ITHACA, N.Y. -- An overtime thriller was the deciding factor in the 2023 Ivy League Regular Season Championship race. The Big Red, after going down one with just over 3:08 remaining, stormed back to seal the team's 31st Ivy League regular season title over Princeton, 14-13. Cornell improves to 11-2 (5-1 Ivy), and Princeton falls to 6-6 (4-2 Ivy).

The Cornell attack was lead by CJ Kirst, who tallied a hat trick and three assists for six points. Hugh Kelleher also notched three goals on the day. Ryan Sheehan had two goals, matched by Aiden Blake, whose goals sent the game to overtime and thereafter won the game. Billy Coyle rounded out the multi-point scorers on the day with two assists and a goal.

Lukas Stanat led the Tigers' attack with a six point day on two goals and four assists. Alexander Vardaro led the Princeton scoring charge with a hat trick. Four other Princeton athletes tallied multi-point days.



QUARTER 1

• Sheehan opened the scoring, sparking a 4-0 Cornell run that included a solo goal by Michael Long.
• Princeton was held scoreless until the 1:29 mark in the first quarter, bringing up a 4-1 score at the end of one.

QUARTER 2

• Sheehan scored the first goal of the second quarter, off a feed by Spencer Wirtheim.
• Walker Wallace secured a pole goal fifteen seconds later, bringing the score to 6-1 with 1:45 into the quarter.
• Princeton found a spark with 9:55 to go in the half, the first of six goals on the second quarter, while holding the Big Red to just one more in the quarter, knotting the game at seven at the break.

QUARTER 3

• The Big Red outscored the Tigers, 3-2, in the third quarter regaining the lead at 10-9 to close out the third.

QUARTER 4

• Kirst stretched the lead to two to open the fourth quarter, less than a minute into play, but Princeton rallied with a 3-0 run to take a 12-11 lead, the Tigers first lead of the day.
• Kelleher tallied a solo goal to tie the game at 12, but Princeton pulled ahead again with 3:08 remaining.
• Blake's first goal of the game came with 1:13 left off a feed from Kirst, forcing the first overtime game for the Big Red since facing Syracuse in the Dome last season.

OVERTIME

• The Big Red won the opening faceoff, but Kirst committed a forced turnover through traffic, giving Brown a chance to attack.
• Gavin Adler forced a turnover on the Cornell ride to get the Big Red out of a two-on-one situation and get Cornell back on the attack.
• Blake's second goal of the day came just 41 seconds later after a total of 1:37 played in the overtime period. He side-stepped his defended to create a lane to the goal, beating the keeper on the top-shelf.

SOME BIG RED NUMBERS

• Kirst sits alone at sixth now in the Cornell record books, with 58 goals so far this season.
• Cornell has been the out-right Champion of the Ivy regular season 18 times now.

UP NEXT
Men's lacrosse launches into the postseason next weekend when it travels to New York City next week to take on Yale. The action is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6. The game will be played at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wein Stadium in New York, N.Y.