Top-10 Nonconference Matchup Goes Down This Sunday On Long Island

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• The Big Red heads to Long Island this weekend to take part in a top-10 matchup against nonconference opponent #1/#1 Notre Dame on Sunday, April 14 in Brookville, N.Y. Faceoff is set for 12:30 p.m. at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
• Cornell, which entered the preseason polls ranked seventh, finds itself at No. 10 and No. 8 in the major men's lacrosse polls (USILA Coaches Poll, Inside Lacrosse Media Poll).
• Cornell boasts Division I's third-best shot percentage, scoring on 35.5 percent of shots taken. Notre Dame leads the country and shoots less than two percent more accurately than the Big Red (37.1 percent).
• The Big Red also ranks third in scoring offense and points per game. Cornell averages 15.50 goals per game and 24.90 points per game so far this season. Notre Dame ranks No. 1 in both categories.
• The Fighting Irish enter the contest at 7-1, with the lone loss coming against Georgetown in an 11-10 overtime battle. Since the loss, Notre Dame had been on a five-game tear, defeating four ranked opponents in the stretch, including #3/#3 Duke in the team's last outing. Notre Dame also beat Syracuse, 14-12, the weekend before Cornell topped the Orange 18-17 in double overtime.
• 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: Cornell leads the series, 6-1
At Neutral Sites: Cornell leads, 2-1
Current Streak: Cornell, one game
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 11-9 on April 14, 2019, in South Bend, Ind.
Buczek vs. Notre Dame: Never competed as a head coach (1-0 as an assistant)
Series Notes: 

• Cornell holds the heavy edge in the series, but the Irish have made sure to split the last two. Cornell won the 11-9 win on the road in 2019, but Notre Dame won the most recent neutral site meeting, 12-7, which happened in 2010.
• All-time, the Big Red and Irish have faced off on neutral ground three times. Cornell owns the edge in those meetings, 2-1.

A WIN OVER NOTRE DAME WOULD ... 
• Improve Cornell's record to 8-3 on the season.
• Mark the fifth win over a ranked opponent for the Big Red this season.
• Be the first win over the #1 ranked team in the country since defeating #1 Towson, 18-11, on March 10, 2019.
• Move Cornell's all-time lead in the series to 7-1.
• Mark the second consecutive win in the series for the Big Red.
• Be the 807th win in program history (806-498-27 in 128 seasons, .615).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 14, Brown 8
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE l GALLERY l HIGHLIGHTS
• A slow first half for Cornell's offense was saved by Wyatt Knust, who stood tall in goal on Saturday afternoon on Schoellkopf Field, helping the Big Red to a 14-8 victory over Brown by making a career-best 24 saves on .750 save percentage.
• With the win, Cornell improved to 7-3 (3-1 Ivy) while Brown fell to 1-9 (0-3 Ivy).
• Freshman Ryan Goldstein led the Cornell attack with five points on a hat trick and two assists.
• Hugh Kelleher, CJ Kirst, Michael Long, and Spencer Wirtheim followed with three points apiece.
• Kelleher's points all came off goals, while the other three each tallied two goals and an assist.
• Willem Firth notched a goal and an assist for two points. Alex Holmes rounded out multiple-point scorers with two assists.
• Marc Psyllos went 8-for-16 at the faceoff X. Petrakis aided in the effort, winning 6-of-10 pulls.
• Brown only had three players tally more than one point. Aiden McLane and Ben Scandone each scored two goals, and Matteo Corsi put up one goal and one assist.
• Dash Sachs took all but one faceoff for the Bears, going 11-for-25. 
• Netminder Connor Theriault posted 17 saves in the contest, his second-most of the season.
• Wyatt Knust's 24 saves marked the first 20+ save game since Chayse Ierlan made 21 at Yale last season. The 24 is two shy of the top 10 most single-game saves in Cornell history.

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