HOME OPENER: MLAX vs. Lehigh

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Cornell chases a 2-0 start after opening the season with a 12-10 victory over UAlbany.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Barry Leonard on the call.
• After its first game, the Big Red rank #3 in the USILA Poll and #4 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, hovering around its 4th place ranking in each in the preseason.
• The series sits at a dead lock at 9-9-3. The Mountain Hawks will battle for the advantage this time, as the Hawks enter the matchup receiving votes in both polls.
• Cornell returns the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in CJ Kirst, who notched 55 goals and 79 points for the Big Red last year. Kirst scored a sock trick in the season opener this year, including a natural hat trick.
• The Big Red boast four preseason All-Americans entering 2023.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Series is tied, 9-9-3
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 3-0
Current Streak: Cornell, six games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 9-5 on February 26, 2023 in Bethlehem, Pa.
Buczek vs. Lehigh: 1-0
Series Notes: 

• Cornell has never lost to the Mountain Hawks fating back to 2006.
• The Big Red hold a +26 score margin all-time over Lehigh (76-50).
• Cornell head coach Connor Buczek’s lone game against the Mountain Hawks was a 9-5 victory at Ulrich Sports Complex, nearly one year ago to the date (Feb. 26, 2022).
  
  A WIN OVER LEHIGH WOULD ... 
  • mark the fourth consecutive year the Big Red opened the season at 2-0.
  • be the first win over an opponent receiving votes in the polls this season. 
  • be the second consecutive season that the Big Red beat Lehigh. Before 2022, Cornell last played Lehigh in 2019.
  • extend its lead in the all-time series against the Mountain Hawks to 10-9-3.
  • mark the ninth-straight Cornell win in the series.
  • be the 790th win in program history (789-491-27 in 126 seasons, .603).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 12, UAlbany 10
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY
• The Big Red offense soared in the second half, leading to a 12-10 victory in the season opener at Bob Ford Field at Tom and Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y. on February 18, 2023. 
• The scoring effort was highlighted by CJ Kirst's sock trick (6 goals). His first three goals came uninterrupted beginning with 24 seconds remaining in the first quarter for the first natural hat trick for the Big Red since John Piatelli's in the NCAA Tournament semi-finals against Rutgers.
• JJ Lombardi scored his first goal in nearly a year in the outing. He missed every game of last season following the March 5th contest vs. #5 Ohio State due to injury.
• Billy Coyle earned the right to the first goal of the 2023 season just 1:12 into the game.
• Jack Pucci led UAlbany with three points off of one goals and two assists.
• Seven other Big Red athletes tallied one point in the game.
• Cornell outscored UAlbany 7-4 in the second half, including a 3-1 third quarter.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, and Darl Zehr.