LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced its 2023 All-Americans and major awards, with the Big Red notching two first teamers and an honorable mention. Cornell also took home two of the five major awards, with
CJ Kirst winning the Lt. Col. Jack Turnbull Award for Outstanding Attackman, and
Gavin Adler being awarded the William C. Schmeisser Defensive Player of the Year. Both Alder and Kirst were named first-team All-Americans, and senior goalkeeper
Chayse Ierlan was selected as an honorable mention. This marks the first year that Cornell men's lacrosse has won multiple national position awards since 2007, when Mitch Belisle and Matt McMonagle won the awards for defenseman and goalkeeper, respectively. This is the first time two Big Red were named attackman and defenseman of the year in the same season.
Adler is the first Big Red honoree to earn the outstanding defenseman award since Mitch Belisle in 2007. He is the fifth Cornellian to win the award. Over the course of the season, Adler totaled 63 groundballs and 25 caused turnovers. He caused at least three turnovers on five different occasions this year. Adler captained a defense that held opponents below their scoring average in 10 contests this season, including holding a Lehigh team that was averaging 19.5 goals per game when entering the contest to five. On three different occasions, Adler and his defense held opponents to their fewest goals scored all season. Adler made more history outside of the collegiate slate, after being selected first overall in the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League draft, being just the second defender ever to be selected as number one.
The first Cornellian to be recognized as the nation's outstanding attackman since Rob Pannell won in back-to-back years,
CJ Kirst becomes the fifth Big Red to be recognized all-time. He still leads the nation in goals per game (4.33) and points per game (5.60) after totaling 65 goals and 84 points across 15 games. The goal number matches Mike French in the Cornell record books for second all time, while his point number is god for 10th most in Cornell history. In just two seasons, Kirst is six points shy of joining the top-10 in career points at Cornell. Kirst is the reigning Ivy Player of the Year, following his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2022.
Ierlan, a first-team All-Ivy awardee, finished his Big Red career with the fifth-most saves ever at Cornell, totaling 590 since 2019. At the conclusion of the regular season, Ierlan boasted the nation's sixth best save percentage at .559. He helped the Big Red to the nations eighth-best scoring defense at the conclusion of the regular season, allowing just 10.15 goals per game at the time. Ierlan never allowed more than 13 goals in over the course of the season, and allowed more the 15 goals only once all year. He caused nine turnovers, and scooped 39 groundballs across the season.