GENEVA, N.Y. -- Cornell men's lacrosse improves to 3-0 with a 17-8 win over the Hobart Statesmen on Tuesday, February 28, at Boswell Field. The win marks the 89th all-time for the Big Red in the 125-year-old series. 

Cornell had seven multi-point scorers in the contest, who were led by CJ Kirst. Kirst scored seven goals and added four assists to notch 11 points. Aiden Blake and Brian Piatelli each had three points on two goals and an assist. JJ Lombardi had the inverse with a goal and two assists. Billy Coyle and Andrew Dalton combined for four goals, and Spencer Wirtheim rounded out the multi=pointers with two assists.

Hobart was led by John Jude Considine, who scored a hat trick. The Statesmen had seven other players tally one point.

Hobart was first on the score sheet, but Kirst had the answer less than two minutes later with a goal off a JJ Lombardi assist at 10:08 on the first quarter. The Big Red scored four more unanswered to close out the first quarter 5-1. Cornell carried the momentum into the second quarter, opening on a 3-0 run across the first 3:50 of the quarter, but Hobart went on to go on a 4-1 run to close out the first half, shortening the Big Red lead to 9-5. It was all Cornell in the second half, with the Big Red allowing just three goals while scoring eight, six of which cam in the third quarter.

OF NOTE

• CJ Kirst tallied his second and third natural hat tricks of the season.
• Kirst was one point shy of tying the record for most points in a game by a junior, and one goal shy of the most single-game goals by a junior.
• Kirst's seven goals is the most by a Big Red player since 5/15/2022 when Cornell beat #12 Ohio State. Kirst also had seven in that outing.
• The 11 points from Kirst are the most by a Cornellian since Jeff Teat had 12 vs. Brown in the 2018 season.
• Chayse Ierlan made 16 saves, the most since his 15 against #5 Rutgers in the National Semifinal.

UP NEXT
Cornell returns to action this Saturday, March 4, against #8/#9 Ohio State at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network+ for fans at home.