Central New York Lacrosse Supremacy Up for Grabs Tuesday
4/9/2007 3:07:04 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The 18th-ranked Orange (3-5) faces its third consecutive ranked opponent and second straight Ivy League squad when it hosts consensus No. 1 Cornell (8-0) at the Carrier Dome Tuesday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. It's the second game in four days for Syracuse, which lost to No. 7 Princeton on the road, 12-8, on April 7. The Orange has five regular-season games left and must go at least 4-1 down the stretch to keep its hopes of an NCAA at-large bid alive.
Tuesday's game will be televised live locally on Time Warner Sports 26. Live streaming video and audio of the contest can be found on SUathletics.com via Orange All Access and fans can also tune in to the Syracuse ISP Sports Network radio broadcast on WNSS (1260 AM).
NO.1 NOTES
Tuesday’s contest marks the first time since March 18, 2005 the Orange has hosted the nation’s top-ranked team. That day No. 1 Johns Hopkins edged SU, 12-11, in overtime. Syracuse has lost its last two games against teams ranked No. 1. Its last victory versus the top team in the land was on May 29, 2004 when it defeated Johns Hopkins, 15-9, in the national semifinals. The Orange went on to beat Navy in the 2004 championship game to win its ninth NCAA title.
THE LAST TIME OUT
THREE PRINCETON FIRSTS
Junior Kyle Guadagnolo
PERRITT FINDS MARK
Sophomore midfielder Pat Perritt notched his first goal since returning from a two-game suspension in SU’s game at Princeton. Perritt’s unassisted score in the second quarter against the Tigers was his first since the Virginia game on March 3. He has five goals and one assist on the season.
THE SCOOP
Senior face-off specialist Jon Jerome picked up five ground balls at Princeton. It was the fourth time in eight games this season Jerome has scooped up a least five loose balls. Jerome’s four five-plus ground ball games leads the Orange and he at least five ground balls in nine games during his career, which ranks second among active SU players behind classmate Steve Panarelli’s 13.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Cornell has been dominant in getting off to an 8-0 start, including a 3-0 record in Ivy League play. It’s average margin of victory is 8.6 goals per game and the Big Red has outscored its opponents, 116-47, this season. Cornell enters its game against Syracuse ranked in the top five in scoring offense and defense. The Big Red boasts the most potent offense in the country (14.5 gpg) and the third-best scoring defense (5.88 gpg). Cornell has scored at least 15 goals four times in 2007 and routed Penn, 20-5, on March 31.
Senior attackmen Eric Pittard and David Mitchell have combined to form one of the top scoring combinations in the country. The duo has teamed up for 59 points this year and rank one and two in overall scoring and goals on the team. Pittard, a transfer from Virginia, leads Cornell in points (32) and ranks seventh in the nation in points per game (4.0). His 18 goals is second on the team behind Mitchell’s 22. Mitchell is sixth in the nation in goals per game at 2.75. He has 27 total points on the year. In all the Big Red have seven players that have registered double-digit points this season, including preseason All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy nominee Max Seibald (9g, 6a). Seibald, a midfielder, was a second-team All-American in 2006 and earned Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors.
The Big Red also has one of the top goaltenders in the country in senior Matt McMonagle. McMonagle has been the leader of stingy Cornell defense and owns a 5.97 goals-against average on the year. The two-time All-American has 75 saves on the year and a save percentage of .615. He ranks fourth nationally in goals-against average and sixth in save percentage. Cornell’s backup goaltender is Jake Myers. Myers transferred from Syracuse to Cornell prior to the season after serving as SU’s reserve goalie in 2006.
THE SERIES VERSUS CORNELL
The Orange has won three of the last four meetings with the Big Red and owns a 57-32-1 lead in the all-time series. SU has posted two winning streaks of longer than 10 games in the series. The Orange defeated Cornell 13 straight times from 1988-99. It's longest winning streak in the series is 16 games (1946-57). SU has scored at least 11 goals in each of the last five pairings.
