* First Day of Practice Video Preview
* 2011 Cornell Men's Lacrosse Information Center
* USILA Coaches Preseason Poll
* Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll
* Faceoff Yearbook/Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans
* Faceoff Yearbook Conference Outlooks
* Syracuse.com Photo Gallery

ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 8/4 Cornell men's lacrosse team opened preparations for the 2011 season with its first day of practice today, Tuesday, Feb 1. The team plays its first game in just over three weeks, as the Big Red plays host to Hobart on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Schoellkopf Field at noon.



“We're ready to get started,” said Ben DeLuca, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse. “This has been a long time coming and my staff and I am excited to get together with the entire team for the first time and focus on lacrosse. With so many returning players, we feel like we're young, but experienced, and we're excited because we feel like we can hit the ground running today.”

Here is a look at how the team will stack up.

THE SEASON
A fixture on the Big Red sidelines for the past decade, Ben DeLuca enters his first season at the helm of the Cornell men's lacrosse program after being named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse on June 18. From that moment, DeLuca has worked diligently to put his stamp on a program that has seen great success in recent years. The Big Red, which has won at least a share of the past eight Ivy League titles, finished the 2010 season with an 12-6 record overall and made its seventh straight trip to the NCAA tournament, where it reached championship weekend for the third time in the past four years. As the youngest squad in the field at the 2010 Final Four, the Big Red enters the 2011 campaign with great expectations from its fans, alumni and the national media.

Cornell lost just nine letter winners and two starters from last season's squad and will look to the reigning Jack Turnbull Award winner, Rob Pannell to lead the offense, while preseason All-Americans Max Feely and Jason Noble will anchor the defense.

The Big Red enters the 2011 season ranked No. 8 in the USILA Coaches Poll, but was tabbed fourth by the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll.

ATTACK
The Big Red lost one of the top attackman in Cornell history with the graduation of Ryan Hurley, but returns the reigning national attackman of the year in Rob Pannell. Joining Pannell on the attack could be returning letter winners Steve Mock and Scott Austin, as well as sophomore Matt Taylor and freshman Cody Bremner.

Pannell had a brilliant sophomore season in which he was named a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, a first-team All-American, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and the USILA's Jack Turnbull Award winner as the outstanding attackman in Division I. One of the recent greats in a tradition-rich lacrosse program, Pannell finished the year ranked second in the nation in assists per game (2.83) and third overall in points per game (4.44). A Tewaaraton Trophy nominee and a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week selection, he finished the season with 51 assists, 29 goals, 80 points, 43 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.

Mock had an extremely productive rookie year, seeing action in 13 games and starting the final two games of the season on the attack for the Big Red. He ended the year ranked third on the team with 21 goals to go along with two assists for 23 points. Of his 21 goals, 16 came in the final six contests of the year. He was named to the Ivy League All-Tournament team and was the only Big Red player named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.

Austin saw a significant increase in playing time as a sophomore, playing in 14 games and making nine starts. He registered 13 goals on the season and chipped in three assists. Austin registered a career-high four goals against a pair of Ivy opponents, scoring four times against both Yale and Penn. He also assisted on Ryan Hurley's game-winning overtime goal vs. Army on March 6.

Taylor was hampered by an injury for much of his rookie season and saw action in just two games, but had a tremendous fall season and is ready to push for a spot in the starting line-up. A high school All-American at nearby Fayetteville-Manlius high school, Taylor set both the career (288) and single-season (104) points records.

A mature player that has excellent box lacrosse experience, Bremner played in the BC Junior A Lacrosse League and was named the NLL Insider Rookie of the Year in 2008 after scoring 42 goals, including seven hat-tricks and five game-winning goals, for the Nanaimo Timbermen. This summer, he helped the New Westminster Salmonbellies to reach the Minto Cup.

MIDFIELD
The midfield will have great depth with five of its top six players – Jack Dudley, David Lau, Roy Lang, Chris Langton and Ross Gillum – returning. Looking to fill the sixth spot will be junior JJ Gilbane as well as the newcomer Mike O'Neil.

Dudley, a co-captain this season, became an everyday contributor during his junior year, playing in all 18 games and making two starts on the offensive midfield. He registered four goals and chipped in three assists on the season. After a slow start, he registered one point in each of Cornell's final five games. He also picked up 14 ground balls and caused two turnovers.

An All-Ivy honorable mention selection last season, Lau moved into a starting role as a junior, playing in 16 games and making eight starts. He finished the year ranked third on the team in assists (9) to go along with 12 goals for 21 points. He also picked up 16 ground balls. Lau came on strong at the end of the season, registering at least one point in Cornell's final eight games and accumulating 17 of his 21 points during that stretch.

Lang made the move to the first offensive midfield as a sophomore and saw action in all 18 games, making 17 starts. He finished the season ranked fifth on the team in goals (16), assists (6) and points (22). Lang registered double-digit points in six games on the year and tallied the game-winner against Princeton on May 9. He also picked up 31 ground balls and caused seven turnovers.

Like Lang, Langton also made the move to the offensive midfield as a sophomore and saw action in all but one game on the season. He tallied 12 goals and added three assists for 15 points and had a breakout game vs. Yale, scoring a career-high four goals vs. the Bulldogs.

Gillum was a fixture on the Big Red offense during his rookie campaign, playing in all 18 games and making nine starts. A versatile player with tremendous heart, he played on both the midfield and attack lines at various points in the season and finished the year with nine goals and three assists to go along with 20 ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Gilbane had a tremendous fall and is poised to have a breakout junior year. He has seen action in eight games during his career and registered his first collegiate point last season with an assist vs. Yale.

A high school All-American, O'Neil lettered three times at Fayetteville-Manlius high school. He finished his career with 87 goals and 46 assists and helped the Hornets to back-to-back league championships. As a senior captain, he was named a first-team All-CNY selection after earning second-team honors as a junior. O'Neil was also a two-time first-team all-league selection.

SHORT STICK MIDFIELD
While the Big Red runs an up-tempo, transition game that relies heavily on two-way midfielders, Cornell will have several players that will contribute mostly in defensive situations, and will benefit from the return of senior Shane O'Neill and sophomore Tom Trasolini, as well as the addition of freshman Joe Paoletta.

O'Neill moved into a defensive midfielder role as a junior and flourished, playing in all 18 games on the season. He finished the year with 14 ground balls, six caused turnovers and one assist.

Trasolini saw significant playing time during his rookie season, playing in nine games on the offensive midfield for the Big Red. He picked up one ground ball vs. Army on March 6.

Paoletta , the 2010 George Boiardi award winner at the Landon School, lettered three times in lacrosse and helped his team to three consecutive IAC championships. He served as team captain as a senior and was a two-time all-league selection. Paoletta was also named second-team all-state and was an honorable mention All-Met selection.

LONG STICK
The Big Red took a significant loss with the graduation of Pierce Derkac, but will look for sophomore Thomas Keith to build on his experience from last season and take over at the long pole.

Keith spent last season learning from Derkac and saw significant playing time as a rookie, seeing action in 13 games. He finished the year with seven ground balls and three caused turnovers.

FACE-OFF UNIT
The Big Red lost a solid face-off man with the graduation of Austin Boykin, but has several experienced players looking to step up and answer the call. In the mix at the face-off X will be Mitch McMichael, Ross Gillum, Chip Daugherty, Jason Noble and Cole McCormack.

Last season, McMichael won 20-of-45 attempts (.444) and picked up seven ground balls, while Gillum took face-offs for the first time in his lacrosse career and proved effective, winning 26-of-52 (.500).

Daugherty and Noble have limited game-day face-off experience, but worked hard during the offseason and the fall, while McCormack is a face-off specialist that could make an impact once he adapts to the collegiate game.

DEFENSE
The Cornell defense should be the strength of the team with three of its top defensemen from a season ago – All-American Max Feely, preseason All-American Jason Noble, Mike Bronzino – returning to action.
Feely the cornerstone of a young defensive unit last season, saw action in all 18 games and made 17 starts. He picked up 30 ground balls, caused 15 turnovers and scored two goals on the season. Feely picked an opportune time to register his first career goal, scoring the game-winner in overtime against Loyola in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He tallied again in the Big Red's next outing vs. Army in the NCAA quarterfinals, while holding the Black Knights' offensive leader Jeremy Boltus to just one goal on the day.

Noble was a fixture on the Big Red defense during his rookie season, playing in all 18 games and making 16 starts. He finished the year ranked first on the team with 27 caused turnovers and third overall with 56 ground balls. He registered a team-high seven ground balls against both Binghamton and Army in the NCAA tournament, while causing a career-best five turnovers vs. No. 1 Virginia. Noble finished the year ranked 35th in the nation with 1.5 caused turnovers per game.

Bronzino suffered a broken wrist in Cornell's final preseason scrimmage last year and was sidelined for the first 12 games of the season before breaking into the line-up for the final six games of his rookie season. In just six games, he picked up 11 ground balls and caused six turnovers. He also scored one goal vs. Army during the NCAA quarterfinals, while holding the Black Knight's Garrett Thul to just one goal.

GOALIE
The Big Red features three young and talented goalies, with incumbent AJ Fiore looking to keep his starting position over junior walk-on Brian O'Donnell and freshman Andrew West.

Fiore was immediately thrust into a starting role as a rookie, getting the nod in each of the 17 games in which he saw action. He posted an 11-6 record to go along with an 8.69 goals-against average and a .545 save percentage. He finished the year ranked first in the Ivy League and 15th in the nation in goals-against average and was third in the conference and 23rd in the nation in save percentage. Fiore registered double-digit saves in six contests and posted a career-high 20 saves vs. No. 2 Syracuse, becoming the first Big Red netminder to tally 20 saves since Justin Cynar stopped 23 vs. Maryland in 1999.

O'Donnell impressed the coaching staff with a strong performance this fall at the Headstrong Invitational. He has worked hard since joining the team prior to last season and will push Fiore every day in practice. Last season, O'Donnell saw action in just one game, playing 4:32 against Binghamton. He faced two shots from the Bearcats, made one save and didn't allow a goal.

West sat much of the fall due to an injury, but looks to get in the mix at the start of the spring season. A high school All-American, West was a three-time letter winner and led Darien high school to four state championships. He was named first-team All-FCIAC as a senior, after being a second-team selection as a sophomore. As a senior captain, he was named his team's MVP and an FCIAC scholar athlete.

THE SCHEDULE
The 2011 slate is an exciting one, featuring the appearance of six 2010 NCAA tournament teams, including final four participant Virginia at the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md. As always, the Big Red schedule will also feature the ever-competitive Ivy League conference, several games with traditional rivals and the second season of the Ivy League Tournament. Out of town fans will also have an opportunity to see the Big Red with nationally televised games against Virginia (ESPNU), Harvard (CBS College Sports) and Princeton (CBS College Sports), as well as a regionally televised game against Syracuse (Time Warner Cable Sports).

“Our program is very excited about our schedule for the upcoming 2011 season,” said DeLuca. “It is a challenging schedule that we hope will help our team improve as the season progresses. We are excited about the always competitive Ivy League schedule, our upstate rivalries, especially continuing the oldest rivalry in college lacrosse as we play Hobart, and to be included in one of Inside Lacrosse's marquee events at the Face-Off Classic is a great for our program.”

For the second straight season, the contest with Hobart will kick off the men's lacrosse campaign, as the Big Red will host the 132nd meeting with the Statesmen at Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Big Red holds an 81-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1896. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings with Hobart from 1996-2000, the Big Red has won 10 of the last 11 meetings. In his second season at the helm of the Statesmen's program, Coach T.W. Johnson led Hobart to a 3-11 record overall and a mark of 1-6 in the ECAC in 2010.

For just the second time in the history of the series, the Big Red will travel down the road to Binghamton, to take on the Bearcats in a midweek contest on Tuesday, March 1. Binghamton, which finished the 2010 season with a 4-10 record, has not beaten the Big Red in seven tries.

Cornell will remain on the road as it takes on Army at Michie Stadium on Saturday, March 5. The game will be a rematch of last season's NCAA quarterfinals in which the Big Red earned a14-5 victory in Stony Brook, N.Y. Cornell has won the last six outings against Army, but still trails in the all-time series, 23-14. The Black Knights had a breakout season in 2010 to finish with an 11-6 record overall and a perfect mark of 6-0 in the Patriot League. Army then went on to upset the second-seed Syracuse, 9-8, in double overtime in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Cornell will return home to play host to Canisius on Wednesday, March 9. The Griffs finished the 2010 season with a 6-7 overall record, but posted a winning record in its conference at 5-3. The Big Red is a perfect 7-0 in the series with Canisius.

On Saturday, March 12, Cornell will participate in one of the premier lacrosse events of the regular season, as it faces Virginia in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.

The game will be the fourth meeting between the two squads since the start of the 2009 season. The Cavaliers finished the 2010 campaign with a 16-2 record and advanced to the national semifinals before falling to the eventual national champion, Duke, 14-13. After defeating the Big Red last season, Virginia improved to 6-3 in the all-time series.

The Ivy League portion of the schedule begins the following weekend as the Big Red travels to Yale on Saturday, March 19. The Bulldogs had a solid 2010 season, posting a 10-4 record overall and earning a share of the Ivy League title with a 4-2 record in the conference. Yale returns two of its top three scorers for 2011, as well as its starting goalie. In the all-time series, Cornell has doubled up the Bulldogs, 45-22-1.

For the second season in a row, the Big Red will spend spring break on Long Island as it travels to Stony Brook for a midweek matchup with the Seawolves on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. Stony Brook used a high powered offense to finish the 2010 season with a 13-4 record overall and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Last season's game was the first between the two squads since 2004 and the big Red took the 12-9 victory to improve to 4-0 in the all-time series.

Cornell returns home for a pair of Ivy League contests as it faces Penn on March 26 and Dartmouth on April 2. The Big Red holds the lead in both all-time series with a record of 60-22-3 against the Quakers and 45-15 against the Big Green. In his first season at the helm, Mike Murphy led Penn to a 5-8 record (1-5 Ivy League) against some very tough competition, as it faced seven ranked opponents during the season. Dartmouth also went 5-8 overall, but 2-4 in the conference, with one of those Ivy League wins coming against Cornell, as the Big Green snapped a 12-game Big Red winning-streak in the series.

Three straight road games make up the bulk of the month of April, as the Big Red travels to Harvard, in-state rival Syracuse and Brown.

Because of changes to last season's Ivy League schedule, Cornell heads to Harvard for the first time in two years as it takes on the Crimson on Saturday, April 9. After a last minute goal by Rob Pannell handed the Big Red its 12th straight victory against Harvard last season, Cornell improved to 60-23 in the all-time series. First year head coach Chris Wojcik will look to improve on his alma mater's 2010 record of 6-6 (2-4 Ivy League).

The annual showdown with Syracuse heads back to the Career Dome this season as Cornell and the Orange face off on Tuesday, April 12. The series began in 1920 and since that time, there have been only four seasons (1944, 1945, 1977, 1978) that the two squads have not faced each other in varsity competition. The game, which will be televised locally on Time Warner Sports, should prove to be another epic battle in what has become a fierce rivalry with seven of the games this decade being decided by less than two goals. Syracuse finished the 2010 season with a 13-2 record but will be anxious to erase the memories of last season's opening round loss to Army in the NCAA tournament.

In its final road game of the regular season, the Big Red travels to Brown on Saturday, April 23. Cornell has lost the last two regular season meetings with the Bears, but defeated Brown in the opening round of the 2010 Ivy League tournament to improve to 33-17 in the all-time series. Brown finished last year with an 8-6 record overall and earned a share of the Ivy League title with a record of 4-2 in the conference.

The marquee matchup in Ivy League lacrosse, the Cornell and Princeton rivalry, returns to Ithaca on Saturday, April 30. The two squads have combined for 48 conference titles, sharing the crown in five of the past eight seasons. The teams met twice last season with Cornell winning the regular season match-up before falling one week later in the Ivy League tournament title game. The Tigers own a slim lead in the all-time series, 37-33-2, but Cornell has won seven of the last nine meetings. Princeton returns four All-Americans from last year's 11-5 (4-2 Ivy League) squad that earned a share of the Ivy League title before falling in the opening round of the NCAA tournament to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame.

For the second season, the Ivy League will sponsor a post-season tournament on the weekend of May 6-8. The tournament will include the top four teams in the Ivy League regular season round-robin competition and will be hosted by the round-robin winner. Last season, the tournament was decided on the final weekend of competition as Cornell, Princeton, Yale and Brown all shared the Ivy League title and took the top four spots, respectively. After defeating Brown, the Big Red fell to Princeton in the title bout. The Tigers earned their spot in the championship game by defeating Yale.