2014 Schedule
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2014 men's lacrosse season. The slate is an exciting one, highlighted by six home games – including contests against Virginia and Syracuse at Schoellkopf Field – as well as a road trip to first-time opponent Michigan. As always, the Big Red schedule will also feature the ever-competitive Ivy League conference games, several games with traditional rivals and the fifth season of the Ivy League Tournament.
The Big Red will open the 2014 campaign in familiar territory, taking on Hobart at a site to be determined on Saturday, Feb. 22. The game will be the 134th meeting between the two programs, with the Big Red holding an 83-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1896. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings with Hobart from 1996-2000, Cornell has won 12 of the last 13 meetings. In his first season at the helm of the Statesmen's program, Greg Raymond will lead Hobart in its first season as a member of the Northeast Conference. The Statesmen finished the 2013 campaign with a 6-8 record overall and a mark of 2-5 in the ECAC.
The Big Red will remain on the road for consecutive games at Binghamton on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and at Michigan on Saturday, March 1. The Bearcats, which finished the 2013 season with a 5-9 record (1-4 America East), has not beaten the Big Red in 10 tries, while Cornell will face the Wolverines, playing in just their third season of varsity lacrosse, for the first-time ever.
Cornell will open the home portion of its schedule with a midweek game vs. Canisius on Tuesday, March 4, and will look to extend its record against the Griffs to a perfect 10-0 in the series. Last season, Canisius finished the year with a 3-10 record overall (2-4 MAAC), which included an 18-7 loss to the Big Red.
The home-stand will continue with games against Virginia and Yale on consecutive Saturdays. Cornell will face the Cavaliers on March 8 at noon, before taking on the Bulldogs in its Ivy League opener on March 15 at 1 p.m.
The Big Red has faced Virginia during the regular season each year since 2009, with each of the past two meetings being decided in overtime. The Cavaliers, which hold the 9-4 advantage in the all-time series, are coming off 7-8 season (0-3 ACC) in which they missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2004 campaign.
The Bulldogs had an outstanding season in 2013, winning its second consecutive Ivy League tournament title, posting a 12-5 record overall and a mark of 4-2 in the conference. Yale earned a trip to the NCAA tournament and upset Penn State in the first round before falling to eventual national runner-up Syracuse in the quarterfinals. Cornell has won 15 of the last 16 meetings against the Bulldogs to improve to 49-23-1 in the all-time series.
Cornell will open a three-game road trip at instate rival Colgate on Tuesday, March 18. The Big Red, which owns a 39-7-1 record in the series, has won nine consecutive contests with the Raiders, including last season's 19-3 victory at Schoellkopf Field. Colgate, under the direction of third-year head coach Mike Murphy, is coming off an 8-7 campaign (3-3 Patriot).
Trips to Ivy League foes Penn (March 22) and Dartmouth (March 29) will close March for the Big Red.
The Cornell and Penn rivalry is the second-oldest in the Ivy League, beginning in the Quakers' second varsity season in 1901. The two programs began playing each other regularly in 1920, meeting nearly every season since. The 2014 edition will be the 89th meeting, with the Big Red holding a dominating 63-22-3 record overall, including winning the last seven meetings.
The Big Red has dominated the series against Dartmouth, posting an all-time record of 48-15, and winning 15 of the last 16 meetings, including last season's 21-5 victory on Schoellkopf Field.
Unlike last season when Cornell spent all of April on the road, the Big Red will open the month with consecutive home games against Harvard on Saturday, April 5, before welcoming Syracuse on Tuesday, April 8.
The Big Red has won 16 straight against Harvard and owns a 64-23 record in the all-time series. After a solid debut in 2011, third-year head coach Chris Wojcik has led his alma mater to identical records of 6-8 (2-4 Ivy League) in each of the past two seasons.
The series with Syracuse 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. While Syracuse owns the 62-37-1 record all time, eight of the 15 games played since the 2000 season have been decided by two goals or less, including last year's thrilling 13-12 Orange victory at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse, which is beginning its first season in the ACC, is coming off a national runner-up finish in 2013, with a record of 16-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big East.
For the first time since the 2009 NCAA tournament, Cornell will face Hofstra, travelling to Hempstead, N.Y. on Saturday, April 12. The Big Red holds a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series, which began in the 1972 season. Hofstra's lone victory came in 2003 (13-5), as Cornell has won each of last the two meetings. The Pride are coming off a 7-7 campaign (2-4 CAA).
Cornell will celebrate Senior Day vs. Brown on Saturday, April 19, before ending the regular season vs. Princeton.
The Big Red owns a 35-18 record in the all-time series with Brown, but the Bears have won the last two meetings played at Schoellkopf Field (2010, 2012). Brown finished last year with an 8-6 record overall and a mark of 2-4 in the conference.
The regular season will conclude with the marquee matchup in Ivy League lacrosse, the Cornell and Princeton rivalry, on Saturday, April 26. For the second consecutive season, the game will be played at a neutral site, with the teams facing off at Long Island's Bethpage High School. The two squads have combined for 51 conference titles, sharing the crown in five of the past 11 seasons. The Big Red won last season's Ivy matchup, 17-11 at the Big City Classic, before falling a week later to the Tigers in the opening round of the Ivy League Tournament. Still, Cornell has taken nine of the last 12 contests to cut Princeton's lead in the all-time series to 39-35-2.
For the fifth year, the Ivy League will sponsor a post-season tournament on the weekend of May 2-4. 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. Cornell has participated in all four of the previous Ivy League tournaments, including winning the tournament title in 2011.
