WEST POINT, NY -- Even a delay of game could not stop Cornell, who defeated #6/#7 Army West Point, 11-10, on Saturday, April 15. The Big Red improve to 9-2 on the year, while Army falls to 9-2.

Michael Long led the Big Red attack in just his third game this year. He tallied five points which included a hat trick. Aiden Blake, Billy Coyle, and CJ Kirst each also had multi-point games. Chayse Ierlan ended the day with 12 saves.

Paul Johnson led Army with five points, including four goals. Evan Plunkett, Reese Burek, and Jacob Morin each tallied two points apiece. Ryan Sposito, grandson of Richie Moran, was the first Army scorer.

QUARTER 1

• After a defensive battle to open the contest, Alex Holmes got the first goal of the game 15 yards out off a pass from Long at 9:41.
• Long matched with a goal of his own the goal just eight seconds later on a feed from Coyle.
• While being buried by the Army defense, Long net his second goal of the day outside the crease, scoring before he hit the ground on an assist from JJ Lombardi.
• Army found the back of the net after scooping a loose ball in front of the Cornell goal.

QUARTER 2

• Army opened up the second quarter scoring after running from the X and
• CJ Kirst dished the ball to Kelleher to set him up for goal, making it 4-2 game just 2:28 into the second.
• Army responded with a quick 2-0 run to tie the game with 6:27 to go in the half.
• Aiden Blake got the Big Red back on track on a feed from Long, but Army tied things up with a minute to go.

QUARTER 3

• The Big Red opened the second half on a minute long man-down disadvantage, but a save by Chayse Ierlan helped kill off the penalty to bring back even strength.
• Ryan Sheehan earned the opening goal of the second half less than six minutes into the third on a feed from Coyle.
• Christopher Davis extended the lead back out to two with a solo goal at 7:02, but Army cut the lead back to one before the end of the third.

QUARTER 4

• Rory Graham's first-career goal came on a pass from Aiden Blake, who found him with a look right up the middle.
• Spencer Wirtheim battled through a double-team and net a goal as he was pushed to the ground, building a three-goal lead for the Big Red, but the Black Knights scored to drop the lead back to two.
• A power-outage in the stadium caused a delay with 9:23 remaining. Both teams agreed to continue play without visible clocks, resuming the game.
• Paul Johnson completed the natural hat trick to take the lead for Army, 10-9, at 7:34, but Long had the answer on a feed from Kirst four minutes later.
• The Big Red called timeout with 1:11 remaining, setting up a play in the final possession, on which Coyle found Blake on the back door to give Cornell the lead with nine seconds remaining.

SOME BIG RED NUMBERS

• The win soiled Army's pursuit of the longest single-season win streak (10).
• The Big Red won the third quarter 2-1, marking just the second time this season Army did not win the third. The Black Knights were 41-11 on third quarter goals entering the game.
• The five points for long is the most since the 2022 Final Four game against Rutgers, where he also had five.
• For the first time all year, Cornell lost the ground ball game (26-20).

UP NEXT
The Cornell men's lacrosse team remains on the road next weekend to take on Brown. The action will go down on Saturday, April 22, at 12 p.m. The game will be played on Stevenson-Pincince Field in Providence, R.I. Fans at home can watch on ESPN+.