ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's lacrosse program is proud to announce its participation in the first annual Capital Lacrosse Invitational, presented by The Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation, to be held at the Landon School in Bethesda, Md., on Sunday, Oct. 7. The Big Red will be joined by Johns Hopkins, North Carolina and Penn State and the day will feature a youth clinic, a coaches' clinic, and a Team USA inter-squad scrimmage. 

“We are excited to have the opportunity to compete against some very talented teams this fall,” said Ben DeLuca, The Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse. “These will be quality scrimmages that will provide us with a great measuring stick as to where we as a team stand and where we need to improve heading into the spring season. Every healthy player will see substantial playing time, and our coaching staff will utilize the day to evaluate what we have and what we need to work on as we head into the offseason. Our coaching staff is never really concerned with results in the fall. Our goal is to focus on the start of our journey, to build our team chemistry, to play hard, to play together and to lay a foundation for success in the spring. That fact that we will be able to do this while at the same time helping to raise funds and awareness for The Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation, a charity that is particularly near and dear to our hearts here at Cornell, is especially rewarding.”

The day will feature of full slate of activities.

Before the tournament begins a select group of players from the participating college teams will host a free youth lacrosse clinic followed by a Q&A session. All young athletes between the ages of 8 and 14 are invited to participate.

The clinic will be organized by age and position, and interested youth players are asked to register by October 1, 2012. For more information on how to register, email: theboiardifoundation@gmail.com.

In addition, the participating college coaches will host a “Coaches Corner” clinic which will be open to local area lacrosse coaches that will include discussions on strategy, practice plans, recruiting and will also offer a Q&A session. Coaches are also asked to please register by October 1, 2012. A donation of $25 per coach is requested to attend the Coaches Corner. For more information on how to register, email: theboiardifoundation@gmail.com.

The lacrosse games will begin at 10:30 a.m. with Cornell facing UNC, while Penn State takes on Johns Hopkins. At 12:30 p.m., Cornell will play Hopkins, while Penn State battles UNC. Beginning at 3:00 p.m., the Team USA inter-squad scrimmage will get underway. Each game will consist of four quarters with 20 minutes running time and a 10 minute halftime.

For more information on the Capital Lacrosse Invitational, including information regarding tickets, directions and facilitates, visit: http://www.capitallacrosseinvitational.org/.

For more information on the Boiardi Foundation, visit: www.boiardifoundation.org.