ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell dominated at the face-off "X" and once in the offensive zone, CJ Kirst and his teammates made Penn pay. The Big Red avenged its 2022 loss to Penn and improved to 6-1 overall (2-0 Ivy) with an 18-12 win over the 16th-ranked Quakers on Sunday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The win marks the first time any player on the Cornell active roster has beaten Penn, as the team's last victory came in the 2018 season.

The Big Red claimed 24-of-34 wins in the circle to dominate time of possession. Jack Cascadden won 13-of-17 face-offs, Angelo Petrakis took 11-of-15 victories and each assisted on a goals after wins. Both face-off men had six ground ball wins as the Big Red held a 38-29 advantage against the Quakers.

Kirst was all over the place, directing traffic, giving fist-bumps and, when the ball was in his stick, scoring. The junior netted seven goals, smothered an interception on the clear and won two ground balls. Four other players had multi-goal afternoons for the offense, with Billy Coyle tallying six points with his three goals and three assists. Michael Bozzi (two goals) and Hugh Kelleher (one goal, one assist) also were credited with multi-point contests in the win.

All-American midfielder Sam Handley had three goals and an assist to lead the Penn offense with five other Quakers posting multi-point efforts. Brendan Lavelle scooped up six ground balls and caused a turnover in front of Emmet Carroll, who made eighth saves in goal.
 

FIRST QUARTER

• Cascadden's faceoff wins started from the first whistle, where he took the groundball to goal, dished a pass to Bryan Piatelli, and clocked the assist on the Piatelli goal just 10 seconds into the game.
• Penn responded with a 4-0 run across the next five minutes, leading 4-1.
• Kirst got the Big Red back in the scoring column with a Cornell goal at 4:51.
• Bozzi's first career goal came with 41 seconds remaining in the first, bringing the Cornell deficit to one.

SECOND QUARTER

• Kirst completed the hat trick to open the second quarter, scoring both in the first 1:43 of play to pul the Big Red ahead 5-4.
• Aiden Blake added to the lead with 9:18 to go for his first goal on the day, sparking a 4-1 Cornell run.
• Penn closed out the half with two unanswered goals 53 seconds apart to make the halftime score 9-7, Cornell.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Quakers continued their momentum in the second half, knotting the game at nine with 12:35 to go.
• Cornell went on a 5-1 run the rest of the quarter, building its lead to 14-10.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Kirst competed the sock trick with his 33rd goal this season just 39 seconds into the fourth quarter.
• The Quakers scored to maintain the four-point deficit, but Kirst added one final goal six seconds later to match his career-high of seven goals.
• Cornell did not allow Penn back within less than four goals, while scoring two more to win the second home contest this season.

UP NEXT
Cornell stays home next week to play host to Dartmouth on Saturday, April 1. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. Fans at home can tune in on ESPN+.