DENVER, Colo. -- Denver's second-half surge of 11 goals helped the Pioneers to their fourth-straight win in a 17-16 decision on Saturday afternoon at Peter Bartron Lacrosse Stadium. With the loss, Cornell falls to 1-1 while Denver improves to 4-0 on the season.

Cornell was led by seniors Michael Long and Spencer Wirtheim, who each notched five points on the day. Wirtheim's five came at the hands of a hat trick and two assists, while Long's came from one goal and four assists. Danny Caddigan (3g, 1a) and Willem Firth (4g) followed with four points apiece. A CJ Kirst hat trick and Hugh Kelleher's goal and assist rounded out multi-point scorers. Marc Psyllos took the most faceoffs for Cornell, going 11-of-26 on the day.

Denver's JJ Sillstrop and Noah Manning each tallied six-point days, including a combined eight-goal effort. Attackman Michael Lampert followed with a goal and four assists for five points, and Daniel Clark added three points on one goal and two assists. Jack Tortolani and Cody Malawsky closed out the Pioneers' multi-point scorers with two-point outings. Alec Stathakis won the faceoff spot with wins in 22 out of the 37 battles.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Pioneers got first blood 1:13 into the game on a feed from Lampert to Tortolani, but Michael Long connected with Spencer Wirtheim at the 12:19 mark to knot the game at one.
• After nearly four minutes, Denver found its second goal to take a 2-1 lead
• A nearly six-minute scoring drought followed that freshman Willem Firth broke, scoring his fourth collegiate goal on an assist from Hugh Kelleher with 2:19 remaining in the first.
• Caddigan found the net for his first of the day at 1:37 remaining in the first, but Denver netted a stinger with 22 seconds remaining to chop Cornell's lead to 3-2.

SECOND QUARTER

• Tortolani got the first of the second quarter just over a minute into the action, but the Big Red answered with a 3-0 run that included back-to-back goals from CJ Kirst just 45 seconds apart.
• Lampert stopped the Cornell run, but Long and Luke Gilmartin had other plans, powering Cornell to an 8-5 lead with 2:01 remaining.
• AJ Mercurio found the back of the net with 48 seconds left but Wirtheim stole the thunder with the final goal of the half off a pass from Long with eight seconds to go.

THIRD QUARTER

• Denver scored just 10 seconds into the second half, but Wirtheim and Kelleher combined for two goals to give Cornell its biggest lead of the day at 11-7.
• Both offenses traded three-goal runs to put Cornell back up four, but the Pioneers strung together two goals with under three minutes left to cut the Cornell lead to 14-12 heading into the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Denver opened with two more goals to tie the game at 14 before Firth got Cornell its last lead of the day, 15-14, with 9:09 on the clock.
• Denver made a 3-0 run to take a 17-15 lead with 4:55 left.
• Caddigan found a goal with 1:43 left to make a one-score game, and as Denver began to go on its next offensive possession, Gilmartin picked off a Denver pass to give Cornell one last chance. The Big Red could not capitalize though, giving Cornell its first loss of the season.

BIG RED NOTABLES

• Michael Long extended his goal-scoring streak to 19 in the contest, the eighth-longest in Division I.
• Freshman Willem Firth tallied his second-career four-goal game in his second-career appearance.
• Alex Holmes tallied his first point since being at Army last season on April 15.
• Luke Gilmartin scored his first collegiate goal in the outing.
• Kirst's three goals mark his 24th-career hat trick.

UP NEXT

Cornell is back to Schoellkopf with a quick turnaround when the team hosts old rival Hobart on Tuesday evening. Faceoff is set for 5 p.m. on Feb. 27 and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.