NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After a closely contested first half, the No. 3/4 Cornell University men's lacrosse team used a prolonged 10-1 scoring run over the third and fourth quarters to pull away for the 15-8 victory over Yale this afternoon in New Haven.
In goal,
Kyle Harer made 10 saves and allowed just six goals in 52:48, before giving way to
Jake Myers, who allowed two man-up goals.
Cornel l (5-1, 1-0 Ivy) held the edge in shots (53-33), ground balls (47-31) and face-offs (18-of-27). The Big Red also forced 23 Yale turnovers as an oppressive Cornell ride allowed the Bulldogs to clear the ball successfully just 14-of-26 times.
Yale (3-3, 1-1 Ivy) was led by Matt and Brendan Gibson with two goals apiece, while Brian Douglas registered a goal and an assist for two points. In net, Jonathan Falcone made 14 saves and allowed 15 goals in 58:15, before Andrew Brown came on in relief and did not face a shot.
The Big Red opened the game with back-to-back goals by Romero to take an early 2-0 lead at the 8:31 mark. His first goal was the product of being in the right place at the right time as a loose ball in front of the crease pulled Falcone off his line. Romero beat the Yale goalie to the ball and then beat Falcone up high to make it a 1-0 game. His second goal came off a pass from
Chris Finn, who sent the ball from behind the net to the left side of the crease and Romero converted despite being knocked to the ground.
Cornell made it a 3-0 game when O'Neill scored off a pass from Chris Ritchie, but two straight goals by Yale's Brendan Gibson and Nick Tsouris closed the game to 3-2 at the end of the first period.
Glynn returned the two goal advantage to the Big Red as he fought through two defenders and ripped a shot from 15 yards out to beat Falcone down low, but Douglass would answer with just 52 seconds left in the half to make to a 4-3 game. With time running down the Big Red got one more scoring chance, but Romero hit a pipe and the teams headed into the intermission with Cornell leading 4-3.
A pair of Matt Gibson goals, sandwiched around a tally by Glynn, tied the game at 5-5 with just over 10 minutes to go in the third quarter, but from there the Big Red scored five unanswered goals to take the commanding 10-5 lead with 1:56 remaining in the period. During the run, Cornell got a pair of goals from Hurley, an unassisted goal from Calvert, who scored off a rebound from a Falcone save, and tallies from Seibald and Pannell. Seibald's goal was particularly impressive as he dropped his shoulder and knocked his defender off balance, creating enough separation to get a quality shot on goal.
Yale's Greg Mahoney stopped the run with a goal in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but the Big Red won the ensuing face-off and Pannell scored with just two tics left on the clock, despite having a defender hanging on his arm, to give Cornell the 11-6 lead.
Cornell scored the first three goals of the final period to extend its advantage to 14-6. The first goal of the stanza came as Glynn found Finn streaking towards the cage and hit his teammate in stride. Finn caught the pass and one-timed it into the goal. The next goal came from Pannell, who rolled around from the back to the front of the cage and bounced a shot past Falcone. Pannell then set up Hurley's final goal of the day.
A man-up goal by Michael Karwoski at the 6:20 mark made it a 14-7 game, but Cornell answered right back as Glynn sent a cross-crease pass to McMichael, who ripped a jump-shot into the back of the net.
Yale's final goal came with 15 seconds left in the contest as a Big Red turnover left Brendan Gibson all alone in front of the net and the Bulldog converted easily to account for the 15-8 final.
The Big Red is back in action Saturday, March 28, as it plays host to Penn at Schoellkopf Field at noon.
