Saturday, breaking open a 1-1 contest at the end of the first quarter with nine consecutive goals over the next 18 minutes to cruise to the victory.
• The Big Red is off to a strong 9-1 start and is up to No. 6 in the latest USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media polls.
• Cornell enters the game with a 12-game non-conference win streak dating back to 2019 that includes wins over Notre Dame, Albany (twice), Ohio State (twice) and Penn State (twice).
• The Big Red's last non-conference loss came at Syracuse, a 13-8 defeat on April 9, 2019 at the Carrier Dome.
• On offense, a pair of Tewaaraton Trophy candidates pace an offense averaging 13.5 goals per contest.
• Senior John Piatelli leads the team in goals (34) and ranks among the school's top 10 career goal scorers with 115, one behind Jeff Teat '21 for ninth place.
• Two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Year CJ Kirst paces the team in assists (17) and points (49), while ranking second in goals (32) and third in ground balls (29).
• Inside Lacrosse midseason first-team All-American Gavin Adler has been sensational with the long stick, causing 13 turnovers and winning 31 ground balls.
• A veteran defense featuring senior Ian Jacobs (eight caused turnovers, 23 ground balls), fifth-year seniors Joseph Bartolotto III (16 caused turnovers, 18 ground balls), Dom Doria (eight caused turnovers, 17 ground balls) and graduate student Harrison Bardwell (five caused turnovers, 24 ground balls) surrenders just 10.3 goals per game.
• In goal, Chayse Ierlan ranks 20th nationally in goals against average (10.17 GAA) and has at least 10 saves in eight of his past nine games.
• Face-off specialist Angelo Petrakis is winning 49 percent in the circle, including a 16-of-29 effort against the nation's top-ranked face-off unit in No. 5 Ohio State, and leads the team with 57 ground balls.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• After 15 minutes of action, it looked as though No. 6 Cornell and No. 11 Harvard were in for a defensive showdown on a rainy afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Once it started raining goals, however, it never stopped.
• The Big Red scored nine unanswered over the span of 11:45 of game time and Cornell ran past the Crimson 17-9.
• Michael Long had three goals and four assists and CJ Kirst had three of each for a six-point night as the Cornell offense scored 16 goals over the final three quarters. 
• John Piatelli scored four goals for the Big Red, moving into the school's top 10 career list. 
• Chayse Ierlan made 10 saves in goal and Angelo Petrakis controlled the battle at the faceoff "x" all afternoon, winning 17-of-27.
• Kyle Mullin was a brick wall for the Crimson early, stopping nine of the first 10 shots he faced and ending the afternoon with 14 total stops while also winning a team-best five ground balls. 
• Cornell held a narrow 40-38 edge in total shots, but the Big Red put 31 of its attempts on target. 
• The Big Red also held advantages in face-offs (18-11) and ground balls (43-33).
 

THE SERIES VS. SYRACUSE

First Meeting: 1920
Overall: Syracuse leads, 66-40-1 (35-17 in Syracuse)
In Overtime: Series tied, 1-1
Current Streak: Syracuse, 1 game
Last Meeting: Syracuse, 13-8 (4/9/2019 in Syracuse)
Longest Cornell streak: 12 games; Longest SU streak: 16 games
Series vs. Syracuse: Since the rivalry began in 1920, there have been only six seasons (1944, 1945, 1977, 1978, 2020, 2021) that the two squads have not faced each other, including the past two due to the pandemic. 
• With 107 meetings in the books, the rivalry is the third most contested in NCAA DI men's lacrosse history.
• Since 2000,  SU holds a 13-10 lead, but the teams have played eight one-goal games, with two others being decided by two goals.
 

A WIN OVER SYRACUSE WOULD

• Give Cornell an 10-1 record on the season.
• Narrow Syracuse's lead in the all-time series to 66-41-1, including 35-18 in Syracuse.
• Extend the Big Red's non-conference win streak to 13 contests.
• Be the 780th win in program history (779-488-27, .612).
 

SCOUTING SYRACUSE

• Syracuse is 4-6 on the season and 1-2 in ACC play after Thursday's 14-12 defeat at Albany, its second straight loss.
• Five of its losses have come against top 20 opponents, with one of its wins a decisive 14-10 triumph over No. 10 Duke. 
• The Orange average 13.3 goals per game on offense and has controlled possessions, winning 59 percent of  its faceoffs this season and outshooting foes 47-38 on average.
• Tucker Dordevic paces SU in goals, assists and points (36-11-47), with both Brendan Curry (23-10-33) and Owen Seebold (22-5-27) also averaging better than 2.5 points per outing.
• Nick Caccamo has a team-best 17 caused turnovers along with 24 ground balls and is one of four players with double figure caused turnovers.
• Jakub Phaup has taken a majority of the team's faceoffs, winning 59 percent (168-of-285) with a team-best 89 ground balls.
• Bobby Gavin has been the team's primary goalkeeper (3-4, 13.96 GAA, .453 save percentage), Harrison Thompson (1-2, 13.46 GAA, .398 save percentage) has also played significant minutes.
• Syracuse legend and lacrosse Hall of Famer Gary Gait is in his first season on the sidelines as head coach of the men's team after guiding the women to three national championship game appearances.
• Former Cornell head coach Dave Pietramala is an assistant coach for Gait after along and successful tenure as head coach at Johns Hopkins that included two NCAA Championships.
 

THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH

• Connor Buczek '15 (9-1) is in 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.
 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Senior John Piatelli enters the weekend with 115 goals and 157 points — he needs one goal to move up to ninth in career goals and 11 more points to hit the top 10 in that category.
• With 315 saves, senior Chayse Ierlan needs 30 more saves to reach the school's top 10 chart.
• Dating back to 2020, Cornell is 14-1 over its past 15 games, including an impressive 9-1 away from home.
• Cornell is 3-0 when it wins faceoffs and has won 14 consecutive games when it holds the edge at the circle.
• The Big Red has won 22 consecutive games when holding opponents under 10 goals with its last loss coming in a 7-6 defeat at Princeton to close out the 2016 campaign.
 

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.
 

THIS IS OUR HOUSE

• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 247-85 for a .744 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 107-30 overall (.781) 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 return home for its final non-conference contest of the season when it meets No. 14 Army West Point on Saturday, April 16 at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. 
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Black Knights lead the all-time series 24-15, though Cornell won the last meeting between the teams and seven of the last eight meetings dating back to 2006.