Lacrosse Looks to Make Noise in First NCAA Tournament Trip; Hawks Take on No. 2 Cornell on Saturday on ESPNU

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ITHACA, N.Y. – The long awaited first NCAA Tournament appearance for the University of Hartford men's lacrosse team has finally arrived as the Hawks travel to Cornell, the second overall seed, for a 7:30 p.m. first round match-up on Saturday, May 14.

Saturday's first round match-up will be televised live on ESPNU with Mike Corey providing the play-by-play and Mark Dixon on the analysis. The winner of the NCAA first round game between Hartford and Cornell will advance to the quarterfinals to meet the winner of the Virginia/Bucknell match-up at Hofstra's James Shuart Stadium on Saturday, May 21 at noon.

Tickets for Saturday…
Tickets are on sale now for Saturday's NCAA Tournament first round game and can be purchased through the Cornell ticket office by visiting www.CornellBigRedTickets.com. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for youth ages 5-12 and Hartford students with valid identification. All children under the age of five receive free admission.

On the Airwaves…
Saturday's NCAA Tournament match-up between Hartford and Cornell will be televised to a nationwide audience live on ESPNU. Live audio will also be provided at www.HartfordHawks.com as part of Hartford's All-Access. Fans can tune-in as Brian Irizarry, the voice of the Hartford Hawks, provides the call through the audio stream. Live video will not be provided through All-Access due to exclusive broadcast rights held by ESPN.

The Series vs. the Big Red…
Saturday's meeting will be the first-ever between the Hartford and Cornell men's lacrosse programs.

Hawks vs. the Ivy League…
Hartford is 1-18 against current members of the Ivy League. The Hawks' earned their first-ever win against an Ivy League opponent came this season when they held off Brown, 8-6, this season on Al-Marzook Field, snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Bears and an 18 game skid against members of the Ivy League.

Leading the Hawks…
Winners in four of its last five, including three-straight, the Hawks look to continue its postseason run when it takes on No. 2 Cornell in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. This season's offense is highlighted by a well-rounded scoring attack that averages 10.38 goals per game this season. Twenty-one players have seen the back of the net in 2011 with seven players notching double digit goal totals. Hartford's attack is led by the junior duo of Carter Bender and Ryan Compitello who have combined for 100 points this season. Bender, who leads the Hawks with 51 points, is also among the America East leaders in scoring ranking third in points (3.19-per-game) and fifth in goals (2.06-per-game). Comptello has dished out 19 assists over the last 11 games to bring his team-leading total to 27. Compitello and sophomore Rory Nunamacher has scored 22 times this season while Aidan Genik, a junior, also checks in with 22. Face-off specialist Tim Fallon has been a force at the X, controlling 227-of-362 duels (62.7 percent) while collecting a league high 158 ground balls. The senior's face-off percentage is currently seventh-best in the nation while he ranks second in ground balls. The Hawks' man-down defense has been impressive thus far as it led the conference, killing penalties at a 71.1 percent clip and allowing its opponents 24 man-up goals in 83 chances. Hartford's defense, which boasts the second best goals-against average in the America East (8.73 goals per game), is anchored by senior Conor Flynn's 37 caused turnovers. Junior Scott Bement has battled back from a preseason injury to see time in the Hawks' last eight games. With a record of 5-2 this season, he owns a goals-against average of 8.88 and a .527 save percentage.

Scouting the Big Red…
The Big Red, who won their first-ever Ivy League tournament title with a 15-6 defeat over #17 Harvard last Saturday, is currently riding a 10-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation along with Denver. The streak is also the longest for Cornell since posting 15-straight in 2007. This season, the Big Red has posted a perfect slate of 7-0 at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell currently ranks second in the nation in scoring offense (13.00) led by the duo of Rob Pannell and David Lau who have combined for 123 points this season. Pannell, the Ivy League Player of the Year, has compiled 82 points on 37 goals and 45 assists this season while Lau has scored 24 times and adds 17 assists. Arguably the nation's top-scorer, the junior ranks in the top 10 of the NCAA in all three offensive categories. He sits in first place overall in points per game (5.47), second overall in assists per game (3.0) and seventh in goals per game (2.5). As well as a powerful offense, the Big Red boasts an impressive defense that allows just 8.11 scores per game by its opponents anchored by AJ Fiore. Fiore posts an 11-2 record coupled with an 8.20 goals-against average and .514 save percentage.

Hawks in the Postseason…
Following an eight-year postseason drought, Hartford made noise in its first appearance since 2003 as it captured its first-ever America East Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament bid. Prior to Hartford's historic wins over UMBC and #13 Stony Brook leading to its tournament championship run this season, the squad was 1-3 in its previous postseason appearances. The Hawks have made three trips to the America East Tournament (2000, 2002, and 2003) with its lone title game appearance coming in the 2003 season. In its first-ever debut in the postseason tournament, Hartford fell in the semifinal round to Delaware, 23-11. Following a one-year absence, the Hawks returned to the postseason in 2002 where they dropped a 7-6 decision to Stony Brook in the first round. After scoring their first conference tournament win with a 6-4 defeat of Vermont in 2003, the Albany Great Danes disrupted Hartford's hopes of reaching its first-ever NCAA Tournament when they defeated the Hawks, 7-5.

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