Men's Lacrosse Gets #13/#13 Princeton on ESPNU

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Cornell takes on a Princeton team ranking in the top 15 on Sunday, March 17 in Princeton, N.J. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
• Cornell, which entered the preseason polls ranked seventh, finds itself as the consensus No. 15 in the major men's lacrosse polls (USILA Coaches Poll, Inside Lacrosse Media Poll).
• Cornell boasts Division I's fifth-best shot percentage, scoring on 36.9 percent of shots taken. Nonconference opponent Notre Dame leads the country and shoots just three percent more accurately than the Big Red.
• The Big Red also ranks fifth in scoring offense and sixth in points per game. Cornell averages 16.00 goals per game and 25.00 points per game so far this season.
• Princeton enters the contest at 4-2, with the losses coming against Duke and Maryland, two teams that rank in the top five in this week's USILA Coaches poll. The Tiger's last win came last weekend at #16/#16 Rutgers after a 17-8 loss at the hands of then-no. 1 at Duke.
• Cornell concluded the 2023 season ranked seventh nationally in scoring offense, tallying 14.80 goals per game. The Big Red also ranked sixth in groundballs per game, averaging 36.67, and 14th nationally in caused turnovers per game (9.40). Cornell had the nation's 10th-best scoring margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 3.53 goals per game.
• 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. The now-senior notched 65 goals and 84 points for the Big Red last year. The goal total was good for the most by a junior in Big Red history.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Princeton leads the series, 42-41-2
In Princeton, N.J.: 16-23-2
Current Streak: Cornell, three games
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 14-13 (OT) on April 29, 2023, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Buczek vs. Princeton: 2-0
Series Notes: 

• Cornell and Princeton have been on top of the Ivy since the league's inception. The Big Red has claimed a conference-best 31 regular-season championships, including 18 outright, while Princeton narrowly follows with 27 championships and 16 outright. Since the 1995 season, either the Tigers or the Big Red have held a share or outright won the Ivy League regular season.
• Three of the last five meetings have been decided by a goal or less.
• Since 2004, neither team has won more than four games in a row.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD ... 
• Improve Cornell's record to 4-2 on the season.
• Tie the series at 42-42-2.
• Mark the fifth win for the Big Red in the past six meetings.
• Be the 803rd win in program history (802-497-27 in 128 seasons, .615).

LAST TIME OUT: Penn State 20, Cornell 9
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE 
• Penn State goaltender Jack Fracyon stopped 14 of Cornell's 24 shots on goal to keep the Cornell attack at bay, while the Nittany Lions offense exploded for 32 points, downing the Big Red 20-9 on a rainy Saturday afternoon in University Park, Pa.
• With the loss, Cornell dropped to 3-2 on the season while Penn State improved to 5-1.
• The Cornell attack was led by Michael Long, who tallied four points on a goal and three assists.
• CJ Kirst followed with three points on two goals and an assist.
• Willem Firth and Hugh Kelleher each notched two goals. Andrew Dalton was the last of the Big Red attack to tally a multi-point game, scoring one goal and getting one assist.
• Marc Psyllos and Angelo Petrakis combined for 19-of-33 faceoff wins, their best combined of the season.
• Penn State's Matt Traynor and TJ Malone accounted for eight and seven points, respectively.
• Will Peden put up four points on one goal and three assists.
• Chris Jordan hit three points on a goal and two assists. Mac Costin, Luke Mercer, and Luke Walstrum each added two goals, and Jake Morin rounded out the multi-point performance with a goal and an assist.
• Jack Fracyon posted 14 saves on 22 shots faced.

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