Game Notes (PDF)

Game Details
Game 9: No. 5/5 Cornell vs. No. 13/14 Syracuse
Series Record: Syracuse leads, 61-36-1
Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Field: Schoellkopf Field
Location: Ithaca, N.Y.

Game Coverage
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Video Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com
Radio: WHCU 870 AM
Radio Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com
Television: Time Warner Sports; Channel 26

THE MATCHUP — The No. 5 Cornell men's lacrosse team will seek the 700th win in program history when it welcomes No. 13/14 Syracuse to Schoellkopf Field  for a midweek battle on Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. The Big Red is currently riding the longest home field winning streak in the nation (14) and has won its last five contests, including an important Ivy League victory over Harvard on Saturday, to improve to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in the conference. The Orange also picked up a victory on Saturday, defeating Princeton to snap a two-game skid and improve to 5-4 on the season.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE — The Cornell and Syracuse rivalry began in 1920 with a 5-3 victory for the Orangemen. Since that time, there have been only four seasons (1944, 1945, 1977, 1978) that the two squads have not faced each other. Syracuse holds the edge in the series, 61-36-1, but had a four-game winning streak snapped last season when the Big Red defeated the Orange, 11-6, in the Carrier Dome. Since the 2000 season, the teams have played five one-goal games, with two others being decided by two goals.

LOOKING AT THE ORANGE — Syracuse picked up its first win over a ranked opponent on Saturday when it edged No. 11 Princeton, 10-9, to improve to 5-4 on the season. The Orange is averaging 9.78 goals per game offensively and is giving up nearly as much defensively, surrendering 9.67 goals per game. Tommy Palasek leads the team in goals (14), assists (12) and points (26), with Derek Maltz and JoJo Marasco matching Palasek in goals and assists, respectively. Head coach John Desko's son Tim has also contributed 13 goals to the Syracuse cause. Chris Daddio (58-of-113) and Ricky Buhr (32-of-74) are two of six players that have taken face-offs for the Orange, with Daddio leading the group with a .513 face-off winning percentage. Syracuse has had three different goalies start at least one game this season with Bobby Wardwell getting the win over Princeton in his first collegiate action. He made nine saves and allowed nine goals against the Tigers. Dominic Lamolinara has played the majority of minutes for the Orange, seeing action in seven games with five starts, while Matthew Lerman has started five games overall. Lamolinara has posted a .477 save percentage and a 9.68 goals-against average, while Lerman has registered a .508 save percentage and a 9.85 GAA.

A WIN OVER SYRACUSE WOULD –
• be the 700th win in program history
• improve head coach Ben DeLuca's career record to 23-4.
• extend the Big Red's current winning streak to six games.
• make Cornell 9-1 to start a season for the first time under DeLuca and the first time since 2007.
• cut Syracuse's lead in the series to 61-37-1.
• extend Cornell's nation-best home field winning streak to 15 games.

LAST TIME VS. THE ORANGE –
• In a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated the No. 5 Big Red dominated No. 1 Syracuse, handing the previously unbeaten Orange an 11-6 loss in the Carrier Dome.
• The win snapped a four-game losing streak to Syracuse.
• The Big Red raced out to a 6-1 lead in the early moments of the second quarter and then kept a four-goal cushion for all but a span of 1:21 of the remaining 44:47 of the contest.
• Rob Pannell led the way for Cornell with three goals and three assists.
• The defense was impressive, causing 14 of Syracuse's 20 turnovers and holding its top two offensive threats, Stephen Keogh and JoJo Marasco to just one combined assist.
• Thomas Keith and Jason Noble caused four turnovers apiece, while Mike Bronzino forced three.
• Noble also had seven ground balls and Bronzino scooped up five.
• Goalie AJ Fiore made eight saves.
• Steve Mock, Roy Lang and Scott Austin scored two goals apiece, while Mike O'Neil and David Lau added one tally.
• Syracuse was led by Josh Amidon's three goals and two assists, while Tommy Palasek scored twice and registered one helper.
• In goal, John Galloway stopped 10 shots in the loss.
• The Big Red held the significant edge in shots (36-25), ground balls (34-26), but Syracuse had a slim lead in face-offs, winning 11-of-21 attempts.
• The Orange converted 1-of-3 extra-man chances, while Cornell was held without a man-up goal for the first time in 11 games (0-for-3).

RECAPPING THE HARVARD GAME –
• Eleven different players scored a goal and birthday boy Roy Lang was dominant in the midfield to lead No. 5 Cornell to a 14-10 victory over Harvard on April 7 at Schoellkopf Field.
• Lang posted a game-high five points (three goals and two assists) while winning four ground balls, causing two turnovers and spearheading a clearing game that was a near-perfect 22-of-23 on the day.
• Matt Donovan had two goals and an assist, while both JJ Gilbane and Max Van Bourgondien each were credited with a goal and an assist.
• Thomas Keith won six ground balls and scored a goal with the pole, while Doug Tesoriero was 11-of-20 on face-offs.
The rest of the squad went 1-for-8 as Harvard controlled the X by a small margin, taking 16-of-28 re-starts.
• Andrew West made eight saves in goal for the Big Red in anchoring a defense that surrendered just one goal in the first 31:12.
• Mike Bronzino and Jason Noble each had a pair of caused turnovers as Cornell had nine total as a team.
• The Big Red held a 42-32 advantage in shots, while ground balls were even at 34-34. Cornell capitalized on the team's only extra-man opportunity.
• Both Ryan Stevens and Jeff Cohen had three goal and an assist and Jack Breit had a goal and an assist to go along with his four ground balls.
• Keegan Michel was 15-of-26 on the face-off X and won five ground balls, while Stephen Jahelka won seven possessions on ground balls.

THE HEAD COACH — After spending 10 years as first an assistant, then an associate head coach of the Big Red program, Ben DeLuca was named the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse prior to the 2011 season. In his first campaign, he led Cornell to a 14-3 record, an undefeated Ivy League season, an Ivy League tournament title and the team's eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. The 10th head coach in program history, DeLuca played for, or coached under Cornell's last three coaches – Richie Moran, Dave Pietramala, and Jeff Tambroni. DeLuca earned four letters on defense for the Big Red, serving as captain his senior year and went on to be named the team's outstanding senior athlete for his leadership and dedication on and off the field.

REVERSING THE TREND – Since taking over the Big Red program, head coach Ben DeLuca's squad has scored less than 10 goals on just eight occasions. In the four single-digit games in his first season (2011), Cornell went 1-3 but the Big Red has reversed that trend in the 2012 campaign, posting a record of 3-1 in games in which it scored less than 10 goals.

HEADING FOR WIN NO. 700 – Cornell's 14-10 victory over Harvard on April 7, 2012 was the 699th win in program history. The Big Red is 699-443-27 all-time, and its 699 victories rank seventh among the winningest programs in collegiate lacrosse.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE — Since 2001, the Big Red has gone 70-14 at Schoellkopf Field, including perfect slates in 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0). Cornell is currently riding a nation-leading 14-game home win streak.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS — Cornell owns a 40-10 record in its last 50 regular-season non-conference games, dating back to the Big Red's 16-14 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on April 12, 2005.

MUSTACHE MADNESS – This past November, the members of the Big Red men's lacrosse team participated in Lacrosse Mustache Madness to benefit the HEADStrong Foundation. As a team, Cornell raised $11,363.85, the second most of any Division I men's lacrosse team in the nation, trailing only Syracuse, which raised $13,513.42.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND – Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 269-157-7 (.629). Head coach Ben DeLuca has posted a record of 8-1 (.889) vs. teams from the Empire State … The Big Red faced six teams from New York state (5-1) in 2011 and is 3-0 already this season.

PANNELL'S GOT SENIOR CLASS – Cornell senior attackman Rob Pannell has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, given to a senior Division I student-athlete, must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

HUMAN VACUUMS – Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino have been the Big Red's most consistent ground ball guys. Noble has registered at least one ground ball in all but one game during his career and currently has the longest streak on the team at 35 games. Bronzino has collected at least one ground ball in all but two games during his career and had a streak of 29 consecutive games snapped on March 31 at Dartmouth.

SINGLE-DIGIT DEFENSE – Since his time as the defensive coordinator of the Big Red began during the 2002 season as an assistant coach, now head coach Ben DeLuca has led a defensive unit that has held opponents to single-digits in 112-of-161 games (.696).

PLAYING WINNERS – So far this season, Cornell has played only two teams that had losing records at the time of their meeting – Penn and Dartmouth.

UNLUCKY NUMBER 7 – With its 7-5 victory over Dartmouth, the Big Red snapped a four-game losing streak in games in which it scored seven or fewer goals dating back to a 6-4 victory over Princeton on May 16, 2009.

WEEKLY HONORS IV – Freshman Matt Donovan won his fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 9 after helping the Big Red to a key 14-10 victory over Harvard with two goals and one assist. The rookie attackman scored the first goal of the second quarter and assisted on Cornell's next tally as the Big Red blew open a tight game and built a 6-1 halftime lead. Donovan than scored a big goal as time wound down in the contest to snap a two-goal Crimson run and break Harvard's momentum.

WEEKLY HONORS III – Freshman Matt Donovan won his third Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on April 2 after leading the Big Red to a 7-5 win at Dartmouth by assisting on a career-high three goals. The rookie attackman provided feeds that led to three consecutive Cornell tallies spanning the second and third quarters to help the Big Red jump out to a 5-1 lead.

WEEKLY HONORS II – For the second time this season, Cornell men's lacrosse players swept the Ivy League weekly awards, this time on March 26. Junior attackman Steve Mock was named Ivy Player of the Week, while freshman attackman Matt Donovan was named Ancient Eight co-Rookie of the Week. Mock scored four goals and assisted on three others as the Big Red knocked off No. 8 Denver in overtime before rallying for a 16-11 win at Penn. Donovan earned his second rookie of the week nod of the season after posting three goals and two assists in two starts for the nationally ranked Big Red.

WEEKLY HONORS I – After opening the season with home wins over Binghamton and Army, senior Rob Pannell was named Ivy League Player of the Week, while freshman Matt Donovan earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 5. Pannell scored 16 points in the two wins, including posting the first 10-point contest by a Cornell player since 1995 with a six-goal, four-assist effort vs. Binghamton. Donovan had five goals and three assists in his first two collegiate games, including four goals and two assists in the win over Army.

IVY KINGS – Since Ivy League play began in 1956, Cornell has won a conference-high 26 titles, including the most undefeated crowns (16) of any team. The Big Red also has the best Ivy League record of any team in the conference at 236-95-1 (.712).

ELITE COMPANY – Over the span of the past five seasons (2008-12), Cornell has racked up the fourth most wins (58) of any Division I men's lacrosse program, and has posted the fifth best winning percentage (76.3 percent) overall.

NEXT TO 100? – Junior attackman Steve Mock is looking to become the 39th player to reach 100 career points in school history and enters the Syracuse contest with 91 (80 goals, 11 assists). He also is 20 goals away from becoming the seventh Cornell player with 100 goals. Rob Pannell became the sixth 100-goal scorer earlier this season.

BALANCED OFFENSE – So far this season, the Big Red has shown tremendous balance in its scoring with the attack accounting for 55 goals and 32 assists (87 points), while the midfielders and defensive players have combined for 60 goals and 25 assists (85 points).

GOOD OFF THE GROUND – The Big Red ranks 10th in the nation in ground balls per game (33.11).

RULE FOLLOWERS – In the 60 games played since the start of the 2009 season, the Big Red has been flagged for more penalties than its opponents on just 17 occasions.

SINGLE-DIGIT SUCCESS – Since 2000, Cornell has posted a 118-14 record (89.4 percent) when holding its opponent to less than 10 goals … The Big Red had its 16-game win streak in games limiting opponents to single digit goals snapped in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia earlier this season, but has run a new streak to three straight after defeating Dartmouth, 7-5, on March 31

A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING – Big Red head coach Ben DeLuca has a career 22-4 record, with three of the four losses have come against Virginia, with each coming at neutral sites (the 2011 and 2012 Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, 2011 NCAA tournament quarterfinals at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium). Cornell's only other loss under DeLuca was at Army early in the 2011 campaign.

POWER 10 – Rob Pannell became the first Cornell player to score 10 points in a game with his six-goal, four-assist effort in the season-opening win over Binghamton since Chris Danler also posted 10 points in a win over Army during the 1995 campaign.

NINE IS FINE – Offensively, Cornell has scored at least nine goals in 23 of the 26 games under head coach Ben DeLuca, with 20 games in double figures. The Big Red has surrendered fewer than nine goals 15 times during that same span. Cornell scored eight goals in a 9-8 overtime loss to No. 1 Virginia on March 10, 2012, snapping a streak to 20 consecutive games of at least nine goals.

QUICK START – Cornell scored 54 goals in its first three games of 2012, the most in three games to open a season since the 1976 national championship squad netted 60 goals in its first three contests (defeated Adelphi 24-8, Massachusetts 22-10, Rutgers 14-6). That Big Red squad went a perfect 16-0 and averaged 17.3 goals per game for the entire season, reaching double digits in each game and never being played within three goals. 

FOR STARTERS - Cornell is now 62-50-5 all-time in season openers after knocking off Binghamton 17-12 on Feb. 28, 2012.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS – Cornell had four players named to the 2012 Face-Off Magazine Preseason All-American list. Rob Pannell, Roy Lang and Jason Noble were all named a first-team selections, while Mike Bronzino picked up an honorable mention selection.

FRESH FACES – The Big Red added 12 newcomers to the 2012 roster, six of which earned high school All-American honors. The group is comprised of six attackmen, three defensemen, two midfielders and one goalkeeper. Additionally, the players represent seven states and one Canadian province with three players hailing from New Jersey and New York, two from Maryland, and one each from California, Ohio, Tennessee and Alberta.

U-19 TEAM – This past summer, Cornell rookie Connor Buczek was selected to represent the United States on its U-19 team, which will participate in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship in Turku, Finland, in July 2012.  

EIGHT STRAIGHT NCAAS – The Big Red has made eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament.

TEWAARATON WATCH LIST, 2012 – Cornell senior men's lacrosse players Roy Lang and Rob Pannell have been named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list. The duo is among 72 total players in all divisions and highlights the early contenders for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award.

11-WIN CAMPAIGN – The Big Red has posted at least 11 wins in each of the last seven seasons. Virginia is the only other team in the nation to accomplish that feat. 

NATIONAL CAREER ASSISTS LEADER – Despite having not played since March 3, Rob Pannell is still the national leader in career assists with 149. That is 20 more assists than Virginia's Steele Stanwick, who sits in second place with 129.

CLOSE CALLS — Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Cornell is 29-8 in games that have been decided by a single goal, a mark that was raised as the Big Red defeated Denver, 9-8, in overtime on March 20, 2012, at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium. Of the eight losses, three have come against Syracuse (12-11 on April 11, 2006; 10-9 (OT) in the 2009 national championship game; 8-7 on April 13, 2010).

OVERTIME NOTES – With its overtime game vs. Virginia on March 10, 2012, Cornell has played at least one overtime game in each of the past six seasons, dating back to a 12-11 overtime triumph over Albany in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals. During that span, the Big Red has posted a 6-3 record in overtime games.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – For the second straight season, senior Rob Pannell will serve as captain of the Big Red men's lacrosse team.

CHAMPIONSHIP LINEAGE – Two players on the 2012 Cornell roster have fathers that have won a national championship with the Big Red – Cody Levine (Jon '76) and Matt Taylor (Joe '80). Jon Levine was on the 1976 team, while Joe Taylor was on the 1977 squad … Additionally, Connor Entenmann's father Ken was on Cornell's national semifinalist team in 1982, while Cole McCormack and Mike O'Neil each have uncles (Brian McCormack and Geoff Hall, respectively) that played together on the Big Red's national runner up squads in 1987 and 1988.

NEUTRAL ZONE – Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red is 10-7 in neutral site games, with two victories over Notre Dame (Chicago, 2006 and Long Island, 2007), and a single victory over Albany (Princeton, 2007), Navy (Long Island, 2008), Denver (Dallas, 2008), Harvard (Foxboro, 2009), Princeton (Hempstead, 2009), Virginia (Foxboro, 2009), Hobart (Syracuse, 2010) and Army (Stony Brook, 2010). The five losses came at the hands of Duke in the 2007 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.), Syracuse in the 2009 national championship (Foxboro, Mass.), Dartmouth during the 2010 season (Foxboro, Mass.), Notre Dame in the 2010 national semifinal (Baltimore, Md.) and Virginia three times, including twice during the 2011 season (Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md. and the national quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y). The Cavaliers also won a 9-8 overtime decision in the 2012 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md.

HARD HAT – Jason Noble was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2012 season. The tradition of the Hard Hat began in the fall of 1999. Midway through the fall season, a player is selected to carry the Hard Hat for the year. The recipient is someone that the coaches feel demonstrates a blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse; he is driven and selfless, not the most talented player on the field, but consistently the hardest worker. He puts the team first, and embodies how the coaches want Cornell players to act and respond on or off the field.

SISTER ACT – Senior Roy Lang and sophomore Mike O'Neil each have a sister on the Big Red women's lacrosse team. Lang's sister Kelly is a junior, while O'Neil's sister Ali is a senior.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON – The 47 players on the 2012 Big Red roster hail from 13 different states –California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and three Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON, PART TWO – Since 1950, the Big Red has had players from 33 different states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

NEW TO THE STAFF – Mark Wittink '00, a Big Red teammate of Ben DeLuca, has joined the Cornell coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach. On the field Mark assists with the goalies, midfielders and face-off wings. He also assists in scout team preparation in practice. On game day Mark assists with the face-offs and substitution box. Off the field, Wittink has played an instrumental role in the Big Red's social media efforts, including coordinating the team's Twitter and Facebook pages.

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE — With its 9-7 victory over Princeton, Cornell capped the 16th undefeated Ivy League season in program history, its first since the 2007 campaign. That accomplishment made head coach Ben DeLuca only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell; 1966).

RECAPPING 2011 – In his first season at the helm of the program, head coach Ben DeLuca led the Big Red to a 14-3 record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Cornell ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation as it won its ninth consecutive Ivy League title with a perfect 6-0 conference mark, the longest stretch since Cornell won 10-straight championships between 1974 and 1983. The Big Red's nine consecutive regular-season Ivy titles is the longest current stretch by any men's lacrosse team in any conference. Cornell then went on to win its first-ever Ivy League tournament title. DeLuca became only the second coach in the history of the Ivy League to post an undefeated Ivy record in his first season, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell; 1966) and is the first coach in Cornell men's lacrosse history to lead the Big Red to the NCAA tournament in his first season. Following the season Rob Pannell '12 was selected as a first-team All-American and was named the USILA Player of the Year, the USILA Attackman of the Year, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and a nominee for an ESPY in the category of Best Collegiate Male Athlete. Pannell was joined on the All-American list by Max Feely '11, Roy Lang '12 and Jason Noble '13. The quartet was also named All-Ivy, along with Mike Bronzino '13 and David Lau '11.

NEXT UP – Cornell will enjoy a well-deserved break before welcoming Brown to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 21 at 3 p.m.