ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore Ryan Hurley tucked a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net on a rush from the corner of the field with one second remaining in overtime to give the No. 6/7 Cornell University men's lacrosse team a dramatic 8-7 victory over Yale on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell improved to 5-1 (1-0 Ivy), while the Bulldogs lost despite a spirited effort defensively to slip to 1-4 (0-2 Ivy).

Hurley's goal capped an exciting game that was played evenly throughout, with the Big Red needing to rally to knock off the upstart Bulldogs. After a restart, Hurley dodged to his left, spun back to his right and double clutched before beating goalkeeper George Carafides a second before the clock expired. The loss ruined a fantastic effort from the Bulldog goalkeeper, who made 13 saves to keep Yale in the contest.

Hurley posted two goals and an assist, while John Espey added a goal and two assists. Max Seibald scored twice, including the game-tying goal with 5:31 left in regulation. He added 6-of-10 wins in the face-off circle after Yale dominated early, and added a team-best six ground balls. Jake Myers had a strong day in goal, making 10 saves to earn the win.

The Bulldogs got two goals and two assists from Tyler Casertano, while Gregory DuBoff won 12-of-18 face-offs. Six different players combined for the Bulldogs' seven goals in a balanced offensive effort.

Cornell seemed to be putting the game away early, jumping out to a 4-2 lead in the first 8:47 as Hurley, Rocco Romero, Seibald and Christopher Ritchie all scored. When Yale got two back on the board in the span of 23 seconds, the Big Red answered with a goal by John Glynn. The shot was wiped away on a stick check, and the midfielder was stuck with a three-minute unreleasable penalty. The Bulldogs cashed in once, as Matt Fuchs scored with 32 seconds left in the first period. The two-goal swing gave Yale the momentum, as the run grew to 6-0 by the break. A pair of Casertano scores and another by Chris Lindsey gave the visitors a 6-4 edge going into halftime.

The Big Red defense solved Yale in the second half, however, limiting the Bulldogs to one goal and 15 shots in the final 33:59 while scoring four times. Cornell tied the game in the third quarter when Espey fed Chris Finn for a score four minutes into the half, then took one himself to knot the game at 6-6. Yale took the advantage back on Kyle Washabaugh's goal with 1:12 left in the period and held it for 10:41 of game action until Seibald's rocket caused another deadlock at 7-7 with 5:31 left in regulation. That set up Cornell's late heroics, as Myers made one save in the extra session and the home team got four good shots off before Hurley's goal.

Cornell returns to action on Tuesday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m. when it meets Binghamton in a non-conference matchup at Schoellkopf Field.

* * * *

George Carafides stopped 13 of 21 shots on goal and nearly helped the Yale men's lacrosse team engineer a major Ivy League and national upset. Ryan Hurley's goal with one second left in overtime gave No. 6 Cornell an 8-7 win at Ithaca.

Hurley, who had two goals and an assist, carried in from the corner, dodged one way and went the other before firing the ball into the upper right corner of the net to improve Cornell's record to 5-1 (1-0 Ivy).

The Big Red had five of the six shots in OT and survived the scare from the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2), looking for their first win in the series since 1999.

Carafides, Yale's senior goalie, was facing a Big Red squad that had outscored the Elis 76 to 34 over the previous five meetings and was coming off a 20-goal performance against No. 20 Denver on Tuesday. He made two saves in the OT after making five in the second half.

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2008-03-22