* 2015 Cornell Men's Lacrosse Quick Facts  

Experience and senior leadership ... Those are the two phrases that best describe the 2015 edition of the Cornell men's lacrosse team.

The experience comes in the form of eight starters and 19 letter winners overall, including the return of the 2014 Ivy League Player of the Year Connor Buczek and the Ivy League Rookie of the Year Christian Knight.

The senior leadership comes in the form of 14 seniors, including 10 that have seen at least one season worth of significant playing time on East Hill.

Experience and senior leadership ... It is those two phrases that have Big Red players and fans of the  excited for the upcoming season.

"We return senior leadership and starters at nearly every position on the field," says Matt Kerwick, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse. "It's tremendously valuable to return a large number of mature players who have been through the ups and downs of a season."

Cornell, which is ranked 10th overall in the USILA preseason coaches' poll, has won at least a share of the Ivy League title in 11 of the past 12 seasons and will be looking for its third consecutive conference crown when the season opens at Syracuse on Sunday, Feb. 15.  
 
"We're jumping right into it with a game against Syracuse at the Dome," says Keriwck. "It's a challenging start but it gives us a measuring stick and tells us right away what we need to work on. We're going to hit the ground running and we have a lot of road games early on, but I'm confident that this group of guys will respond and rise to the challenge."
 
ATTACK
The Big Red finished the 2014 season ranked seventh in the nation in scoring offense (12.75) and returns all three starting attackmen, as well as four of its top six offensive midfielders.
 
Quarterbacking the offense will be senior All-American Matt Donovan, who led the team in both points (58) and assists (23) and was second overall in goal (35) a season ago. He will be joined by senior All-American Dan Lintner, a slick finisher who emerged during the 2014 season and ended the year ranking seventh in the nation and first in the Ivy League in goals per game (2.94 gpg.).
 
Junior John Edmonds, who tallied 24 goals and nine assists a year ago as the third member of the attack unit could possible return to the midfield, which is his natural position.  If that move were to happen it would free up space for senior Erik Turner, junior Sean Doyle, junior transfer Bradlee Lord, or freshman Dan Bockelman.
 
Turner has been a leader for the Big Red off the field and impressed the coaching staff with solid game time during the fall campaign. 
 
Doyle is a shifty attackman who managed to register seven points (four goals, three assists) in seven games in a year ago.
 
Lord was a 2012 Under Armour High School All-American, a US Lacrosse All-American, and a first-team ESPN All-American before spending two seasons at the University of Maryland.
 
Bockelman, a skilled lefty attackman, had an impressive high school career, racking up 198 points at Half Hollow Hills high school.  
 
"Dan [Lintner] wasn't with us in the fall, so the coaching staff was able to look at a lot of different options in that third attackman spot," says Kerwick. "We were really impressed with what we saw and we have high expectations for Lord coming in from Maryland, so we hope we're going to be able to do some different things at attack."
 
MIDFIELD
If Edmonds makes the anticipated move back to the midfield, he will use his size (6-4; 205 lbs.) to provide another outstanding dodging threat alongside Buczek.
 
In addition to being the Ivy Player of the Year, Buczek was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and was a first-team All-American. Just the 14th midfielder in Cornell history to register at least 100 career points, he finished the season ranked third on the team in goals (30) and eighth in the Ivy League in goals per game (1.88). He was also third on the team in assists (17), and third overall in points (47).  
 
Rounding out the first midfield will be senior John Hogan. A second-team All-Ivy selection a year ago, he ranked first on the team in assists (22) and sixth in the Ivy League in assists per game (1.44). Hogan also added 17 goals to rank fourth on the team with 40 points. 
 
"If we're able to put Buczek, Edmonds and Hogan together on the first line, then we think that's as good as any first offensive midfield in the nation," says Kerwick.
 
The second offensive midfield will be a work in progress with as many as seven different players vying for three spots. The three Big Red players that bring the most experience to the line will be senior Chris Cook, junior Matt Schattner, and sophomore Andrew Keith.
 
Cook has run on the second offensive midfield for the past two seasons and finished last year with three goals and two assists. One of the fastest and most athletic members of the team, there is also a possibility that, like Mike O'Neil '14 before him, Cook could move into the role of short stick defensive midfield and give a boost to the Big Red's transition game.
 
Schattner has done a little bit of everything for Cornell over his first two seasons. A year ago, he played mostly as one of the team's starting short-stick defenders, but also picked up a long stick on the team's man-down unit, and occasionally ran on the second offensive midfield. After two seasons primarily on the defensive end of the field, Schattner could bring his experience to the second offensive line.
 
Keith had a solid rookie campaign a year ago, playing in 14 games as a member of the second offensive midfield. He finished the season with two goals, scoring against Binghamton and Dartmouth.
 
Another returner who saw action a year ago was Hobart transfer Emmy Poccia. He played in four games during his first season with the Big Red and registered one goal and one assist vs. the Big Green to finish the season with two points. 
 
Junior transfer Ryan Matthews, as well as freshmen Jordan Dowiak and Kason Tarbell should also push for playing time.
 
Matthews suffered from a myriad of injuries during his two seasons at Johns Hopkins, but is healthy and looking to return to the form that saw him named an Under Armour Underclass All-American as a junior at Manhasset high school.
 
A pair of high school All-Americans, Dowiak earned all-state and first-team all-conference honors at Delbarton School, while Tarbell led Section 10 in scoring with 33 goals and 39 assists at Salmon River high school and was awarded the 2014 Tewaaraton Scholarship.
 
"We have a lot of options for that second midfield," says Kerwick. "There's more depth there than we've had in a while so that should allow us to juggle the lineups a little bit as we find the right combination of players."
 
FACEOFFS
One of Cornell's most significant losses from the 2014 roster came with the graduation of Doug Tesoriero, who established himself as one of the best face-off men in Big Red history, setting the school record and ranking 11th in NCAA history with 667 career face-off wins. He also set the school record for career ground balls with 362, a mark that ranks 16th in NCAA history.
 
Looking to take over the face-off duties will be sophomore Domenic Massimilian, who saw action in four games during his rookie season, going 3-of-5 in the face-off circle.
 
Also pushing for playing time will be Grant Mahler, Dowiak and Matthews.
 
"Dom battled Doug at every practice last year and towards the end of the season he was right where we wanted him to be," says Kerwick. "He can be very good for us, but we also have three or four other guys who can give us a different look based on the opponent."
 
SHORT STICK D-MIDS
The Big Red returns three of its four short stick defensive midfielders from a year ago – Schattner, and seniors Tim LaBeau and Mike Huttner.
 
In his first season with the Big Red after transferring from Tufts, LaBeau saw action in all 16 games at SSDM and was also a valuable member of the face-off unit, playing on the wing. He picked up 15 ground balls and registered five caused turnovers on the year.
 
Huttner, who sat during the fall as he recovered from an off-season surgery, has been an instrumental member of the defensive midfield since his arrival in Ithaca and has seen action in each of Cornell's last 34 contests.  A year ago, he picked up 19 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers, while also registering the first points of his collegiate career, scoring a man-down goal vs. Colgate and handing out one assist at Dartmouth.
 
In addition to possibly moving Cook onto the defensive midfield, Cornell could see contributions from freshman Jack Bolen. A talented two-way midfield that had an outstanding senior season at the Landon School, Bolen earned All-IAC honors and was a first-team All-Gazette selection, as well as a U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American. He recorded 23 goals and 10 assists during his senior year, while leading the team in groundballs. For his efforts, he was named a finalist for the C. Markland Kelly award, presented to the best high school lacrosse player in the state of Maryland. 
 
LONG STICK D-MIDS
Cornell returns both long stick defensive midfielders form a year ago in seniors Connor Hunt and Brian Sullivan.
 
Hunt moved into a starting role as a junior and over the course of the 2014 campaign he picked up 33 ground balls and caused 15 turnovers. He also registered the first points of his collegiate career, scoring against Hobart and Dartmouth.
 
Sullivan, who also played on the team's face-off unit, saw action in 15 games in his first season with the Big Red after transferring from UNC. He picked up nine ground balls, including a season-high three vs. Harvard, and caused seven turnovers on the year. 
 
Looking to provide depth at the position will be freshman Scott Flynn, who had a successful playing career at Mountain Lakes high school before a post-graduate season at Deerfield Academy, where he helped the team to a 15-1 record and a New England West 1 Co-Championship. 
 
"Returning both Connor and Brian helps us a lot defensively," says Kerwick. "Having that consistency and familiarity with our defensive schemes is really valuable."  
 
DEFENSE
While the graduation of All-American and first-team All-Ivy Tom Freshour will be a significant loss for the Big Red, the team returns fellow All-American and first-team All-Ivy selection Jordan Stevens, as well as one of the best young defenders in the conference, Marshall Peters.
 
One of the top cover men in the nation, Stevens routinely shut down his offensive assignment a year ago. Over the course of the 2014 campaign, he held his offensive opponents to nearly a point below their season average. Stevens also ranked second on the team in ground balls (3.25 per game) and caused turnovers (1.19 per game). 
 
Peters had a breakout freshman season, starting all 16 games, picking up 37 ground balls and registering nine caused turnovers on the year. Peters had at least one ground ball in 14-of-16 games on the season and tallied a season-high five ground balls at Hofstra. 
 
A trio of returners – junior Tony Britton, and sophomores Scott D'Antonio and Walt Gahagan – as well as rookie Jake Pulver will look to fill the spot left by Freshour.
 
Britton was sidelined a year ago due to injury but earned great playing experience as a rookie in 2013, appearing in 11 contests, including four Ivy League and two NCAA tournament games.
 
D'Antonio had a solid rookie season, playing in 12 games on the Big Red defense, with his first collegiate action coming against No. 2 Virginia. He caused three turnovers and picked up one ground ball on the year.
 
Gahagan saw action in four games as a rookie but worked hard over the summer and had a very  impressive fall campaign.
 
A 2014 US Lacrosse All-American and a 2013 Under Armour All America Lacrosse Underclassmen selection, Pulver is a tough shutdown defender from Fayetteville-Manlius high school.  Following his senior season, he was named the 2014 All-CNY Player of the Year, as well as All-CNY first-team, and CNYCL all-league after helping FM to win the CNYCL League championship, the Section III championship, the regional championship, and the upstate championship.

"I think when you look at our defense as a whole and include the long stick and short stick middies, we have as solid a unit as there is in the country," says Kerwick.
 
GOALIE
That solid and experience defensive unit will work in front of Cornell's highly talented and experienced goalie corps that include Knight, junior Brennan Donville, senior William Joyce and sophomore Dan Nemirov.
 
Knight, the incumbent starter, had a standout freshman season. After taking over the starting role prior to the Big Red's victory vs. No. 2 Virginia on March 8, he became just the second player in the history of the conference to earn five men's lacrosse Rookie of the Week honors. Knight made 15 saves in his first start against the Cavaliers and never looked back, posting a 7-5 record on the year. His 11.00 saves per game ranked second in the Ivy League and 13th in the nation, and were the most saves by a Big Red goalie since Matt McMonagle averaged 11.25 saves per game during the 2007 season. Knight's .542 save percentage was good for third in the Ivy League and 20th in the nation, while he ranked fourth in the league and 29th in the country in goals against average (9.98). 
 
Donville, who won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships last summer, started the first four games of his sophomore season and compiled a 4-0 record. He played in six games altogether, seeing action in 223 minutes and posting a .467 save percentage to go along with an 8.63 goals-against average. Donville made a season-high eight saves three times against Hobart, Binghamton, and Michigan.
 
Joyce, a strong leader in the locker room, has seen action in four games during his career. He has made one save and allowed one goal in 19:25 career minutes.
 
Nemirov saw action in one game during his rookie season, playing 1:44 at Dartmouth. He saved the only shot he faced and picked up one ground ball vs. the Big Green.