Cornell Upsets UVA, Advances to Title Game for First Time Since '88
from press release
FOXBORO, Mass. -- With more than a little magic
in the air, underdog Cornell controlled top-seeded Virginia from
start to finish, advancing to the program's first NCAA title
contest in 21 years with a 15-6 victory over the Cavaliers on
Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stradium. The Big Red's NCAA
semifinal triumph sets up a Central New York showdown for the
Division I title, as Cornell will face No. 2 Syracuse, a
17-7 winner over No. 3 Duke, on Monday at 1 p.m. in a game
that will be televised by ESPN. The Big Red improved to 13-3
overall, while Virginia's season ended with a 15-3 record.
Cornell held the high-powered Cavalier offense to two goals in the
first half while running out to an 8-2 edge and never trailed after
opening the game with a 3-0 lead. The Big Red avenged an
early-season loss at Virginia and will attempt to do the same
against the Orange to claim the program's fourth NCAA title on
Memorial Day.
"We are thrilled and proud of the effort of our guys today," said
head coach Jeff Tambroni. "They really dug in during a game where
we knew we wouldn't have a lot of believers out there. We knew we
needed to believe first and play hard second. We were fortunate
enough to accomplish both of those against such a talented and
dangerous Virginia team. We're excited we can move on into
uncharted territory for the modern-day Cornell program. I hope we
can prepare ourselves for that next juggernaut in Syracuse."
On a day when the seniors skipped their graduation to compete for
their University, a rookie was the dominant force for a patient and
disciplined offense. Freshman Rob Pannell was again fearless in the
face of pressure, putting up his second six-point day of the season
against Virginia with three goals and three assists to lead the
offense. Junior Ryan Hurley broke out of a slump in a big way with
three goals and an assist, while both Chris Finn (three goals) and
Rocco Romero (two goals, one assist) also had three-point days.
Tewaaraton Trophy candidate Max Seibald had a goal and an assist,
as did David Lau, whose father scored a goal for the Big Red in the
1977 national championship game.
Defensively, Jake Myers had eight saves and was steady throughout
in front of a defense that has limited its opponents to last
opponents (No. 4 seed Princeton and No. 1 seed Virginia) to a
combined 10 goals. Pierce Derkac and Matt Moyer combined for five
ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Max Feely and Michael
Howe were among the defenders who made a difference in limiting the
Hoos throughout.
Virginia All-American attackman Danny Glading was held relatively
in check by the Big Red defense, posting two goals and an assist.
That total was matched by Steele Stanwick, while Garrett Billings
chipped in a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman made
five saves and allowed all 15 goals, while Ken Clausen record three
of the team's 13 caused turnovers. Former Dartmouth player Chad
Gaudet won nine face-offs and scooped up a game-high five
groundballs.
The Big Red held a 37-27 advantage in shots and a 32-30 edge in
ground balls. The Cavaliers held a slight edge in face-offs (13-12)
and turned Cornell more (20-18).
The number 21 holds great significance for the Big Red men's
lacrosse program. The number worn by the late George Boiardi as
well as legendary , the Big Red will be playing in its first
national title contest in 21 years when it meets Syracuse. This
particular group of 16 seniors has claimed four straight Ivy titles
by winning 21 conference contests in four years. The championship
game matchup will be the third time in the teams have met in the
NCAA tournament and the second time Cornell and Syracuse will meet
for the title. The two squads squared off for the 1988 title, with
the Orange taking a 13-8 victory. A crowd of 36,594, the
seventh-highest NCAA semifinal attendance, watched the upset.
The teams traded possessions to open the game with a Myers'
save thwarted by a Cornell turnover, but the Big Red got the ball
back thanks to an unforced miscue by the Cavaliers. After
several Cornell shots missed the mark, Hurley took the ball from
the left corner, dodged past his man to the center of the field and
fed Finn, who converted up high from five yards out. Less
than a minute later a loose ball in front of the Virginia goal led
to a Cornell score as Jon Thomson beat Adam Ghitelman to the ball
and scored on the empty net to make it a 2-0 game at the 10:38
mark. After another Virginia turnover, the Big Red earned a
30-second man-up opportunity and Pannell fed Hurley right in front
of the crease. The junior attackman spun to his left and beat
Ghitelman up high to make it a 3-0 Cornell advantage with 9:27 to
play in the quarter. The Cavaliers backed up an errant shot
to get possession and All-American Danny Glading got the top-seed
on the board as he drove to the cage and scored from point-blank
range to make it a 3-1 contest. An unassisted goal by Pannell, who
rolled around the right side of the cage and beat Ghitelman over
his right shoulder, gave the three-goal advantage back to the Big
Red. After winning the restart, the Big Red saw an extended
possession ended by a moving pick call, which gave Virginia the
ball with 2:40 to play in the quarter. The Cavaliers advanced the
ball into their offensive zone and Coach Dom Starsia called a
timeout, but the Big Red forced a turnover in front of the crease
and the offense went back to work with 1:30 remaining in the
quarter. Outstanding defensive pressure by the Cavaliers shut
down Cornell's last second attempt, but the Big Red took the 4-1
lead into the first intermission. Just 37 seconds into the
second quarter, Romero pushed the lead to four goals as he streaked
down the right alley and beat Ghitelman down low. It took
nearly 10 minutes for the Big Red to score again, but Romero found
Hurley cutting to the crease and the All-American turned and shot
in one motion to make it a 6-1 game with 4:58 remaining in the
opening half. Just over one minute later, Shamel Bratton ended the
Cavaliers' 17:32 scoring drought and cut the deficit to four goals.
Virginia won the en suing face-off, but turned the ball over
in front of the crease and Cornell's transition offense made them
pay as Austin Boykin registered the first tournament point of his
career when he found Pannell, who scored from 10 yards out. Pannell
set up the Big Red's next goal, as Finn registered a man-up goal to
make it an 8-2 game with 2:21 to play in the second quarter. A save
by Myers gave Cornell the ball back with one minute to play in the
half, but the Big Red could not convert and took an 8-2 lead into
half time. Myers opened the third quarter with back-to-back
saves and the offense rewarded its goalie when Finn scored a goal
off a pass from Glynn to make it a 9-2 game at the 13:31 mark.
After flying out of the gates in the first two minutes, the
two saves seemed to take some steam out of the Cavaliers, and the
goal deflated them even more. Virginia won the restart, but
Derkac caused a turnover at the sideline and the offense went back
to work. Cornell ran several minutes of the clock, but a turnover
gave the ball back to the Cavaliers and a Big Red penalty gave
Virginia its first man-up opportunity of the day. The Big Red
killed the penalty, but Glading found Stanwick on the crease to
make it a six-goal game at the 9:29 mark. Just over one
minute later, some defensive confusion by the Cavaliers left Hurley
wide open behind the crease. Pannell quickly found his favorite
target and Hurley rolled around the crease, faked high and beat
Ghitelman low to make it a 10-3 contest. Cornell won
the restart, but a turnover led to another Stanwick goal on the
other end, making it a 10-4 game with 6:34 to go in the quarter.
After the teams traded possessions off turnovers on each
end, Romero found Seibald sprinting into the box. The senior
midfielder took two steps, drew the double-team and fed the ball
back to Romero, who beat Ghitelman up high from 10 yards out to
push Cornell's lead back to seven goals. Cornell managed to
get the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the
quarter. The Big Red managed several shots in the waning seconds,
but couldn't find the cage, as it took the 11-4 lead into the final
intermission. Virginia wasted no time scoring in the fourth
quarter, as Garrett Billings scored from close range just 44
seconds in, off a pass by Stanwick. A brilliant Ghitleman
save thwarted the Big Red's first offensive possession, but after a
Virginia crease violation gave the ball back to Cornell, David Lau
found the back of the net for his first goal of the tournament.
A failed clear by the Big Red gave the ball to Virginia and
Glading tallied his second of the day, to make it a 12-6 game, but
the Big Red answered just 11 seconds later when Lang picked up the
ground ball off the face off, streaked unabated to the crease and
bounced a shot past Ghitelman to make it a 13-6 game with 9:42 to
play. Cornell pushed the lead back to eight when Seibald ripped a
corner with 8:37 left to end his scoring on the day. Pannell
added to the lead at the 6:09 mark of the fourth quarter when he
took a pass from Lau on the edge of the crease and bounced the goal
into the net. On the play, Virginia's Matt Kelly was whistled for
an unnecessary roughness penalty by sending Lau to the turf. On the
ensuing man-advantage, the Big Red was content to work the ball
around the offensive zone, eating away precious seconds as the
one-minute penalty expired. As Kelly was released, a pair of
penalty flags were thrown to the side of the cage, but the Big Red
maintained possession for another 2:45 before play was stopped.
When the flags were finally sorted out, Chris Conlan was called for
slashing and cross-checking and Ryan Nizolek was called for a slash
as well. The Big Red wasn't threatened late despite each
team turning it over twice in the final two minutes. Cornell
controlled the ball in the final seconds, running the clock down to
zero before a rather subdued celebration prior to the handshake
line.
