By March 4, 2005
Despite sub-freezing temperatures in Ithaca, the time has come to clear the snow off Schoellkopf Field as the No. 9 Cornell lacrosse team faces No. 10 Notre Dame (1-0) tomorrow at 1 p.m. After three exhibitions, including a contest with perennial powerhouse Johns Hopkins, the Red is itching to finally play for keeps. “The first game is always exciting, but to have the season opener also be the home opener against a ranked opponent makes it even more exciting,” said senior co-captain Kyle Georgalas. “Everyone is getting very excited to get out there.” Waiting for the Red at Schoellkopf will be the Fighting Irish, a team led by a defensive unit that held No. 21 Penn State scoreless in the last 25:17 of a 14-6 victory last Sunday. The defensive effort was anchored by goaltender Stewart Crosland, who stopped 17 shots, and preseason third-team All-America selection D.J. Driscoll, who led the team with six ground balls. On the offensive end, three Notre Dame attackers recorded hat tricks — Matt Karweck, who also recorded an assist, Jim Morrison, and Pat Walsh, who leads the team with six points. With his first point — an assist to Karweck with just 17 seconds remaining in the first half — Walsh became the second fastest player in Irish history to reach 100 career points. But, despite a solid all-around performance by Notre Dame, the Red remains focused on what it needs to do to earn a win. “All we worry about is what we control,” Georgalas said. One thing the Red could not control is the graduation of last year’s leading scorer, Andrew Collins ’04. Looking to take his place will be four players that all scored at least 29 points a season ago — junior Joe Boulukos, and seniors Kevin Nee, Justin Redd, and co-captain Sean Greenhalgh. Despite not starting a single game last season, Boulukos and Redd made their presences felt, finishing third on the team in goals scored and second in assists, respectively. Both Nee and Greenhalgh started all 14 games the Red played last season, leading the team to a 9-5 record, incuding six wins in eight games at Schoellkopf. Nee was second on the team in goals (26) and second in shooting percentage (.426), while Greenhalgh led the Red in goals scored from his attacker position, with 28. Defensively, the Red is backstopped by its two returning senior starters — Georgalas and Casey Stevenson. Georgalas, an honorable mention All-Ivy selection last season, notched 27 ground balls during the 2004 campaign while Stevenson tallied 18. In goal, the Red will depend on sophomore Matt McMonagle to record key saves throughout the season. Last season, the netminder made nine starts and had 11 appearances, recording an 8-3 record and posting a .580 save percentage. The Red has all the components in place, but according to Georgalas, the team will have to gel on the field to be successful. “The key for us — which will be consistent over the course of the year — will just be to play together,” he said.Archived article by Chris MascaroSun Assistant Sports Editor
By March 4, 2005
As a red digital clock above the wrestling team’s locker room counts down to the NCAA tournament, No. 13 Cornell (12-4) will take a crucial step forward this weekend when it travels to Annapolis, Md. to partake in the EIWA championships. The EIWAs — a tournament consisting of 13 teams — serve as the qualifying tournament for Nationals, as the top three finishers in each weight class and 12 other wild card wrestlers will have their opportunity to punch their ticket to St. Louis in two weeks. “We’re definitely ready to go,” said No. 9 senior Joe Mazzurco (174 pounds). “We got tortured [in practice] last week so we’re pretty much in the best physical shape possible right now. I think we’re all peaking at about the right time.” There are six wrestlers — including three-time EIWA champ senior No. 2 Travis Lee (133) — who have been to the EIWAs before, but four are making their first trip. While veterans like senior No. 8 Tyler Baier (184) emphasize that the team cannot get caught up in distractions, head coach Rob Koll expects his less seasoned guys to be ready. “People make too much about the kids being freshmen or sophomores in this sport,” Koll said. “These kids have wrestled at least 10, some as many as 15, 17 years … These are wily veterans even though their class in college might not indicate that.” The Red’s largest challenge this year will come from No. 5 Lehigh. Although Cornell is currently rated as the top-seed in the EIWAs, Lehigh — which has won the EIWAs for the past three years — defeated the Red in January, 20-12. Led by No. 1 Troy Letters (165), Lehigh’s lineup is stacked with nationally ranked wrestlers. However, Koll is not worried, noting the depth of his Cornell squad. The Red has wrestlers who are seeded within the top six of the pre-tournament EIWA rankings in nine out of ten weight classes, including six in the top three. In addition, while the team has not won the EIWAs since 1993, Koll’s ultimate goal is to have wrestlers qualify for St. Louis. “I would rather send 10 guys to nationals and lose Easterns then send eight or nine guys to nationals and win Easterns,” Koll said. “To me, it’s something that whenever we compete, we want to win regardless of the tournament. But it’s not the end of the world. Obviously, our goal is ultimately to have national champions, All-Americans, and place as high as we could possibly place at nationals.” Cornell hopes to send a representative to nationals from each weight class. Last year, the Red sent eight wrestlers. However, expectations are running so high at Friedman that sophomore No. 9 Jerry Rinaldi (197) said that the team is, “confident to the point that we’re expecting it.” Although the Red is also stacked with a number of nationally ranked wrestlers, it will be the newcomers — freshman Jordan Leen (141), sophomore Joey Hooker (165), junior John Cholish (157) and senior Tyler Shovlin (HWT) — who will be instrumental in the team’s results this weekend. “We got to count on everybody and if we’re going to win this tournament, it’s going to be those guys who win it for us,” Baier said. While qualifying for and possibly competing at the national tournament is the culmination of a most wrestlers’ careers, Shovlin in particular took a difficult road to get to the EIWAs. Coming to Cornell as a 174-pounder and having undergone knee surgeries, Shovlin faced a variety of injury setbacks and was a reserve for most of his career. This season, he moved into the starting heavyweight spot. Shovlin then won his spot by defeating close friend and senior teammate, Matt Bogumil, for the starting position. Shovlin, who said that Bogumil has been a “tremendous help” in many aspects and even wrote him a scouting sheet for potential opponents, is eager to go to Annapolis. “I’m really excited just to go down there, finish out my senior season in the right way and just go out there and do my best,” Shovlin said. “We’ve been training for now, for all of our lives for this sport.” Tournament notes: Lee and Matt Greenberg ’04 captured EIWA titles last year … Cornell placed third behind Lehigh and Penn at the EIWAs last year … The Red won eight consecutive dual meets to end the regular season … Cornell has sent eight wrestlers to Nationals for two years in a row. Archived article by Brian TsaoSun Senior Editor