GAME INFORMATION

#12 Ohio State vs. #10 (7) Cornell
DATE/TIME: Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 2:30 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Ohio State 10-5, 3-2 Big Ten / Cornell 11-4 4-2 Ivy League
BROADCAST: ESPNU
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES
 

STORY LINES

• After earning its 30th Ivy League title in program history, the Cornell men's lacrosse opens its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance when Ohio State visits Schoellkopf Field on Sunday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m. in a first round matchup. 
• The contest will be televised on ESPNU and live on WHCU 97.7 FM/870 AM with Barry Leonard and Howie Borkan on the call.
• The contest is a rematch from a March 5 non-conference game at Schoellkopf Field when the Big Red dropped the fifth-ranked Buckeyes 14-11 to improve to 4-0 as part of a 6-0 start.
• The Big Red sits 11-4 start and stands No. 10 in the latest USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media polls despite having lost three of its last four games entering the tournament.
• Senior John Piatelli leads the team in goals (53) and ranks among the school's top 10 career goal scorers with 135, sixth on the school's all-time list.
• Ivy League Rookie of the Year CJ Kirst is second on the team in points (64), assists (22) and goals (42), and fourth in ground balls (38).
• Inside Lacrosse midseason first-team All-American Gavin Adler has been sensational with the long stick, causing 25 turnovers and winning 53 ground balls, including an incredible nine caused turnovers and 13 ground ball wins in his past two games, both vs. Top 5 opponents — Princeton and Yale.
• A veteran defense featuring fifth-year senior Joseph Bartolotto III (18 caused turnovers, 23 ground balls) and graduate student Harrison Bardwell (12 caused turnovers, 40 ground balls) surrenders 11.8 goals per game despite missing seniors Ian Jacobs (nine caused turnovers, 26 ground balls), Dom Doria (11 caused turnovers, 22 ground balls) and sophomore Jack Follows (one caused turnover, five ground balls) due to injury for various parts of the season.
• In goal, Chayse Ierlan has at least 10 saves in 11 of his past 14 games and sports an impressive 23-8 career record between the pipes.
• Face-off specialist Angelo Petrakis is winning 48 percent in the circle and leads the team with 92 ground balls, while his 176 face-off wins this season ranks fifth all-time at Cornell in a single season.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 5 Yale outscored Cornell 3-0 in the second quarter, and that little separation was enough to hand the Bulldogs a 14-11 victory in the semifinals of the 2022 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Tournament at Brown's Stevenson-Pincince Field. 
• Michael Long posted five goals and an assist and John Piatelli recorded a hat trick on offense, while Gavin Adler was sensational on the defensive end. 
• The All-America candidate caused four turnovers, won five ground balls and limited the nation's leading scorer, Yale's Matt Brandau to a goal and an assist. 
• Chayse Ierlan made 13 saves in goal, including 12 over the final three quarters after a wild first 15 minutes. 
• Angelo Petrakis was 11-of-26 on face-offs with six ground balls.
• Leo Johnson led a balanced Yale offense with two goals and three assists, while Brad Sharp (two goals, two assists), Brian Tevlin (two goals) and Chris Lyons (two goals) each had multi-goal games. 
• Nicholas Ramsey was 17-of-27 on face-offs with eight ground ball wins
• Jared Paquette stopped 14 shots in goal for Yale.
• Yale held a 52-46 edge in shots and was 18-of-29 on face-offs, though Cornell held a slim 35-34 edge in ground balls. 
• Neither team scored on their sole man-up opportunities.
 

THE SERIES VS. OHIO STATE

First Meeting: 2000
Overall: Cornell leads, 4-2 (2-1 in Ithaca)
In Overtime: N/A
In NCAA play: Series tied, 1-1
Current Streak: Cornell, 3 games
Last Meeting: Cornell, 14-11 (3/5/2022 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Buczek vs. Ohio State: 1-0
Series vs. Ohio State: 
• The two teams first met during the 2000 season in what was an 11-5 victory for the Big Red on Schoellkopf Field.
• Ohio State won the next two contests, beating Cornell 8-7 in Columbus, Ohio in 2001 and 15-7 in Ithaca, N.Y. in 2008 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The two teams met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and Cornell won, 16-8, in College Park, Md. 
• The Big Red has won three straight meetings between the teams, including a 14-11 Big Red win earlier this season in the last matchup.
• The Big Red advanced to the NCAA semifinal that season in what is the program's most recent Final Four appearance.
 

A WIN OVER OHIO STATE WOULD

• Improve Cornell's record to 12-4 on the season.
• Advance the Big Red to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 and the 22nd time in program history.
• Set up Cornell to face the winner of second-seeded Georgetown or the play-in game victor between Delaware and Robert Morris
• Make the Big Red 17-5 at Schoellkopf Field in NCAA Tournament play.
• Be the Big Red's first NCAA Tournament win at home since defeating Hartford 12-5 in 2011.
• Extend Cornell's win streak over the Buckeyes to four games and its lead in the all-time series to 5-2.
• Be the 783rd win in program history (782-491-27, .612).
 

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

• The 12th-ranked Buckeyes are 10-5 on the season and posted a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play during the regular season.
• Ohio State owns high-profile victories over North Carolina, Harvard, Notre Dame, Penn State and Johns Hopkins.
• The Buckeyes average 14.0 goals per game led by first-team All-Big Ten selection Jack Myers, who paces the Buckeyes with 80 points (36-44-80) in four wins (5.3 ppg., sixth nationally), as well as Jackson Reid (46-15-61).
• Fifth-year senior Justin Inacio is ninth nationally with his .591 face-off percentage and leads the team with 89 ground balls.
• While the offense has been electric, the defense is surrendering just 11.4 goals per outing with Skylar Wahlund (11.86 GAA, .531 save percentage) and Caton Johnson (10.73 GAA, .472 save percentage) splitting time in goal.
• Five different defenders, led by Stephen Zupicich (13 caused turnovers, 31 ground balls), have posted at least 10 caused turnovers.
• Head coach Nick Myers sports a 120-88 record in 14 seasons and reached the national championship game in 2017.
 

THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH

• Connor Buczek '15 (11-4) 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 135 goals and 182 points — he needs one goal to move up to fifth in career goals and five to get to fourth, as well 12 points away from the top five.
• With 359 saves, senior Chayse Ierlan has moved into the top 10 and is 32 away from getting to ninth.
• With his 64 points, sophomore CJ Kirst (42-22-64) ranks third and climbing on the list of points by a Big Red rookie, behind only Rob Pannell in 2009 (25-42-67) and Jeff Teat in 2017 (33-39-72).
• Dating back to 2020, Cornell is 16-4 over its past 20 games, including an impressive 11-2 away from home.
• Cornell has won 20 straight games when leading after three quarters, including a perfect 10-0 mark this year.
• 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.
 • The last time Cornell defeated the same team twice in a season was in 2018 when it knocked off Syracuse 13-8 in the regular season in Ithaca, then won in Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 

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.
 

UP NEXT

• With a win, Cornell would meet the winner of No. 2 seed Georgetown and play-in game winner Delaware and Robert Morris on Sunday, May 15 at noon or 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.