Pannell Picks Up Where He Left Off for Big Red
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Cornell men’s
lacrosse team opened its season with an impressive 10-7 victory
over in-state rival Hobart this evening at the Carrier Dome in
Syracuse, N.Y. The win is the Big Red’s seventh consecutive
victory in a season opener, as well as its seventh straight over
the Statesmen.
Cornell (1-0) was led by All-American Rob Pannell with five points
on two goals and three assists, while Ryan Hurley, Scott Austin and
Mitch McMichael all added two goals apiece. Jon Thomson also had
two points with one goal and one assist and Chris Ritchie rounded
out the scoring with one goal. Midfielders Roy Lang and Chris
Langton each tallied one assist.
Hobart (0-1) was led by Kevin Curtin and Doug Shiver with two
goals apiece, while Tim Begelow had a team-high three points on one
goal and two assists.
In his first collegiate game, freshman AJ Fiore was impressive
with nine saves, while Hobart’s seasoned veteran Max
Silberlicht stopped 13.
The Statesmen held the slight advantage on face-offs, winning
10-of-19 restarts, with Austin Boykin winning 6-of-11 tries for
Cornell.
The Big Red held the slight edge in shots, 37-32, but picked up 34
ground balls to Hobart’s 22. Cornell also cleared the ball
safely 16-of-17 times, while the Statesmen cleared just 14-of-20,
due in large part to the 16 turnovers forced by Cornell. The Big
Red turned the ball over just 12 times.
Cornell was not penalized during the game, while Hobart was
flagged for five infractions. The Big Red scored on 2-of-5
extra-man chances.
“Hobart is a veteran group and we are just so young in so
many positions that we are thrilled to come out of this game with a
win,” said head coach Jeff Tambroni. “We’re still
looking for an identity on offense and in the midfield but our
defense really played with great maturity and kept us in this
game.”
The Big Red jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first
five minutes of action on goals by Ritchie, Thomson and Austin.
Thomson’s goal was scored on a man-up opportunity.
Hobart scored back-to-back goals to end the first and start the
second period, making it a 3-2 game with just over eight minutes to
play until halftime, but Cornell responded with three straight
tallies to go up 6-2. Pannell and Hurley had a hand in all three of
those goals with Pannell assisting on a goal by Hurley, before they
each scored an unassisted goal.
The Statesmen closed the half with a goal from Curtin to cut the
Big Red lead to 6-3 going into the intermission.
After Hobart scored the first goal in the third period to make it
a two-goal game, Cornell closed the quarter with three straight
tallies to push the lead to 9-4. Once again, Pannell was
instrumental in all three goals, assisting on two and scoring
one.
The Statesmen outscored Cornell, 3-1, in the final period to
account for the 10-7 final with the lone Cornell goal in the period
coming in a man-up situation by McMichael.
The Big Red is back in action on Tuesday, March 2, as it travels
to Canisius to take on the Golden Griffins at the Demske Sports
Complex at 4 p.m.
