| Wide: | yes |
| Cornell–Hobart lacrosse rivalry | |
| Team2: | Hobart Statesmen |
| Team2logo: | Hobart seal.jpg |
| Team1: | Cornell Big Red |
| Team1logo: | Cornell "C" logo.svg |
| Firstmeeting: | May 5, 1898 Hobart 2, Cornell 1[1] |
| Mostrecent: | February 27, 2024 Cornell 23, Hobart 7 |
| Total: | 139 |
| Series: | Cornell: 90–46–4[2] |
| Largestvictory: | Cornell, 20 - 2 (1968) |
| Longeststreak: | Cornell, 12 (2004 - 2016) |
| Currentstreak: | Cornell, 5 (2018 - present) |
The Cornell–Hobart rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between the Cornell Big Red, which represent Cornell University, and the Hobart Statesmen, which represent Hobart College.[3] [4] It is one of the oldest rivalries in college lacrosse; the inaugural game in the series was played on May 5, 1898, with Hobart prevailing by a score of 2–1.[3] [1] As of 2024, Cornell leads the series 90–46–4.[4] The game is the oldest ongoing college lacrosse series. The Johns Hopkins–Maryland lacrosse rivalry began in 1895, but the teams only played 7 times before 1924.[5]
In 1995, Hobart promoted its team from Division III to Division I to preserve the lacrosse rivalry with Cornell and a similar one with the Syracuse Orange. In 2008, the continuation of the series was put in jeopardy when the Hobart Board of Trustees decided to reclassify its lacrosse program back to the Division III level on April 26. After an emotional reaction from the alumni community, however, the decision was reversed on May 1. The following day, Cornell played the first night game at Hobart's Boswell Field, in which the #8 Big Red beat the Statesmen by a score of 15 to 7.[6]
Like Cornell, Hobart has never awarded athletic scholarships, and could not after the men's lacrosse program moved to Division I in 1995 due to NCAA policy. Unlike Johns Hopkins, which was grandfathered, Statesmen lacrosse is one of only five Division III programs to compete in Division I without athletic scholarships.
The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.
| Team | Cornell Big Red | Hobart Statesmen | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-NCAA National Titles | 5 | 1 | |||
| NCAA National Titles | 3< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 15*< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| NCAA Final Four Appearances | 13< | --As of the 2019-20 season--> | 20*< | --As of the 2019-20 season--> | |
| NCAA Tournament Appearances | 28< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 26*< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| NCAA Tournament Record | 33–25< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 55–11*< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| Conference Tournament Titles | 2< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 1< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| Conference Championships | 29< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 3< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| Tewaarton Award Recipients | 2< | --As of the 2019 season--> | 0< | --As of the 2019 season--> | |
| Lt. Raymond Enners Award Recipients | 6< | --As of the 2019 season--> | 0< | --As of the 2019 season--> | |
| Consensus First Team All-Americans | 55< | --As of the 2019 season--> | 13< | --As of the 2019 season--> | |
| All-time Program Record | 773–485–27< | --As of the 2020 season--> | 788–512–20< | --As of the 2020 season--> | |
| All-time Winning Percentage | < | --As of the 2020 season--> | < | --As of the 2020 season--> |