PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Cornell men's lacrosse team got off to a great start, weathered a second half storm and clinched a share of its 30th Ivy League title and a spot in the conference tournament with a 18-15 victory over No. 5 Princeton on Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium. The Big Red improved to 11-3 (4-2 Ivy), while the Tigers slipped to 9-4 (3-3 Ivy).

After a week that saw the Big Red mourn the loss of the legendary Richie Moran, Cornell came out with a sense of urgency. The Big Red dominated the first 30 minutes of play in taking a 12-5 lead, held strong when the resurgent Tigers cut the deficit to one on two occasions and finished out on top in front of a mixed crowd of more than 2,000 at a packed Class of 1952 Stadium. 

The victory will put Cornell up against Yale in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday, May 6 at 6 p.m. at Brown in a game that will be televised by ESPNU. The other semifinal will pit Brown against Penn at 8 p.m.

Senior defender Gavin Adler continued to make his case for first-team All-America honors, causing five turnovers and winning eight ground balls for the Big Red defense. Michael Long scored three goals and added four assists for seven points, while John Piatelli scored five as part of a six-point game that saw him net his 50th tally of the year. CJ Kirst (four goals) and Billy Coyle (three goals) combined for seven goals. Angelo Petrakis held his own at the face-off circle, winning 18-of-35 with 13 ground balls, and Chayse Ierlan made 10 saves - including six in the decisive fourth quarter.

Cornell held a 52-43 edge in shots, including 32-11 in the first half, and had 48 ground balls to 38 for the Tigers. The Big Red scored on 2-of-3 extra-man opportunities and was only whistled for one penalty, holding the home team off the scoreboard.

Sam English and Coulter Mackesy each had five goals and an assist to lead the Princeton offense, while Tyler Sandoval won 17-of-32 face-offs with 10 ground ball wins, a caused turnover and an assist. Erik Peters made 12 saves between the pipes for the Bulldogs.

In a high-scoring first quarter, the two teams combined for six goals in less than seven minutes before the Big Red was able to take control. Four straight Big Red goals, extended out to runs of 6-1 and 10-2, turned a nip-and-tuck contest into a near runaway. 

Cornell led Princeton 8-4 at the end of 15 minutes and 12-5 at the break, going up as may as 13-5 less than a minute into the second half on Billy Coyle's extra-man goal.

The turnaround began innocently enough when Alexander Vardaro found the back of the net with 12:41 to play, the first of four consecutive Tiger goals in the span of 3:19. CJ Kirst scored an amazing goal on the man-up to end the run, beating a double team around the crease and firing a tough angle shot past Peters to push the visitors' lead back to five (14-9).

After Kirst stopped the bleeding with 6:48 left in the third, the Tigers regained the edge with Vardaro's second goal just 44 seconds later. Then, seven seconds after that, Jake Stevens cut the Big Red to 14-11.

Princeton eventually cut the deficit to 14-13 with 74 seconds remaining in the third. Spencer Wirtheim's goal with 21 seconds left in the quarter allowed Cornell to go into the final 15 minutes protecting a two-goal lead.

Princeton again got within a goal with 12:23 to play, this time on an Alex Slusher score, but Ierlan became the hero over the final 12 minutes.

The senior stopped five shots from there on out and six total in the fourth, keeping Cornell's lead with two saves, then making two more after the Big Red grew its lead to two. John Piatelli's 50th goal of the year with just under nine minutes remaining and Michael Long's scored a minute later put Cornell back in the driver's seat. The Tigers would claw back within two, but Ierlan's two stops kept it there and Piatelli scored on an open net with 39 seconds remaining to close it out after a great individual play by Michael Long to get him the ball. Princeton won five face-offs in the fourth quarter, but Petrakis won the sixth to help the visitors run out the clock.