Men's Lax Hosts UMBC in Home Opener

By wpengine | March 8, 2002

The men’s lacrosse team (1-1, 0-0 Ivy), ranked 14th in the country, returns to Ithaca to open up its home slate of games tomorrow at 2 p.m. when it takes on University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1-1, 0-1 ECAC).

“I hope that what we bring to the field on Saturday is just excitement, ’cause it is our home opener,” head coach Jeff Tambroni remarked. “I think our guys are excited to get back on our own field, try to just rebuild what we tried to rebuild over the last couple of years.”

Although Cornell is happy to be back in the friendly confines of Schoellkopf Field, the team is wary of the Retrievers, a squad that defeated the Red 6-5 at UMBC Stadium last year.

“We have a great game coming up Saturday,” said junior defenseman Ryan McClay. “They beat us last year 6-5 in a game that we didn’t play up to what we thought was our potential.”

Cornell traditionally performs well at home, especially in openers. Last year it extended its winning streak in home openers to three with an 18-7 pounding of Colgate. The Red has also won eight of its last 10 contests in Ithaca.

“We usually play well, knock on wood, at home,” said Tambroni, as he rapped on his table. “For our guys to be able to go to classes and just relax on their own campus, it’s gonna be an advantage in comfort. I also think it’s going to be an advantage in excitement, just being able to walk on our own field, this field that we’re on every night for practice, to come out here and play in front of our own fans and family here in Cornell.”

While the Retrievers aren’t ranked as high as they have been in previous seasons, they still are a perennial threat to any team.

Extra-man situations will play a large role in tomorrow’s match, as UMBC killed all seven penalties it took in last year’s contest. However, Cornell has performed well with the man advantage this season, converting on three of its seven opportunities in its first two games.

“It’s a huge factor, in my opinion,” remarked Tambroni. “Certainly, that goose egg last year against UMBC didn’t go unnoticed. UMBC’s always done a pretty good job against us in the extra man, they stretch and they put a lot of pressure on us.”

The Red is coming off its first victory of the season, a 10-9 win at Colgate that nearly got away from Cornell at the end. Although the Red held a 9-5 lead in the final quarter, the Raiders nearly evened the score. A shot off the post late helped keep ‘Gate behind on the scoreboard. Freshman Sean Greenhalgh tallied five goals for Cornell.

Across the field, the Retrievers are also fresh off their first win of the year. Down 5-3 in the third quarter, UMBC staged a four-goal rally to take a 7-5 win from Mount St. Mary’s. Senior Gavin Stringer scored twice for the Retrievers, including the game-winner, and junior Adam Shiley notched three goals.

Senior midfielder Jon Harasym is also an offensive threat for UMBC, as is junior teammate Joey Kestermann. On defense, junior longstickman Greg Wojtech and 6-5 senior Eric Hester add range to the Retrievers and will be able to shut down passing lanes.

Greenhalgh’s five goals in the Colgate match currently leads the Red, while Shiley paces UMBC with four tallies.

The contest with the Retrievers is the third in a five-game non-conference stretch before Cornell opens the Ivy slate against Yale. For the time being, though, the Red is taking its opponents one game at a time.

“We’re finally back on Schoellkopf, it’s our home opener, so hopefully we can get up for it and come ready to play,” concluded McClay.

Archived article by Amanda Angel

W. Hockey Falls Short

By wpengine March 11, 2002

The women’s hockey team wrapped up its season over the weekend against St. Lawrence in the ECAC North playoffs. The sixth seeded Red (9-18-1 overall, 7-8-1 conference) traveled north to Canton, NY to face off against the third ranked Saints. On Friday night St. Lawrence beat Cornell 4-3 in the first hard fought contest of the three game series. The Red went on to suffer a tough 2-1 overtime defeat Saturday in the second game. Cornell went into the contest looking to surprise the Saints and come away with an upset for the series. Early on Friday, that looked quite likely, and it remained possible through both of the weekend’s games. The Red came out of the gates quickly on Friday night, running up a 3-1 lead in the first period. St. Lawrence put the first point on the board less than a minute into the game with a quick slapper. Cornell answered defiantly under three minutes later when junior defenseman Brooke Bestwick burned the Saint’s defense and flicked in the puck, unassisted, to knot the game at 1-1. Junior Lindsay Murao put the Red up for the first time with a power play goal at 8:32 in the first period. Senior captain Jenel Bode and Bestwick assisted on the play. The team scored its final goal of the first with less than two minutes to go in the period when Bode fielded the rebound of a shot from senior captain Erinn Perushek and netted the puck. In the second period, St. Lawrence tied things up with a couple of power play goals. The Saints picked up the first at 2:51 in the period to cut the Red lead to 3-2, then made the best of a five on three advantage about ten minutes later. Cornell started out with a power play at 9:48, then lost the advantage with two penalties in 12 seconds scarcely a minute later. The penalties put the Red down by two players for more than a minute, and allowed St. Lawrence to tie the contest with a little more than seven minutes left in the second period. Cornell couldn’t crack the Saint’s defense in the third. The Red managed only one shot on goal — none in the first 19 minutes of the period — compared to St. Lawrence’s 12. Despite excellent play from Cornell junior goalie Sanya Sandahl, the game-winner found its way through at 8:34. The Red was outshot by St. Lawrence 42-18 in the game. On Saturday Cornell came out with an even tougher game than the day before. The two teams held each other scoreless for the first fourteen minutes of the contest. For the second day in a row St. Lawrence scored first, putting the puck in on the power play for the advantage late in the first. In the second, Cornell held strong on defense, keeping all ten of the Saint’s shots out of the net to hold the score at 1-0. With an even greater sense of urgency, the Red came out shooting in the third period. For the first time over the weekend the Red matched St. Lawrence in shots on goal, with ten apiece. Those shots paid off for Cornell. Sophomore Anita Khar got the puck right off a face off and fired it in, unassisted, to tie the game at one all in the middle of the period. Both of the defenses locked down to put the game into overtime, when the Saints got the puck out from behind the Cornell net, caught a rebound off junior goalie Liz Connelly’s pad and netted the game winner. The Saints will play in the ECAC North semifinals next weekend in Dartmouth. The series defeat sends Cornell home for the season. It marks the end of a remarkable late-season turn-around for the Red. After starting out 2-9-1 in November and December, Cornell earned a 9-8-1 record after December. The Red finished off the regular season in style, with a four game winning streak. Without exhibition games, the team’s final record stands at 9-18-1 overall. The Red achieved a 7-8-1 conference record. Archived article by Matt James
M. Lax Romps UMBC

By wpengine March 11, 2002

After starting the season in rather disappointing fashion, men’s lacrosse head coach Jeff Tambroni talked about discovering the stride that would allow his team to play the “Cornell way.” For a program that prides itself on its stingy defense and gritty tenacious style, a season that started with an embarrassing 8-5 setback at Georgetown and a narrow 10-9 victory over mediocre Colgate was far from what it had expected. So, naturally Saturday’s home opener against Maryland-Baltimore County provided an opportunity for redemption. Consider step one of Cornell’s rejuvenation complete. “I thought today was the first game we played like a team,” Tambroni said following the Red’s 16-4 dismantling of its visitors. Prior to the game, the laxers huddled around the number of legendary Cornell player Eamon McEneaney ’77, who lost his life in the attack on the World Trade Center buildings. “We talked about being a more committed player and teammate. It’s about the passion that No. 10 brought to Cornell lacrosse,” Tambroni offered. That passion was palpable all afternoon on Schoellkopf Field as the Red put on a clinic at both ends of the ball. Sophomore middie Andrew Collins single-handedly outscored the Retrievers, pacing the Red with seven points on four goals. Eight others joined the scoring party for Cornell, who took a 6-2 lead into the intermission. The Red outshoot UMBC 46-21 on the day. “Everyone got a touch,” Collins said. “Everyone got a chance to play. We moved the ball around well. The chemistry was really there.” “One of the things that we talked about because of the loss of three attackers was that we had to share the ball and have different people step up,” Tambroni affirmed. “It was a collective effort offensively.” Throughout the preseason, the team preached its new look attack that was smaller and craftier in the wake of the loss of three seniors to graduation. It was touted as a strategy that would enable Cornell to operate more fluently from behind the net and it worked to perfection Saturday. Just under three minutes into the game, Collins set up behind the cage and found emerging sophomore Ian Rosenberger who fired it past UMBC netminder Tim Flannigan. The Red tallied three more scores in a span of as many minutes in the middle of the opening period to stake itself to a 4-0 lead. Two came off the stick of freshman stud Sean Greenhalgh. By any measure, Cornell dominated the game. Most notably, the Red returned to its usual form, picking up 49 ground balls compared to the Retrievers 22. “If your team is picking up ground balls, you know your getting an effort out of your guys,” Tambroni praised. The home side also received another strong effort from senior faceoff specialist Addison Sollog who won 15 of 23 draws. Cornell used this advantage to strangle its opponents in terms of the time of possession battle. “It’s good to see Addison getting back on track,” Tambroni said. “He’s the one guy who has been the most focused the last few weeks. When he has a good performance we are disappointed and when he has a great performance we expect it.” The second period was the most contested as the teams each scored twice. UMBC cut the Cornell lead to 5-2 when Josh Gerber set up Adam Shiley at the 7:45 mark of the middle period. The Retrievers picked up both of their goals in transition, but despite moments of mounting pressure on Red netminder Justin Cynar, the Cornell close defense foiled any attempt to establish a legitimate offensive threat. “Our defense was talking and that was something we’ve been working on in practice,” sophomore defender Tim DeBlois said. “We were all on the same page. It was clicking out there.” The defense also chimed in on the offensive end, with senior standout All-American Ryan McClay joining in the offensive zone for two of the Red’s scores. Junior defenseman Frank Sands netted Cornell’s final score at the 9:54 mark of the fourth quarter. After Joey Kesterman’s unassisted goal in the final moments of the third period, it was all Cornell, as the Red reeled off six goals in the closing 15 minutes. Two came courtesy of freshman Justin Redd, including a blistering point blank shot from 15-yards out. “The freshman class is really stepping up for us. They’re coming out and playing confident,” Collins said. Added Tambroni: “They’ve really given us a boost early in the year, at a time when I think a lot of people expected us to have some growing pains because of graduation.” On a down note, Greenhalgh suffered a minor concussion early in the game. Tambroni termed his status as “very questionable” for Tuesday’s game against Canisius. Saturday’s contest gave Tambroni a chance to showcase his squad’s depth, as 30 members of the team saw action including freshman backup goalie Kyle Miller who recorded one save through 3:11 of playing time. Cynar who was largely untested notched seven saves. The win appeared to lend a dose of confidence to a Cornell squad that has just two more games before it opens its Ivy League schedule against Yale on Mar. 23. Said DeBlois: “All week in practice our seniors and captains have realized the sense of urgency. I think we had a little bit of a lull [in the first two games], but now we are back in stride.” Archived article by Gary Schueller