Men's Lacrosse Opens Season Against Lehigh

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Cornell is back to the field to kick off the 2024 season when the team hosts Lehigh on Saturday, Feb. 17.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Christian De Guzman and Tom LaFalce on the call.
• Cornell, which entered the preseason polls ranked seventh, has moved up to #5 in the USILA poll, and dropped to #8 in the Inside Lacrosse poll.
• The Big Red boasts four preseason All-Americans; CJ Kirst, Jack Follows, Hugh Kelleher, and Christopher Davis.
• Cornell returns the 2022 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and 2023 Ivy Player of the Year, CJ Kirst. No. 15 notched 65 goals and 84 points for the Big Red last year. His 65 goals were good for the most by a junior in Big Red history.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads, 10-9-3
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Lehigh leads, 9-5-1
Current Streak: Cornell, nine games
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 12-5 on Feb. 25, 2023, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Buczek vs. Lehigh: 2-0
Series Notes: 

• Cornell holds a nine-game winning streak over the Mountain Hawks dating back to a 17-9 win on May 15, 1954
• Cornell's head coach has twice led the Big Red against Lehigh, boasting a 21-10 score margin over the Mountain Hawks.
• Last year, Cornell held Lehigh to just five goals, when the Mountain Hawks were averaging 19.5.

A WIN OVER LEHIGH WOULD ... 
• Mark the fifth consecutive year the Big Red opened the season with a win.
• Be the first win over an opponent receiving votes in the USILA Poll since defeating #17 Princeton in the 2023 regular-season finale.
• Be the third consecutive season that the Big Red beat Lehigh. Before 2022, Cornell last played Lehigh in 2019.
• Extend its lead in the all-time series against the Mountain Hawks to 11-9-3.
• Extend Cornell's win streak to 10 over the Mountain Hawks.
• Be the 792nd win in program history (791-491-27 in 126 seasons, .603).

LAST TIME OUT: Michigan 15, Cornell 14 (OT)
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY
• Peter Thompson's goal 1:20 into overtime lifted Michigan past Cornell, 15-14, in a wild first-round game in the 2023 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field
• The two teams combined for 12 goals in a wild fourth quarter that saw the Big Red twice rally from two-goal deficits to tie it up, the last time at 14-14 courtesy of Billy Coyle's 30th score of the season with 59 seconds remaining.
• Michigan won the ensuing face-off, but CJ Kirst caused the turnover to give Cornell the final offensive possession.
• A shot by Aiden Blake hit the post with 20 seconds left, and Billy Coyle's last-chance shot in the final seconds went wide to go to the extra session.
• Cornell won the face-off to open the overtime possession, but the Wolverines' Hunter Taylor made his 16th and final save on a shot by Jack Cascadden, who had knotted the game at 13-13 with just over four minutes to play in regulation.
• Billy Coyle and Hugh Kelleher each had three goals, CJ Kirst notched two goals and an assist and Spencer Wirtheim had one goal and two helpers to pace the offense.
• Kirst's two goals closed his 2023 campaign with 65 scores, one shy of the school's single-season record. Gavin Adler caused four turnovers and won four ground balls, while Cascadden won 12-of-25 face-offs.

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