Men's Lacrosse Hits the Road to NYC, Takes on Yale in Ivy Semis

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Cornell travels to New York City in pursuit of the team's third Ivy Tournament title. The road begins against the fourth-seeded Yale Bulldogs on Friday, May 5, at 6 p.m. on Robert K. Kraft Field. The winner of the semifinal will advance to the championship game at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 7th, facing the winner of Penn/Princeton.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with Paul Carcaterra and Quint Kessenich on the call.
• The Big Red has outscored opponents 193-132 across the first 13 games of the season.
• Yale and the Big Red have already faced off once this season, with the contest falling in Cornell's favor, 20-10. Since the matchup, Yale has gone 5-2, including winning the past five contests. The win streak began with a win over a top-20 ranked Boston University (17-14).
• Cornell sits at sixth in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll this week, consistent with last week's rankings.
• Cornell ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 10.15 goals per game. The Big Red also ranks sixth in groundballs per game, averaging 37.23, and 18th nationally in caused turnovers per game (9.15). Cornell has the nation's fifth-best scoring margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 4.69 goals per game.
• Yale averages the fifth-most saves per game nationally at 15.67. The Bulldogs average the ninth best scoring offence in the country (14.83), a mark that ranks second in the Ivy behind the Big Red. Chris Lyons is the nation's number two scorer, behind Kirst (4.08).
• Cornell returns the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in CJ Kirst, who notched 55 goals and 79 points for the Big Red last year. He leads the nation in goals per game (4.46) even after being shut out at Army, in addition to ranking first in points per game (5.85). Kirst was named the Ivy League Player on the Week twice this season (March 5, May 1). He earned a nod on the USILA National Team of the Week following his seven-goal outing versus #16 Penn. He earned a second and third USILA TOTW recognition in back-to-back weeks following a dominat offensive performance at Brown (6g, 3a) and a complete performance against #17/#20 Princeton for the Ivy regular season title (3g, 3a, 5gb, 3cto).
• Kirst has rewritten the Cornell single-season record books for a second straight year, specifically in the single-season goals category. He has 58 goals in 13 games this season, and already is sixth all-time. His 55 goals in 19 games last season ranks seventh in the Big Red record books.
• Gavin Adler is a three-time National Team of the Week honoree, most recently following the Cornell win over Yale where he tallied eight groundballs and a caused turnover. He aided in holding one of the nation's leading attackman, Matt Brandau, to just one goal, nearly ending a 129-game goal-streak, the longest in the country at the time.
• Jack Cascadden has become a staple in the Big Red faceoff unit. He ranks third in the Ivy in faceoff winning percentage (.553). He was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week following his performance against Penn, where he assisted on a goal just 10 seconds into the game, and went 12-for-16 at the faceoff.
• The Big Red boasts three mid-season All-Americans, Gavin Adler (First-team), Chayse Ierlan (Third-team), and CJ Kirst (First-team).

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads, 54-29-1
In Neutral Site Contests: The series is tied, 3-3
Current Streak: Cornell won one
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 20-10, in New Haven, Conn.
Buczek vs. Yale: 2-1
Series Notes: 

• Yale is the third youngest Ivy League opponent for the Big Red behind Dartmouth and Brown. The first meeting in the series vs. the Bulldogs was a 5-1 Cornell win in 1916.
• While Cornell boasts the lead in the all-time series, Yale has had the recent success, winning six of the last ten meetings.
• The Big Red and Bulldogs have a recent history of post-season meetings, matching up in the Ivy League Tournament in the 2018, 2019, and 2022 seasons.
• Cornell's most recent postseason win came in 2018, from a 14-8 victory in New York, N.Y. on May 6, when Yale was the #1 team in the nation.
  
  A WIN OVER YALE WOULD ... 
  • Advance the Big Red Ivy League Tournament for the first time since 2018, setting up a battle against the winner of the Penn/Princeton semifinal game.
  • mark the first time that the Big Red has beaten Yale in back-to-back meetings since the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
  • be the first neutral site win since the 2018 season.
  • be the fifth win over a nationally-ranked team this season.
  • be the 800th win in program history (799-493-27 in 126 seasons, .605).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 14, Princeton 13 OT
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY
• The Big Red won its 31st Ivy League regular season title, and 18th outright, when it defeated #17/#20 Princeton, 14-13, in overtime at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y.
• Cornell opened the game on a tear, going up 6-1 through the first five minutes of the second quarter, but the Tigers battled back with a 6-1 run of its own to knot the game at seven at half. The Big Red would pull back ahead by as many as two in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but a 4-1 run by the Tigers put Princeton back on top, 13-12 with 3:08 remaining. Aiden Blake's last minute goal sent the team to overtime, and he sealed the title with a solo goal less than two minutes into OT.
• 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.
• Gavin Adler scooped six groundballs and caused three turnovers. The most important one came in the overtime period, preventing Princeton from going on the attack and setting up the final Cornell attack.
• 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.
• Chayse Ierlan had 12 saves in the contest.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, and Darl Zehr.