After suffering its first loss since 2019, the Cornell men's lacrosse team will attempt to find the winning formula again when it visits Central New York rival Colgate on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m. at Crown Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while Barry Leonard and Tom LaFalce will air live on WHCU 97.7 FM/870 AM.
GAME INFORMATION
#4 Cornell at Colgate
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 5 p.m.
SITE: Crown Field – Hamilton, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 6-1, 1-1 Ivy League / Colgate 2-5, 1-3 Patriot League
BROADCAST: ESPN+
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) (https://whcuradio.com/)
STATS: GoColgateRaiders.com
GAME NOTES (PDF)
STORY LINES
• After suffering its first loss since 2019, the Cornell men's lacrosse team will attempt to find the winning formula again when it visits Central New York rival Colgate on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m. at Crown Field.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while Barry Leonard and Tom LaFalce will air live on WHCU 97.7 FM/870 AM.
• Cornell is coming off a 15-11 defeat at No. 7 Penn this past Saturday, its first loss since a 15-10 defeat at the hands of Yale in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on May 3, 2019 — a span of 1,058 days since its last loss.
• Despite the loss, the Big Red is off to a strong 6-1 start and sat at No. 4 in last week's USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media polls.
• Fifth-year seniors Joseph Bartolotto III (12 caused turnovers, 14 ground balls) and Dom Doria (eight caused turnovers, 12 ground balls) rank 1-2 on the team in caused turnovers with 20 between the two.
• In goal, Chayse Ierlan ranks in the top 20 nationally in goals against average (11.14 GAA) and has at least 10 saves in six consecutive games.
• On offense, two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Year CJ Kirst paces the team in goals (22), assists (11) and points (33), while ranking second in ground balls (23).
• Tewaaraton Award candidate John Piatelli is second on the team in goals (23), surpassing the 100 goal mark for his career with four at Penn.
• Face-off specialist Angelo Petrakis is winning 48 percent in the circle, including a 16-of-29 effort against the nation's top-ranked face-off unit in No. 5 Ohio State, and leads the team with 38 ground balls.
• Though Cornell has a commanding 43-8-1 lead in the all-time series, Colgate won the last meeting 14-11 on Feb. 17, 2018, meaning no current member of the Big Red player roster holds a win over the Raiders.
LAST TIME OUT
• No. 7 Penn ran out to a 6-1 lead and owned a much as a seven-goal lead, too much for No. 4 Cornell to overcome in a 15-11 loss at Franklin Field.
• Penn dominated the face-off circle, with Jamie Zusi going 21-of-29 to keep the ball out of the Big Red's hands and avoid a comeback.
• During a key 3-0 second quarter run over just 1:05, Cornell never saw the ball as the Quakers turned a 3-1 squeaker into a 6-1 hole.
• The Big Red clawed back within three goals at 11-8 with four minutes remaining in the third on a CJ Kirst goal, his third of the day and 22nd of the season, but Penn answered with three consecutive and wasn't threatened the rest of the way.
• Kirst had three goals and two assists, while Michael Long joined him with two goals and three assists for five-point days.
• John Piatelli scored four times, including finding the back of the net for the 100th time in his career.
• Gavin Adler continued his brilliant play on defense, causing a turnover and winning six ground balls, while Joseph Bartolotto III caused three turnovers on his own and won a pair of balls of the ground.
• For Penn, Sam Handley had three goals and three assists, while Dylan Gergar notched a goal and four helpers.
• It was the early work of Patrick Burkinshaw that made the difference, as the Penn goalkeeper stopped nine of Cornell's first 10 shots on goal and had 15 on the day in the victory.
THE SERIES VS. COLGATE
First Meeting: 1921
Overall: Cornell leads, 43-8-1
In Hamilton: Cornell leads, 16-4
In Overtime: Cornell leads, 1-0
Current Streak: Colgate, 1 game
Last Meeting: Colgate, 14-11 (2/17/2018 in Hamilton, N.Y.)
Bucek vs. Colgate: 0-0 (0-0 on the road)
Series vs. Colgate: Cornell first met its upstate rival Colgate during the Raiders' inaugural season in 1921, and the two teams played to a 3-3 tie.
• The two teams played each other fairly regularly until the 1971 season, after which the rivalry took a 21-year hiatus.
• Since resuming play in the 1993 season, Cornell has gone on to win 15 of 17 meetings, including 12 straight from 1998-2017, with Colgate's wins coming in 1997 (9-6 and 2018 (14-11).
A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD
• Give Cornell a 7-1 record.
• Give the Big Red a 44-8-1 lead in the all-time series.
• Extend its non-conference win streak to 12 games.
• Be the 777th win in program history (776-488-27, .612).
SCOUTING COLGATE
• Colgate is 2-5 on the season, including 1-3 in Patriot League competition.
• The Raiders are 2-1 at home with wins over Air Force and Lafayette.
• Colgate is coming off a 14-6 defeat at the hands of Bucknell on March 26, its third loss in its past four games.
• The Raiders are winning 59 percent of their face-offs on the strength of Thomas Colucci, who is personally over 60 percent (.605).
• Colgate is averaging 9.4 goals per game with the brother tandem of Brian (22-10-32) and Michael (12-4-16) Minicus combining for more than half of the team's goals.
• Aidan Murnane has a team-best 11 caused turnovers for the defense in front of goalkeeper Matt LaCombe (11.95 GAA, .533 save percentage, 13.7 saves per game).
• Fourth-year head coach Matt Karweck will be coaching his first game against the Big Red.
THE RICHARD M. MORAN HEAD COACH
• Connor Buczek '15 (6-1) is in his first season (second year) at the helm of the Cornell men's lacrosse program.
• He was elevated to the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse in the spring of 2020 after five seasons on staff in the capacities of volunteer assistant coach for two years and assistant coach for three.
• His first year in the head coaching role saw the 2021 season get canceled due to COVID-19 and have to navigate his team through the challenges of having the season eliminated due to the pandemic.
• He has served as the offensive coordinator since 2018, and his duties have also included working with the goalies.
• He has helped turn the Big Red offense into one of the most potent units in the country, as Cornell has finished each of its last two seasons ranked among the top-five nationally in shooting percentage, assists per game, shots per game, and goals per game.
• Buczek was a decorated student-athlete during his playing days at Cornell, being named a three-time All-American and unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, among various other awards.
MEET THE CAPTAINS
• Joseph Bartolotto III '22, John Piatelli '22, and Chayse Ierlan '22 will serve as the Big Red's captains for the 2022 campaign.
• This marks the second time Bartolotto and Piatelli have been elected captains, having also done so in 2021, while it's Ierlan's first time steering the ship.
THIS IS OUR HOUSE
• Cornell has enjoyed a true home field advantage since beginning play on Schoellkopf Field in 1972, going 246-85 for a .742 winning percentage, with 12 undefeated seasons.
• Cornell has been even more impressive since 2000, going 106-30 overall (.782) with perfect slates in 2015 (6-0), 2011 (8-0), 2009 (6-0), 2007 (7-0) and 2005 (6-0).
Original source can be found here.
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