GAME INFORMATION

#8 Cornell vs. #5 Yale
DATE/TIME: Friday, May 6, 2022 at 6 p.m.
SITE: Stevenson-Pincince Field – Providence, R.I.
RECORDS: Cornell 11-3, 4-2 Ivy League / Yale 10-3, 4-2 Ivy League
BROADCAST: ESPNU
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: BrownBears.com
GAME NOTES
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell men's lacrosse will have a chance for a second straight top five win when it meets No. 5 Yale in the first semifinal of the 2022 Ivy League Tournament on Friday, May 6 at 6 p.m. at Brown's Stevenson-Pincince Field. 
• 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 Big Red sits 11-3 start and stands No. 8 in the latest USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media polls after last weekend's Ivy title-clinching win at Princeton.
• Cornell, the No. 2 seed, shared the Ivy title with both Yale, the No. 3 seed, and host and top-seeded Brown with its 4-2 conference mark.
• This is the Big Red's ninth appearance in the Ivy League Tournament (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022), with Cornell posting a 5-6 record.
• Cornell won the 2011 and 2018 tournaments and reached the finals in 2010.
• On offense, a pair of Tewaaraton Trophy candidates pace an offense averaging 13.4 goals per contest.
• Senior John Piatelli leads the team in goals (50) and ranks among the school's top 10 career goal scorers with 131, sixth on the school's all-time list.
• Three-time Ivy League Rookie of the Year CJ Kirst is tied for first on the team in points (63), second in assists (21) and goals (42), and fourth in ground balls (36).
• Inside Lacrosse midseason first-team All-American Gavin Adler has been sensational with the long stick, causing 21 turnovers and winning 48 ground balls, including an incredible five caused turnovers and eight ground ball wins against the Tigers this past weekend.
• A veteran defense featuring senior Ian Jacobs (nine caused turnovers, 26 ground balls), fifth-year seniors Joseph Bartolotto III (18 caused turnovers, 23 ground balls), Dom Doria (11 caused turnovers, 22 ground balls) and graduate student Harrison Bardwell (12 caused turnovers, 36 ground balls) surrenders 11.6 goals per game.
• In goal, Chayse Ierlan has at least 10 saves in 10 of his past 13 games and sports an impressive 23-7 career record between the pipes .
• 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 86 ground balls.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cornell men's lacrosse team got off to a great start, weathered a second half storm and clinched a share of its 30th Ivy League title and a spot in the conference tournament with a 18-15 victory over No. 5 Princeton at Class of 1952 Stadium. 
• After a week that saw the Big Red mourn the loss of the legendary Richie Moran, Cornell came out with a sense of urgency. 
• Cornell dominated the first 30 minutes of play in taking a 12-5 lead, held strong when the resurgent Tigers cut the deficit to one on two occasions and finished out on top in front of a mixed crowd of more than 2,000. 
• Senior defender Gavin Adler continued to make his case for first-team All-America honors, causing five turnovers and winning eight ground balls for the Big Red defense. 
• Michael Long scored four goals and added four assists for eight points, while John Piatelli scored four as part of a five-point game that saw him net his 50th tally of the year. 
• CJ Kirst (four goals) and Billy Coyle (three goals) combined for seven goals. 
• Angelo Petrakis held his own at the face-off circle, winning 18-of-35 with 13 ground balls, and Chayse Ierlan made 10 saves - including six in the decisive fourth quarter.
• Cornell held a 52-43 edge in shots, including 32-11 in the first half, and had 48 ground balls to 38 for the Tigers. 
• The Big Red scored on 2-of-3 extra-man opportunities and was only whistled for one penalty, holding the home team off the scoreboard.
 

THE SERIES VS. YALE

First Meeting: 1916
Overall: Cornell leads, 53-28-1 (Cornell, 3-2 at neutral sites)
In Overtime: Yale leads, 3-2
Current Streak: Cornell, 1 game
Longest Cornell Streak: 22 games;
Longest Yale Streak: 9 games
Last Meeting: Cornell, 13-12 (3/19/2022 in Ithaca)
Series vs. Yale: The Cornell and Yale rivalry began in 1916 with a 5-1 Big Red victory, and Cornell has dominated ever since. 
•  The Big Red holds a 53-28-1 record in the series, thanks in large part to 22 straight victories over the Bulldogs from 1966 to 1987. 
•  Cornell had a 14-game winning streak vs. Yale ended when the Bulldogs defeated the Big Red in the 2012 Ivy League tournament. 
•  The Big Red went on to win the next three meetings (2013-15) before dropping five of the last seven to Yale.
 

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD

• Give Cornell a 12-3 record on the season.
• Send the Big Red into the Ivy League Tournament finals for the fourth time (2010, 2011, 2018).
• Extend the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 54-28-1, including 4-2 at neutral sites.
• Make Cornell 3-2 all-time vs. the Bulldogs in Ivy Tournament play.
• Be the 782nd win in program history (781-490-27, .612).
 

SCOUTING YALE

• No. 5 Yale is 11-3 on the season and shared the Ivy title with Cornell and Brown at 4-2 in conference play.
• Cornell won the first meeting between the teams 13-12 on March 19 at Schoellkopf Field.
• Yale is averaging 15.5 goals per game with Matt Brandau (47-37-84) leading the offense.
• Leo Johnson (28-20-48) and Chris Lyons have also surpassed the 30-point barrier this season.
• Nicholas Ramsey is winning 55 percent of his face-offs (173-of-314) with a team-best 106 ground balls, while Chris Fake (17 caused turnovers, 27 ground balls) paces the team in caused turnovers.
• Goalkeeper Jared Paquette is posting a 12.64 goals against average and with a .525 save percentage and is averaging 11.0 saves per contest.
• Head coach Andy Shay led the 2018 team to an NCAA title and the 2019 squad to a national runner-up finish.
• Yale is 45-11 since the 2018 season, including 20-4 in Ivy League competition.
 

THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH

• Connor Buczek '15 (11-3) 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 131 goals and 178 points — he needs five goals to move up to fifth in career goals and nine to get to fourth, as well as one more point to move into sixth and is 16 away from the top five.
• With 346 saves, senior Chayse Ierlan has moved into the top 10 and is 45 away from getting to ninth.
• With his 63 points, sophomore CJ Kirst (42-21-63) 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 16-3 over its past 19 games, including an impressive 11-1 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.
• Cornell also topped Brown 19-5 in Ithaca and 7-4 in the Ivy Tournament semifinals that same year.
 

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 the second semifinal contest between top-seeded Brown and fourth-seeded Penn on Sunday, May 8 at noon on ESPNU.