ITHACA, N.Y. -- A 4-0 deficit. A 90-minute weather delay. The Cornell men's lacrosse weathered both and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a 15-8 win over Ohio State on Sunday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red, seeded seventh and ranked 10th nationally, improved to 12-4, while the 12th-ranked Buckeyes close their season at 10-6. The Big Red will play the winner of the Georgetown/Delaware game on Sunday, May 22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
Sophomore
CJ Kirst tied a Cornell single-game NCAA record with seven goals and senior
Chayse Ierlan made 13 saves and posted the first score by a Cornell goalkeeper in more than 32 years. Senior
John Piatelli had four goals and an assist and All-America defender
Gavin Adler caused three turnovers and won five ground balls in his second matchup of the season with Ohio State's All-America attackman Jack Myers. The Buckeye was held to two goals and an assist after entering the contest posted 5.3 points per contest.
Angelo Petrakis did yeoman's work against Ohio State's Justin Inacio, winning 10-of-23 face-offs and nearly neutralizing the All-America specialist at the x. The Big Red held advantages in shots (43-32) and ground balls (33-23), assisted on 10 of its 15 goals and had eight players register at least one point.
Myers had two goals and an assist to lead the Buckeyes , with Colby Smith scoring two goals. Inacio won 15-of-25 face-offs with 12 ground balls, while Skylar Wahlund had 14 saves - all coming in the first three quarters.
Gallery: (5-15-2022) Men's Lacrosse vs Ohio State, 05.15.22
Kirst nearly outscored the Buckeyes by himself (Kirst and Ohio State were tied 7-7 entering the final minute of the game) and was the scoring engine that started the Big Red back from a 4-0 deficit after the first quarter. Coupled with an excellent period from Petrakis, who won 5-of-6 face-offs in the second, the duo willed the Big Red back into the contest.
After beginning nearly 20 minutes late due to lightning, Ohio State and the Big Red played pretty evenly in the first quarter, which seemed incongruous with the buckeyes' 4-0 lead after 15 minutes. The difference came at the face-off X, with the Buckeyes winning all five starts to hold a narrow 9-8 advantage in shots. Smith tallied twice and Wahlund stopped all three Big Red shots that got to him.
Cornell opened the second quarter on fire, winning the first two face-offs and making the Buckeyes pay with Kirst on the scoring end of both shots. Seconds after his second goal, storms hit the area, causing an 89-minute lightning delay just four minutes into the quarter.
While Ohio State scored the next goal to go up 5-2, the Big Red took control soon after.
Michael Long and
Hugh Kelleher both tallied to send the Big Red into the break trailing by just one (5-4) after a quarter dominating by the Big Red. Cornell held a 13-3 edge in shots, 11-4 on ground balls and won 5-for-6 face-offs in that 15-minut segment while forcing a pair of turnovers on clears.
The second half was all Cornell.
Kirst tied the game 55 seconds into the second half on a feed from Piatelli, then the senior did the work on
Spencer Wirtheim's second assist of the afternoon. Kirst and Piatelli then went back-to-back again and Cornell led 8-5 less than six minutes into the second half. Ohio State brought the lead back to two 45 seconds later, but that only triggered a 3-0 run that extended out to 7-1 to more than double up the visitors with under three minutes remaining. The Buckeyes rounded out the scoring in the final minute on a goal by Jack Myers as both teams emptied their benches.
The highlight of the second half may have come after Ierlan made a save on a Colby Smith shot, losing the ball in his clothing. He raked the ball back to himself and started the clear, but found himself without an outlet, and decided to throw it full field against the 10-man ride. The jump ball/shot was redirected after hitting a leaping Buckeye goalie and went into the cage, giving Ierlan the first Big Red goalkeeper score since Tim Shea was credited with a score against Dartmouth in a 20-8 win on April 21, 1990. It was the senior's first career point and the first point of any kind by a Big Red goalkeeper since Christian Knight was credited with an assist at Hobart in 2017.
The Big Red has now won 23 consecutive games when holding opponents under 10 goals. Kirst's seven goals tied the school's single-game NCAA Tournament record also held by Mike French against Maryland in 1976 and Steve Mock against the same Buckeyes in 2013.
Cornell will square off with Delaware, a 10-9 winner over second-seeded Georgetown on Sunday night, at 12 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU. The Bllue Hens are coached by former Big Red captain Ben DeLuca, who served as head coach at Cornell from 2011-13 and won two Ivy titles.
