Men's Lacrosse Hosts Penn In Primetime Ivy Semifinal on the U

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• It's Friday night lacrosse on national TV this weekend when Cornell men's lacrosse hosts the No. 4-seeded Penn Quakers at Schoellkopf Field for the second semifinal of the 20204 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Tournament. Faceoff is set for 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN+ for fans at home.
• Cornell, which entered the preseason polls ranked seventh, finds itself at No. 7 and No. 8 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 35.1 percent of shots taken. Nonconference opponent Notre Dame leads the country and shoots less than two percent more accurately than the Big Red (36.2 percent).
• The Big Red also ranks third in scoring offense, second in assists per game, and leads the nation in points per game. Cornell averages 15.54 goals per game, 9.85 assists per game, and 25.38 points per game so far this season.
• The Quakers enter the contest at 8-5 after a bye-week to conclude its season. Penn dropped its season finale to Princeton, 15-10, on April 20. The Quakers as the lone conference loss Cornell took this season, defeating the Big Red in double-overtime in a low-scoring 11-10 battle. Previously this year, Penn topped then #1 Duke on the road, 14-12.
• Penn ranks 16th in both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse DI Media polls. 
• 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, 67-28-3
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads, 38-11-1
Current Streak: Penn, one game
Last Meeting: Penn won, 11-10 (2 OT) on March 30, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Buczek vs. Penn: 1-2
Series Notes: 

• Though Cornell holds a heavy edge in the all-time series, Penn has won six of the last ten meetings and three of the last four.
• Cornell's last meeting against the Quakers was decided in double overtime. The Big Red started on a 6-2 run before the Penn defense and offense slowed the pace of game, crawling back for the victory.

A WIN OVER PENNSYLVANIA WOULD ... 
• Improve Cornell's record to 10-4 on the season.
• Advance Cornell to the Ivy League finals for the first time since 2018 when the Big Red defeated Yale, 14-8, to earn the auto qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
• Improve Cornell's chances of making the NCAA Tournament to 94 percent (metric measured by LacrosseReference.com)
• Move Cornell's all-time lead in the series to 68-28-3.
• Mark the sixth win over a ranked opponent this season.
• Be the 809th win in program history (808-500-27 in 128 seasons, .615).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 15, Dartmouth 10
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE l GALLERY l HIGHLIGHTS
• A win in the woods would make Cornell men's lacrosse the Ivy League outright regular season champions. A win is what the men's lacrosse team got. The Big Red topped Dartmouth, 15-10, on Scully-Fahey Field on Saturday evening in the final Ivy League regular season game.
• The win moved the Big Red to 9-4 (5-1 Ivy) while Dartmouth fell to 3-10 (0-6 Ivy).
• Cornell's offense was led by senior CJ Kirst, who tallied seven points on four goals and three assists. Freshman Ryan Goldstein followed with two goals and three assists for five points.
• Danny Caddigan put away a hat trick for his three points. AJ Nikolic dished out two assists and Hugh Kelleher put away two goals.
• Luke Gilmartin rounded out the Big Red's multi-point scorers with a goal and an assist.
• Danny Boccafola caused a team-high two turnovers.
• Wyatt Knust made 18 saves for a .720 save percentage. Knust's 18 saves are the second most of his career. The save percentage marks his second above .700 this season.
• Kirst's seven-point day marks his seventh game this season with five or more points, and the 25th of his career.
• Dartmouth had four players record a multi-point outing. Tommy Rogan, Henry Bonnie, and Brandon Ventarola each tallied three points on two goals and an assist. 
• Nate Davis got there with a two-assist day. Mitchell Myers won 15-of-23 faceoffs, grabbing six groundballs.
• Despite allowing 15 goals, Mason Morel still ended with a .571 save percentage, stopping 20 shots.
• With the win, Cornell solidified its third-straight Ivy League regular season title, and second-straight outright. The last time an Ivy team won three consecutive regular season conference titles spanned from 2013-15. It was the Big Red who did it then, too.

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