« Lacrosse 2010

Ryan Hurley

School
Cornell University
Position
Attack
Major
Interdisciplinary Studies
G
25
A
4
PTS
29
GB
11
SV%
-
GAA
-

Classroom

Hurley has learned to balance the stress of an earning an Ivy League education with the rigors of being one of the best men’s lacrosse players in the nation, as he earns a bachelors of arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Character

Hurley is a young man of great character who leads his team through his words and example. A co-captain of the fifth-ranked 2010 Cornell men’s lacrosse team, Hurley was also awarded the team’s “Hard Hat” for the 2009 season. The Hard Hat is given to a player that the coaching staff feels demonstrates a blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse; he is driven and selfless, not always the most talented player on the field, but consistently the hardest worker. He puts the team first, and embodies how the coaches want Cornell players to act and respond on or off the field. Hurley is also a member of the prestigious Quill and Dagger Senior Honor Society, which selects seniors based on their leadership, service, and character.

Community

Hurley is involved in many community service projects that are associated with the Cornell men’s lacrosse team. In addition to helping build a playground for nearby Cayuga Elementary School this fall, he is an active participant in the Save The Day program and the 21 Run. He is also leading the Big Red Readers this year and is involved in many service projects through the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. For the past three years, Hurley has been involved with the Save the Day program. The program is a joint effort between the Cornell men’s lacrosse team and the Dream Factory of Central, N.Y., to raise money to grant the wishes of chronically and critically ill children. What began in 2004 as a simple fundraising campaign in which members of the Big Red solicited contributions from the community for every save made by a Cornell goalie, has evolved into a year-round service project which includes running a blood drive for the American Red Cross, as well as the Save the Day 3 vs. 3 Youth Lacrosse Tournament. Over the past three years, Hurley has been active in raising money, while helping to organize and run both the annual blood drive as well as the 3 vs. 3 tournament. Hurley has been active in the planning the past three 21 Runs and this year he will serve as the sponsorship committee chair. The event, which honors the late Mario St. George Boiardi, who wore the No. 21 as captain of the Cornell men’s lacrosse team, raises money each year for the Family Reading Partnership of Ithaca as it works towards its mission to promote children’s literacy in the Ithaca community. Last year’s race had more than 300 runners and raised over $8,000. An active member of the Big Red Readers over the past three years, Hurley has taken on a leadership role as a senior, as he will organize the program this year. The Big Red Readers is a program which promotes literacy by bringing Cornell athletes into one of the local elementary schools to read to the students for an hour each week during the school year.  Finally, as a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, Hurley takes part in numerous community service projects, including the fraternity’s largest fundraiser – Daffodil Days, a program that raises a significant amount of money for the American Cancer Society.

Competition

A three-year letter-winner and a three-year starter, Hurley has been a part of three Ivy League championships teams, while helping the Big Red to three straight trips to the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the 2007 Final Four, as well as an appearance in the 2009 national championship game. He is a two time All-American and a two-time All-Ivy selection. As a junior, he led the Cornell offense with 45 goals, becoming just the fifth player in Cornell history to register 40 goals in back-to-back seasons. He also chipped in 10 assists for 55 points on the season. He has registered at least one point in his last 32 games and enters the 2010 season with the longest point-scoring streak on the team and the third longest streak in the nation. He finished the year ranked third in the Ivy League and ninth in the country in goals per game (2.59) and third in the conference and 20th in the country in points per game (3.18 ppg). Hurley has also picked up 47 ground balls on the season. Hurley registered his 100th career point with two goals and one assist vs. Syracuse on April 7. As a sophomore, Hurley became just the 11th individual in Cornell history to score more than 40 goals in a single season, finishing with 46. Likewise, his 60 total points on the season were the most by a Cornell sophomore since Eamon McEneaney tallied 96 points in 1975. In just his first year as a starter, Hurley proved to be an offensive power, ranking first in the Ivy League and fourth in the nation with 3.07 goals per game, while ranking first in the league and sixth in the country with 4.00 points per game. Hurley scored at least one goal in all 15 games, posting multi-goal games 13 times. He registered a career-high six goals vs. Denver and a career-best nine points with five goals and four assists against Dartmouth. Hurley tallied two game-winning goals, including a score vs. Yale with one second remaining in overtime to give the Big Red the 8-7 victory.