M. Hockey Still No. 2

By wpengine | March 4, 2003

The past weekend brought mixed success for the top 15 teams in the USCHO.com Division I men’s hockey poll released yesterday. All but three teams experienced at least one loss or tie, which had little subsequent effect on the rankings.

Cornell was one of the three teams to go undefeated, picking up road wins over Princeton and Yale to wrap up the regular season. The Red remained No. 2 in the poll, receiving a season-high 17 first place votes.

Colorado College remained in the top spot despite splitting a weekend set with WCHA rival No. 9 Minnesota State — Mankato. The split enabled the Mavericks to move up one spot to No. 10.

New Hampshire moved up to No. 3 after a win and a tie against Colorado College. Despite splitting a weekend series with conference rival Boston University, Maine moved up from No. 5 to No. 4.

The only other teams with only wins were No. 5 Ferris State, which swept Nebraska -Omaha, and No. 13 Providence, which won its only game of the weekend Friday night against UMass-Lowell.

Several teams in the bottom half of the poll shuffled positions in the new rankings. Boston University rebounded from last week’s two-spot fall, moving up a spot to No. 10. Meanwhile, North Dakota fell two spots to No. 11 after splitting a pair with Minnesota-Duluth.

Harvard, which finishes the regular season in second place in the ECAC for the second straight season, moved up a position to No. 12 after a tie against Clarkson and a win over St. Lawrence.

Denver fell to places to No. 14 after a tie and a loss at No. 7 Minnesota, while Ohio State rounds out the top 15, falling one spot after a split on the road at Northern Michigan.

Dartmouth received four votes, the only ECAC team besides Cornell and Harvard to appear on any ballots.

The ECAC and Hockey East kick off their conference playoff slate this weekend while the other four conferences will wrap up their regular seasons.

After winning the Cleary Cup with the win over Princeton Friday, Cornell will take the weekend off before hosting the second round of the ECAC playoffs in two weeks.

Archived article by Sun Staff

Men's Lax Battles Back to Defeat Colgate, 8-7

By wpengine March 5, 2003

Playing with an uncharacteristically lackluster attack, the men’s lacrosse team battled back from a four-goal deficit yesterday to win its home opener 8-7 over Colgate. Sophomore Sean Greenhalgh led the way for the Red (1-1), scoring three goals and adding an assist for his first points of the young season. Junior Dave Pittard added two goals and an assist to give him a team-leading five total points on the season, his first at Cornell after transferring from the Naval Academy last year. The Red got off to a slow start as the Raiders scored three times in the opening quarter to race out to an early 3-0 lead. “I felt like we should have come out a little bit more inspired,” said head coach Jeff Tambroni. “We’re playing our first home contest against a good opponent from upstate New York. I felt like it would be a good physical battle from both sides.” Colgate got on the board early, as Scott Herbst, working in front of the Cornell net, passed to teammate Nick Gerken who fired a shot past junior goalie Brandon Ross from the right side two and a half minutes in. Five minutes later, the Raiders got on the board again when Ross allowed a Jason Vasas shot to trickle under his stick and into the net. With just under three minutes remaining, Colgate scored its third goal of the period as Peter Watts scored off of Herbst’s second assist of the game. “It was a frustrating lacrosse game for us,” said Tambroni. “We were doing some good things, but I thought they played [well] within themselves. They played a wonderful system offensively, they played a wonderful system defensively.” The Red saw several good scoring chances go by the wayside in the opening period. Greenhalgh had an open look on net but had his shot saved by Colgate goalie Andrew Jarolimek. Minutes later, sophomore Justin Redd fired a tracer towards the goal, but Jarolimek was able to get his stick in front to make the save. In the quarter’s waning moments the Red failed to convert on another scoring chance as senior Frank Sands fed Greenhalgh to Jarolimek’s left, only to see the 2002 Ivy League Rookie of the Year’s shot trickle wide. “We took shots, but the goalie made great saves,” said Greenhalgh. “Once you make one save, then you make another save and your confidence builds.” “I thought he played an unbelievable game,” added Tambroni. “Every time we got momentum going up and down the field, we made a shot and the goalie was there. It made for a long afternoon.” The Red entered the scoring column about midway through the second quarter as Pittard went top-shelf off a feed from junior Andrew Collins. However, the Raiders responded with two straight Vasas goals to extend their lead to 5-1. Pittard’s second goal of the game, with 1:57 remaining, cut the score to 5-2 going into half-time. Cornell opened the second half with a much more settled offensive effort, which paid off as the Red outscored Colgate for the first time all game. “We didn’t come out with the intensity that we needed to come out with,” said Collins. “In the second half we came out with a little more intensity, a little more emotion, dug in together and played well.” Four minutes into the half, the Red worked the ball around the Colgate goal to break up the Raider defense. Then, Greenhalgh delivered an outlet pass to senior J.P. Schalk, who fired a shot low past Jarolimek for the score. One minute later, Collins found Greenhalgh on the left side, who snuck the ball in on the corner. Watts’ second goal with 30 seconds remaining in the third pushed the Colgate lead back to two. The Raiders would extend their lead again to 7-4 early in the fourth as Chris Devens scored off a feed from Gerken in an extra-man situation. Freshman Joe Boulukos was serving a 30-second pushing penalty when the goal was scored. Again, the Red went to work. At 12:17, Pittard passed over the net to Greenhalgh, who scored a quick-stick goal to cut the lead to two. The lead would be slashed to 7-6 less than a minute later on a goal by Redd. Cornell tied the game on Greenhalgh’s game-high third goal, which came at 8:22 after he gobbled up a rebound and fired the ball home from point-blank range. With two minutes left, Collins picked off a Raider clearing attempt and ran the ball back into the Colgate defensive zone. Running off a screen by Greenhalgh, Collins shot into the right side of the goal for the game-winner. “I saw an opportunity to go to the goal, and I try to make the best of those opportunities,” said Collins. A key to the game for the Red was a markedly improved effort on face-offs. After losing 20 out of 24 face-offs to Georgetown on Saturday, the Red turned to freshman Joe D’Arrigo. The rookie had much better success, winning 17 of 19 face-offs, including all 10 in the second half. “Today was the most dominant face-off performance I’ve ever seen, except maybe for Saturday,” said Tambroni. “It’s just what we needed.” However, there remains room for improvement from the Red’s offensive corps. “I don’t think there’s anybody on the offensive end right now that is playing great lacrosse,” said Tambroni. “If we’re going to compete against Hofstra, Colgate, Georgetown, Canisius, Penn State — straight through the line — our offense really needs to start stepping up as a team.” Cornell grabbed 36 groundballs as compared to Colgate’s 19. The Red will look to make it two straight on Saturday when it visits Hofstra.Archived article by Owen Bochner
Squash Teams Send Members to NISRAs

By wpengine March 5, 2003

The 2002-03 collegiate squash season officially came to a close this past weekend with the Intercollegiate Individual National Squash Tournament. Contested at Trinity University in Hartford, CT, the tourney drew the top men’s and women’s squash players from around the country. Five Cornellians saw action this weekend, all of them underclassmen — sophomores Brooke Stetson and Mike Delany and freshmen Cory Warfield, Ben Bernstein, and Matt Serediak. “We didn’t capture any titles this year, but the Cornell men and women were definitely players to be feared,” said head coach Scott Stoneburgh. “The fact that there were three freshmen and two sophomores [sent by Cornell] gives you an idea of where these teams are heading.” Both Warfield and Stetson were wild-card entries in the Holleran Cup, the women’s “B” draw. Stetson managed a 2-2 record during the tournament, facing a tough draw including the No. 1 players from St. Lawrence University and Smith College. Warfield also had a tough road, losing a close five-game match in the first round to an opponent from Brown. In the consolation bracket, she was able to defeat a player from Franklin & Marshall College, but was defeated in four games by a Penn opponent. “I wasn’t really happy with the way I played,” said Warfield. “I hadn’t played a competitive match in two weeks, so I was rusty.” “Both ladies gained valuable experience against top opponents,” said Stoneburgh. “This will certainly help the Big Red next season.” In the men’s draw, Serediak was ranked No. 8 in the top half (Pool Division) and easily defeated his first round opponent. In the second round, he renewed his season-long rivalry with Rich Repetto of Penn. Although Serediak defeated him last weekend at the National Team Tournament, Repetto got the best of him in this match. “Of course, I’m disappointed with the outcome,” said Serediak. “I beat him last week in five games, but he just didn’t make any errors this time. He took me in three straight games; I was flat.” Bernstein and Delany were entered in the bottom half of the men’s draw, the Malloy Division. A dark horse coming into the tournament, Delany showed his talent with a victory over the No. 3 player from Williams College, but then lost two tight matches — a four game tilt with a tough Princeton opponent and a consolation match against the Stanford No. 1. “More than one coach made the comment to me over the weekend that Mike was the most improved player in the entire league,” he said. Bernstein, the No. 1 ranked player in the bracket, rolled to the semi-finals with easy victories over opponents from Tufts and Denison, as well as a tenacious five game victory over a Princeton foe. Unfortunately for Bernstein, the ferocity of the Princeton match came back to haunt him in the semis against the Hobart No. 1. “I was pretty cooked after that match; my body isn’t used to playing tournaments, where you play several matches on the same day. I just didn’t have anything left,” he said. All Cornell participants viewed the tournament as a success. Both young teams gained an enormous amount of experience this season; good things are expected in the future. “Cornell squash is on the climb,” said Stoneburgh. “Next year is going to be exciting.” Archived article by Per Ostman