EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Nothing, not the weather or sixth-seeded Rutgers, could stop the Cornell men's lacrosse team from playing for the 2022 NCAA title.

The Big Red scored, it rode, it waited, then three and a half hours later it scored some more. Seventh-seeded Cornell dominated the Scarlet Knights for nearly five hours and will play in its eighth NCAA title game after a 15-6 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field.

John Piatelli netted five goals, matching Mike French's 46-year-old record for scores in a single season with 65, to lead the Big Red offense, Chayse Ierlan made 15 saves between the pipes and Angelo Petrakis won 13-of-21 face-offs in a win that everyone contributed to. The Big Red attack combined for 12 goals and three assists. All-America defender Gavin Adler made two caused turnovers and won seven ground balls, even chipping in his first career point with an assist. It all went right for a Big Red team that improved to 14-4 on the season and will play unbeaten Maryland, alma mater of the late Big Red coach Richie Moran, in Monday's 1 p.m. title contest.

Michael Long had four goals and CJ Kirst added three, with both assisting on a score. Hugh Kelleher also had a hat trick of his own. Joseph Bartolotto III caused three Rutgers turnovers.

It was a game where the numbers didn't show the dominance of the Big Red. The Scarlet Knights out-shot Cornell (45-37), but had four fewer shots on goal (30-26). It was just a 17-14 face-off disadvantage, but the Big Red seemingly won every restart. Rutgers, which led the nation in clearing percentage, coughed it up five times and allowed two breakaway goals in unsettled situations.

Colin Kirst made 13 saves for Rutgers in a heavily-publicized matchup of All-America brothers, but his younger sibling tallied three times – including the Big Red's go-ahead goal 8:18 into the first quarter. Cornell would never trail the rest of the way.

A 3:37 lightning delay made for what likely was the longest halftime in school history. With an 8-3 lead in its pocket, Cornell didn't mind. It was locked in as soon the it hit the field again.

 
Cornell dominated the middle of the field in the first half to build an 8-3 lead at the intermission. Petrakis won 8-of-12 face-offs and picked up five ground balls, staking the Big Red to a 22-12 advantage off the ground. The defense caused four of Rutgers' eight turnovers, with Adler and Bartolotto responsible for two apiece, and Ierlan stopped seven shots, including five in the first quarter to help Cornell to a 3-1 lead after 15 minutes.  
The Big Red offense, not to be undone, forced Rutgers into two failed clears, both of which resulted in goals by Long, who finished the first quarter with three goals on four shots, two ground balls and one caused turnover.   

Rutgers struck first, but Piatelli took the ball from the wing, slipped past his defender and buried the ball with a bounce shot from just outside the crease to make it 1-1. That ignited a 3-0 Cornell run and the lowest seeded team remaining in the field never trailed after Kirst beat his brother low on a quick dodge to make it 2-1. 

An amazing sequence of saves in front of the goal, culminating with a point-blank stop by Ierlan with  4:39 left in the first quarter, was rewarded when Long wrapped around the net and beat the Rutgers' goalie up high to make it 3-1. 

Colin Kirst made a helmet save on his brother to open the second, the skies opened up, and Rutgers pulled within one with a goal on the doorstep. 

It was 5-2, then 8-3, before Cornell went into the break. No sooner did the Big Red hit the locker room than an announcement was made that lightning was in the area and the field and the strands were cleared. Both teams were briefly brought back on the field to warm up, but were quickly scuttled back to the locker room and the wait continued.

When the game resumed at 4:45 p.m., more than three-and-a-half hours had passed. And after Rutgers scored the first goal of the second half, the Big Red put the game away.

CJ Kirst split a pair of defenders and cashed in to return the five-goal advantage to the Big Red. Kelleher came down the alley with a full-head of steam before bouncing it home to make it 10-4. A turnover by the Scarlet Knights led to a transition goal when Bartolotto hit Piatelli for the tally to push the lead to 11-4.  Piatelli scored just over one minute later when Long found him on the crease for the easy conversion, making it 12-4. Piatelli then buried a shot in an unsettled situation after Gavin Adler handed him the ball cutting over the middle for a natural hat trick. When the dust settled, it was a 6-0 Big Red run and a 10-goal lead.

The lead stayed at near double-digits the rest of the way, though Rutgers took advantage of the Big Red's late subbing to score three times in the final 2:11 to get back within the final margin.