After Slow Start, Cornell Pounds Binghamton
from press release
ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 8 Cornell
men’s lacrosse team rebounded from a slow start to defeat
Binghamton, 19-4, this evening at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.
After leading by just one-goal at the end of the first stanza, the
Big Red rattled off four straight goals en route to outscoring the
Bearcats, 16-2, over the final three quarters.
Cornell (4-0) was led by Rob Pannell’s game-high six points
on three goals and three assists, while Ryan Hurley tallied four
goals. Sophomore midfielder Chris Langton had a breakout game with
three goals and one assist, while classmates Roy Lang and Scott
Austin registered two goals apiece. Chris Ritchie and Steve Mock
both tallied one goal and one assist apiece. In total, 12 different
Big Red players found their way into the point column with David
Lau, John Thomson and Max Van Bourgondien all scoring one goal,
while Mitch McMichael added one assist.
All three Cornell goalies saw action with AJ Fiore registering five
saves and allowing three goals to pick up the victory. Mat Martinez
made three saves and allowed one goal in 21:40, while Brian
O’Donnell was called on to make one save in the final 4:32 of
the game.
Aside from the stellar play of the goalies, the Big Red received
outstanding play from its defensive unit, which combined for nine
caused turnovers, four of which came from Jason Noble, who also
picked up a team-high seven groundballs.
Binghamton (1-4) got two goals from Frank Donlon with one goal
coming from Matt Springer and Andy Cook. Tyler Perrelle and Steve
Carlson each registered one assist. In goal, Dan Solazzo made 12
saves and allowed 17 goals in 51:16 before Kraig Heston stopped two
shots and allowed two goals in the final 8:44.
The Big Red dominated in shots (51-29) and ground balls (46-24),
and held the slim edge in face-offs, winning 13-of-25. Neither team
cleared the ball particularly well, with Cornell going 19-of-25,
while Binghamton cleared 15-of-19.
Cornell registered one man-up goal on two attempts, while holding
the Bearcats to a 1-of-4 performance.
Hurley got the Big Red on the board first; scoring at the 13:39
mark with a fluky goal, as he initially lost the ball, but in the
ensuing scrum managed to bat it into the net to give Cornell the
1-0 lead.
Neither team managed much offense for the next eight minutes before
Donlon knotted the game at 1-1. The Big Red responded with two
straight goals by Langton and Lang, but the Bearcats made it a
one-goal game when Springer scored with just two seconds remaining
in the period.
Cornell came out on fire in the second quarter, scoring the first
four goals before Donlan registered his final tally of the day to
make it a 7-3 game with 3:04 remaining before the intermission.
Back-to-back goals by Pannell, one on each side of halftime,
started a string of six unanswered tallies by the Big Red, which
went up by double-digits, 13-3, at the 9:17 mark of the third
quarter.
Just under two minutes later, Cook registered the final goal for
the Bearcats, but from there, both sides subbed liberally and
Cornell ended the game with another 6-0 run to account for the 19-4
final.
The Big Red is back in action this weekend as it welcomes No. 1
Virginia to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 13, at noon.
