2017 Men's Lacrosse Schedule
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – Matt Kerwick, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Lacrosse, has announced the Big Red's schedule for the upcoming 2017 men's lacrosse season. The slate is an exciting one with six home games, as well as a trip to Southern California to take on Virginia in the fourth annual Pacific Coast Shootout. As always, the Big Red schedule will also feature the ever-competitive Ivy League conference games, several games with traditional rivals, four opponents that participated in the 2016 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament, and the eighth season of the Ivy League Tournament.
 
The Big Red opens the season on Saturday, Feb. 18 when it travels to Penn State for a contest at 1 p.m. The all-time series is tied 20-20 after winning the Nittany Lions one-goal victory a year ago. Penn State finished the 2016 campaign with a record of 8-7 overall and a mark of 2-3 in the Big 10 conference.

One week later, Cornell will take on its oldest rival and Coach Kerwick's alma mater, Hobart in Geneva on Saturday, Feb. 25. The game will be the 137th meeting between the two programs, with the Big Red holding an 86-47-4 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 15 of the last 16 meetings. In his fourth season at the helm of the Statesmen's program, Greg Raymond led Hobart to its first 10-win season since joining Division I in 1995. Hobart finished last year with a record of 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the NEC before winning the NEC Tournament and competing in the NCAA play-in game.
 
The Big Red will play its first home game of the season on Saturday, March 4, when it welcomes the University of Albany to Schoellkopf Field for a contest at 1 p.m. The series with the Great Danes is tied at 2-2, as Albany has won two straight meetings. Albany had another tremendous season in 2016, going 12-4 overall (6-0 American East) and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Cornell heads to the West Coast to take on Virginia on Saturday, March 11. The teams have faced each other during the regular season each year since 2009, with three of the last five meetings being decided by a single goal, including two overtime contests. The Cavaliers, which hold the 10-6 advantage in the all-time series, are coming off a 7-8 season (0-4 ACC), after which long-time head coach Dom Starsia was replaced by former Brown head coach Lars Tiffany.  

Following the game with Virginia, the Big Red has a busy week on tap, travelling to Yale to open Ivy League play on Saturday, March 18, before welcoming Colgate and Penn to Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, March 21, and Saturday, March 25, respectively.  
 
The Bulldogs had a solid season in 2016, posting an 13-3 record (5-1 Ivy), winning the Ivy League Tournament, and advancing to the NCAA Tournament, before falling in the first round for the second year in a row. Cornell has won 17 of the last 19 meetings against Yale to improve to 51-24-1 in the all-time series.
 
Cornell, which owns a 42-7-1 record in the series with Colgate, has won 12 consecutive contests against the Raiders, including last season's thrilling last-second victory in Hamilton. Colgate, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Mike Murphy, is coming off a 4-10 campaign (2-6 Patriot).
 
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 2017 edition will be the 93rd meeting, with the Big Red holding a dominating 65-24-3 record overall, including winning nine of the last 11 meetings. A year ago, the Quakers fought their way to an 8-7 record (4-2 Ivy) and made it into the Ivy League Tournament, where they lost to eventual champion Yale, 7-6.
 
The Big Red remains home for its third straight game when it welcomes Dartmouth to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 1.

The Big Red has dominated the series against Dartmouth, posting an all-time record of 51-15, and winning 17 of the last 19 meetings, including last season's 19-4 victory in Hanover. The Big Green, under the direction of third-year head coach Brendan Callahan, is looking to improve on a 2016 campaign in which it went 1-13 and 0-6 in the Ivy League. 

Three of Cornell's next four games will be on the road, beginning with back-to-back away games at Harvard (Saturday, April 8) and Syracuse (Tuesday, April 11).
 
The Big Red had a 16-game winning streak against the Crimson snapped in 2014 and Harvard made it three in a row with last year's win in Ithaca. Cornell still owns an impressive record of a 64-26 in the all-time series. Harvard earned a trip to the Ivy League Tournament a year ago after seventh-year head coach Chris Wojcik led his alma mater to an 8-8 record (3-3 Ivy).
 
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 64-38-1 record all time, nine of the 18 games played since the 2000 season have been decided by two goals or less, including Cornell's 10-9 overtime victory a year ago. Syracuse, which is beginning its fourth season in the ACC, is coming off a 12-5 campaign (2-2 ACC) and a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

The Big Red will welcome Lehigh to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 15. The Mountain Hawks are the first collegiate team that Cornell ever played in men's lacrosse in a contest held on May 4, 1893. Lehigh owns the 9-5-2 record in the all-time series, but all of the Mountain Hawks' victories came prior to World War I. Cornell has won four consecutive games (1954, 1955, 2006) but the teams have met only twice in the past 62 years (2006, 2016). Lehigh went 6-9 overall in 2015 and posted a mark of 4-4 in the Patriot League.
 
Cornell will play its final regular season road game when it travels to defending Ivy League champion Brown on Saturday, April 22.

The Big Red owns a 36-20 record in the all-time series with Brown, winning four of the last seven meetings. Brown finished last year with a 16-3 record overall (6-0 Ivy) and advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

Cornell will celebrate Senior Day when it welcomes Princeton to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, April 29.
The marquee matchup in Ivy League lacrosse, the two squads have combined for 53 conference titles, sharing the crown in six of the past 14 seasons. The Tigers won last year's regular season matchup, 7-6, but Cornell has won 11 of the last 16 contests to cut Princeton's lead in the all-time series to 41-37-2.

For the eighth year, the Ivy League will sponsor a post-season tournament on the weekend of May 5-7. The 2017 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Tournament will include the top four teams in the conference regular season round-robin competition and will be hosted by the round-robin winner. Last year was the first in the history of the tournament that Cornell did not make the field.