Six games into the season, there is a plethora of stats that you can reel off that shows how well Cornell has played this year.
The Big Red (6-1, 1-0 Ivy) began the week leading the NCAA with 15.17 goals per game. They lead the Ivy League in goals, shots and ground balls per game.
And all of this has added up to Cornell entering its matchup with the Quakers as the No. 2 team in Division I while tied with Brown and Penn atop the Ancient Eight.
But don’t start thinking the No. 9 Quakers (5-1, 1-0 Ivy) are fazed by Cornell’s strong start to the season.
“All Ivy teams are going to be tough this year,” midfield Drew Belinsky said. “A ranking in the middle of March doesn’t really mean anything.
“The only ranking that matters is the one that comes out after Memorial Day — after the national championship.”
The Quakers have made waves in the national rankings this season, despite the team refusing to put much stock in the very same measurement.
After beginning the year unranked, the Red and Blue have reeled off three wins over ranked opponents, including a hard-fought 11-10 victory over then-No. 7 Princeton last weekend.
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“When you look at the recent and not so recent history of the league, Princeton and Cornell have been the class of the Ivy League for at least 20 years,” coach Mike Murphy said.
“So [starting Ivy play against those two teams] is significant, but I don’t think these two games are bigger than the next four [games] in conference play.”
Historically, the Big Red have been consistently successful against Penn, winning each of their last six meetings with the Red and Blue and taking 13 of their last 15 matchups.
But the Quakers have already demonstrated how this version of Penn lacrosse is different from last season, winning three games by two goals or fewer after losing four one-goal games in 2012.
“I think we are a more mentally tough team this year,” Belinsky said. “We have done a whole lot of situation practices this year and I get the feeling that we just want it more at the end of games than we did last year.”
The Red and Blue have already faced some strong offensive teams similar to Cornell this season, including the season-opening victory over Duke.
One of the keys to that game for Penn was a quick 5-2 lead that left the Blue Devils playing from behind, a fast start that the Quakers would like to replicate Saturday.
“We are just going to play our game and it’s going to start with the faceoffs,” Belinsky said. “Danny Feeney and Joe McCallion have done a great job for us this year and they just have to keep it up.”
The faceoff circle will be a key to the game, as Cornell turned in a paltry 5-for-21 performance on faceoffs in its only loss this year.
Additionally, winning faceoffs would keep the ball in possession of Penn’s Tim Schwalje-led attack and out of the hands of Cornell’s offense, led by senior Rob Pannell.
“Every offense has a slightly different strength but a lot of times it comes down to us just applying our fundamentals,” Murphy said. “I think this game will be like that and will just have to do what we normally do on defense.”
SEE ALSO
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