Cornell Makes Amends, Stops Hofstra
by Brian Delaney | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
ITHACA, N.Y. -- No. 7 Cornell scored three
unanswered goals over the final 2:39 of the third quarter to break
open a tight, intensely physical NCAA Division I men's lacrosse
tournament first-round game to beat Hofstra, 11-8, in front of
2,235 Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
Cornell (11-3), the fifth seed, will face the winner of Sunday's
Princeton-Massachusetts game in an NCAA quarterfinal at
approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Hofstra's Shuart
Stadium.
In doing so, Cornell's 16 seniors - including Tewaaraton Trophy
finalist Max Seibald - avoided a third, first-round loss in four
years.
A season ago, the Big Red was unceremoniously dumped by Ohio
State, 15-7, at Schoellkopf.
"A little bit of relief off our shoulders because of what happened
last year," said Seibald, who scored two goals. "We haven't
accomplished winning a playoff game since 2007 at Schoellkopf."
Cornell faced a red-hot goaltender for the third time in as many
weeks, but this time it stayed poised against Hofstra's Andrew
Gvozden. Gvozden made 15 saves, but only one in Cornell's pivotal
five-goal third quarter.
On April 25, Brown's Jordan Burke made 18 saves in an 11-9 win.
Last Saturday, Hobart's Max Silberlicht stopped 16 shots, but
Cornell held on for an 8-7 victory. Against Hofstra, Cornell
handled that adversity much more smoothly.
"To our guys' credit, they adjusted as the game went on, in the
second half started to change things up a little bit," Cornell
coach Jeff Tambroni said. "But I also thought we had better shots
in the second half, more possessions in the second half."
Those extra possessions couldn't have come from a more unlikely
source.
Junior longstick defenseman Michael Howe attempted two faceoffs
this year, but relieved a struggling John Glynn and won eight of 12
against Joe Montemurro - the majority of which came in the second
half. Cornell out-groundballed the Pride, 38-26, and owned a 45-27
edge in shots. Hofstra played without starting attackman Kevin
Ford, who was suspended indefinitely before the game for a
violation of team rules.
"Today, Cornell was better," Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said. "It
was not for a lack of effort. ... (we) fought like warriors."
Both teams received sensational performances from freshmen. For
Hofstra, Gvozden capped a standout first year as starter with
arguably his best performance. His seven saves in the first quarter
helped limit the host's early lead to three goals.
It could have been much worse.
"He doesn't wear diapers anymore," Tierney said.
For Cornell, freshman Rob Pannell finished with three goals and
two assists.
With 9:35 left in the third quarter, Pannell scored off a dodge
from behind the cage around the left side, deftly flicking the ball
over Gvozden's near-side shoulder to make it 8-6. Hofstra answered
on an extra-man goal by Stephen Bentz, then had a quality chance to
tie, but Ryan Carter's 10-yard rifle was swallowed up by Cornell
goalie Jake Myers (nine saves).
Then came the game-changing run.
The Big Red punched back with a goal from its second midfield.
Senior George Calvert bounced a perimeter shot past Gvozden with
2:39 left, and 45 seconds later - after a Hofstra failed clear -
Pannell found a cutting Siebald for a three-goal lead. Cornell's
defense got another big stop when All-American defenseman Matt
Moyer, playing through injuries to both knees, stripped Jay Card of
the ball with a minute left.
That led to Rocco Romero's only goal of the night, a winding shot
from 10 yards out that began with a full-steam ahead sprint from
the midfield line.
"On the offensive side, we really couldn't get anything going, any
chemistry," Hofstra senior midfielder Michael Colleluori said. "We
had opportunities, we just didn't capitalize on them. Cornell took
advantage of their opportunities...and we played a lot of defense
in that quarter."
Cornell beat Princeton, 10-7, at Schoellkopf on April 18. UMass
eliminated Cornell in the first round of the 2006 NCAA tournament,
10-9, but the two teams haven't played since.
