Men's Lacrosse Eyes Ivy Tournament Bid On Senior Day

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• The Big Red hosts Harvard this weekend while the team celebrates Senior Day in part of a top-20 matchup against #19/#18 Harvard on Saturday, April 20 in Ithaca, N.Y. Alongside the festivities, an Ivy Tournament bid hangs in the balance as Cornell looks to clinch its fifth-consecutive appearance. Faceoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
• Cornell, which entered the preseason polls ranked seventh, finds itself at No. 8 and No. 9 in the major men's lacrosse polls (USILA Coaches Poll, Inside Lacrosse Media Poll).
• Cornell boasts Division I's second-best shot percentage, scoring on 35.7 percent of shots taken. Nonconference opponent Notre Dame leads the country and shoots less than two percent more accurately than the Big Red (37.0 percent).
• The Big Red also ranks third in scoring offense and points per game. Cornell averages 15.64 goals per game and 25.27 points per game so far this season. Notre Dame ranks No. 1 in both categories.
• The Crimson enter the contest at 7-4 after starting the season on a 6-0 tear including wins over ranked opponents Bryant and Michigan. Since the Michigan game, Harvard is just 1-4. During the latter stretch, the Crimson fell to three-straight top-15 opponents in Yale, Princeton, and Virginia, beat Dartmouth, and dropped a three-goal decision to #14 Penn, who beat the Big Red in double-overtime earlier this season
• 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, 68-27
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads, 43-11
Current Streak: Harvard, one game
Last Meeting: Harvard won, 10-8 on April 8, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass.
Buczek vs. Harvard: 1-1
Series Notes: 

• Cornell boasts a large advantage in the all-time series but is only 6-4 in the last 10 meetings. In the past five meetings, Cornell is 4-1.
• The Big Red has not lost at home to the Crimson since the 2016 season when the team fell 12-8.

A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD ... 
• Improve Cornell's record to 8-4 on the season.
• Mark the fifth win over a ranked opponent for the Big Red this season.
• Move Cornell's all-time lead in the series to 69-27.
• Mark the fifth win in the series for the Big Red in the past six contests.
• Be the 807th win in program history (806-500-27 in 128 seasons, .615).

LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame 18, Cornell 17
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE l GALLERY l HIGHLIGHTS
• It went all the way down to the wire on Long Island in front of 7,480 fans, the third-largest crowd in college lacrosse this season. The Fight Irish, trailing by one with 2:46 remaining, found the net to tie things up at 17. The Big Red defense did all it could, holding Notre Dame scoreless until 6.4 seconds remained. The Irish found the goal it needed, lifting #1/#1 Notre Dame over #10/#8 Cornell men's lacrosse, 18-17, on Sunday afternoon at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium in Brookville, N.Y.
• With the loss, Cornell fell to 7-4 (3-1 Ivy) and Notre Dame improved to 8-1 (2-0 ACC).
• Not even midseason second-team All-American Liam Entenmann could stop CJ Kirst, who led the Big Red attack with eight points on five goals and three assists.
• Senior attackman Michael Long followed with seven points on two goals and five apples.
• Freshman Ryan Goldstein posted his fourth hat trick of the year and matched his goal total with three assists for six points. Hugh Kelleher added a hat trick for the Big Red.
• Willem Firth tacked on two goals, and Spencer Wirtheim rounded out multi-point scorers with a goal and an assist. Marc Psyllos and Angelo Petrakis each went .500 at the faceoff X, combining for 19 wins.
• Psyllos led the Big Red with nine points ground balls. Junior netminder Wyatt Knust tallied 14 saves in the contest.
• The Fighting Irish had 13 different players tally a point. Pat and Chris Kavanagh led the way with four points each. Pat went for two goals and two assists, while Chris notched a goal and three assists.
• Eric Dobson and Jake Taylor followed with a hat trick apiece. Jeffery Ricciardelli and Reilly Gray put up two goals each, and Jordan Faison rounded out Notre Dame's double-digit scorers with a goal and an assist.
• Colin Hagstrom went 12-for-21 at the faceoff. Liam Entenmann tallied 11 saves in his worst outing of the season.
• Cornell's 17 goals tied the most surrendered by the Irish since the 2004 season, when Notre Dame allowed 19 goals in a loss to Syracuse on March 11, 2004.
• Long's five assists tie him at eighth all-time in the Cornell record books with 82 career assists. He is tied with Al Rimmer '71. The single-game assist number is also the most since Billy Coyle dropped six at #8/#8 Yale last season.

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