A rise to power in the national spotlight interrupted?
This is the question the Cornell men’s lacrosse team will have to answer when it takes the field next spring.
The Red finished the regular season with a 10-3 mark, including a 5-1 record in the Ivy League.
In its NCAA Tournament first-round contest against Georgetown, Cornell was leading 12-9 with 11:30 to play in the contest. However, the Red’s inexperience in tournament situations showed, as the Hoyas rallied for the final five goals of the game, including three in the last 2:47, to end the Red’s fantastic season.
While the Red was certainly unhappy about letting such an opportunity slip away, it could take solace in the fact that this was its first tournament appearance since 1995. In addition, the team had only five graduating seniors, and a talented young coaching staff, lead by Dave Pietramala.
However, with the completion of the season, the head coaching position at Johns Hopkins, Pietramala’s alma mater, opened up, and the Division I coach of the year returned home.
This switch came after Pietramala lead the Red to a 23-17 record in three years. The two years before his arrival Cornell had gone 3-11. Cornell also achieved its first 10-win season since 1987, and handed national champion Syracuse its lone loss of the year in a 13-12 game played in Schoellkopf Field.
On the day of his resignation, Cornell athletic director Andy Noel named Pietramala’s assistant Jeff Tambroni as the Red’s new head coach.
“I was very fortunate to work for one of the greatest coaches [Pietramala]. However, it is a great opportunity to take the reigns of a top-10 lacrosse team, being a first time coach,” Tambroni said.
Tambroni had been the offensive coordinator for three years under Pietramala at Cornell. Before coming to East Hill the Hobart graduate was an assistant at Loyola College for two years.
While in college, Tambroni was a first-team All-American his senior year, and was a second-team All-American the two years prior.
Wynne Named Assistant
After a two year stint as the head lacrosse coach at Virginia Wesleyan College, Robert Wynne has joined the Cornell men’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach. Jeff Tambroni, first-year head coach and a former teammate of Wynne’s at Hobart, announced the decision this past July after the Red posted a 10-3 regular season record.
Wynne expressed his excitment at joining the Red staff. “I’m thrilled to be a part of a university and program with such integrity and tradition. It is a great honor,” he said.
Before heading to Ithaca, Wynne led his 2000 Marlins to a No. 20 National Ranking and an overall record of 7-7. This came after a 9-5 overall record in 1999.
Before joining the Virginia Wesleyan staff, Wynne was the assistant coach at Hampden-Sydney College where he was the offensive coordinator and in charge of recruiting. Prior to that job, Wynne served as the assisant coach at his alma matter.
Wynne, a 1994 graduate of Hobart, left the Statesmen after accumulating an impressive resume including two national championships, two first-team All-American honors and the title of nation’s top midfielder in 1994.
Tambroni is very excited to have Wynne as his first assistant coach. “He is a wonderful young coach and will bring a strong personality to the team.”
Archived article by Kristen Haunss