ITHACA, N.Y. -- The always-treacherous Ivy League schedule begins with a bang, as seventh-ranked Cornell welcomes No. 2 Princeton to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 15 at 12 p.m. in a contest that, if history is any guide, will have major ramifications in the conference championship race. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Either Cornell or Princeton has won at least a share of the championship in 53 of the 68 years in conference history - including three straight for the Big Red. 
• In 35 of those seasons - more than half of the conference's existence - one of those two teams won the title outright.
• Five of the past seven meetings between the programs have been decided by a single goal.
• Cornell has gone 16-7 over the past 23 meetings to even the all-time series at 42-42-2.
• Four Ivy schools, including Princeton and Cornell, are ranked in the top 20 nationally with two others receiving votes.
• The Big Red will attempt to defeat a team ranked in the top two nationally for the first time since its 18-17 victory at No. 2 Penn State on March 8, 2020 — the Big Red's last game prior to COVID canceling the 2020 season.
• Cornell will be on record watch, as Preseason Player of the Year candidate CJ Kirst enters the weekend within three goals of the career record of 191 set by Mike French '76 in 1976.
• The nation's active leading scorer at 263 points, the two-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week paces Division I with his 33 points (23 goals, 10 assists) this year.
• The contest will feature the nation's top career active goal scorers in Kirst (188) and Princeton's Coulter Mackesy (141). The duo also ranks 1-2 in career points (263 for Kirst, 209 for Mackesy) in Division I.
• Head coach Connor Buczek's Big Red team returns eight starters and 22 letter winners from last season's 9-5 squad that won the Ivy League regular season title — its third straight and 32nd overall in program history.

GAME INFORMATION
#2/2 Princeton at #7/6 Cornell
DATE & TIME: Saturday, March 15 at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Princeton 4-1 (0-0 Ivy); Cornell 4-1 (0-0 Ivy))
SERIES RECORD: Series tied 42-42-2
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Series tied 42-42-2
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 22-18    
On neutral fields: Cornell leads 3-1
Streak: Cornell, 4
Last 5: Cornell, 4-1
Last 10: Cornell 7-3
Last meeting: Cornell 15, Princeton 14 (3/17/24 at Princeton)
Last Princeton win: Princeton 14, Cornell 8 (4/28/18 at Princeton)
First meeting: Princeton 11, Cornell 1 (4/10/1922 at Princeton)

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD ...
• make Cornell 5-1 on the season and give the Big Red a win in the Ivy opener.
• extend its win streak over the Tigers to five games, its longest in the series since winning 22 in a row from 1968-89.
• break a series tie to give Cornell a 43-42-2 edge all-time against the Tigers.
• give the Big Red a 3-1 record this season against top 20 opponents.
• give the Big Red a 278-116-1 all-time mark in Ivy League play (.705).
• push head coach Connor Buczek's career record to 39-15 (.722).
• be the 813th in program history (812-502-27, .616).

THE IVY OPENER
• The contest vs. Princeton marks the 69th Ivy League season opener for Cornell men's lacrosse. 
• Since the conference began play in the 1956 season, the Big Red has posted a 49-19 record in Ivy League openers, including winning 20 of its last 24, dating back to the 1999 season. 
• More often than not, Cornell has met either Yale or Harvard in the conference opener, playing a different school on only eight occasions — including the past two season vs. Princeton.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON
• Sophomore defenseman Matt Dooley's first-career goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game lifted Cornell to a 15-14 win at Class of 1952 Field. 
• Freshman Ryan Goldstein led all attackers with five points in his first collegiate appearance, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists. 
• Spencer Wirtheim followed with four assists, while Hugh Kelleher also registered a hat trick. 
• Both Michael Long and AJ Nikolic followed with two goals apiece. 
• Marc Psyllos went 14-of-28 at the faceoff X, scooping a team-high eight groundballs.
• Princeton's Chad Palumbo and Sean Cameron led the Tigers' attack with three goals and an assist each. 
• Tucker Wade also clocked four points, all of which came off goals. 
• Andrew McMeekin went 18-of-31 at the faceoff, and grabbed a game-high 13 groundballs.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior CJ Kirst enters the contest with 188 career goals, five shy of reaching Mike French '76 (191), a record that has stood for 48 years.
• Kirst's 263 points are five shy of matching Jeff Teat '20 for third on the school's career list.
• With his next man-up goal, Kirst would reach 15th on the school's career list with 13 and is two away from jumping to 13th place.
• Senior Michael Long is two goals from moving to 15th on the career list with his 95, needs six to reach 14th and seven from becoming the 14th player to hit 100 for a career
• At seventh place in career assists, Long is eight from matching Andrew Collins '04 for sixth with 98.
• Long is six points from reaching seventh in career points (Matt Donovan '15 with 189).
• Junior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust has 227 career saves, 16 shy of reaching jumping into 16th place at Cornell.
• His next win in goal would give him 13, moving him within two of jumping to 16th on the school's list.
• Senior Hugh Kelleher is four points from reaching 100 for his career.
• Junior Jack Cascadden is 15th in career faceoff wins with 196, one behind Marc Psyllos '24 for 14th place, 14 from matching Scott Raasch '04 for 13th and 16 from Joe Lizio '88 for 12th.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON
• Sophomore defenseman Matt Dooley's first-career goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game lifted Cornell to a 15-14 win at Class of 1952 Field. 
• Freshman Ryan Goldstein led all attackers with five points in his first collegiate appearance, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists. 
• Spencer Wirtheim followed with four assists, while Hugh Kelleher also registered a hat trick. 
• Both Michael Long and AJ Nikolic followed with two goals apiece. 
• Marc Psyllos went 14-of-28 at the faceoff X, scooping a team-high eight groundballs.
• Princeton's Chad Palumbo and Sean Cameron led the Tigers' attack with three goals and an assist each. 
• Tucker Wade also clocked four points, all of which came off goals. 
• Andrew McMeekin went 18-of-31 at the faceoff, and grabbed a game-high 13 groundballs.

LAST TIME OUT
• No. 9 Penn State scored four unanswered goals in the final 2:27 of regulation and capped it off with an overtime game winner to give the Nittany Lions a 13-12 victory over No. 3 Cornell at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Ethan Long's score less than a minute into overtime ended the game, but it was Penn State's ability to repeatedly score and get the ball back in the final minutes that allowed the visitors to rally. 
• Three of the scores came after an unreleasable penalty that allowed the Nittany Lions to even the score up when Jack Aimone punched a shot in on the extra man. 
• The nation's leading scorer, CJ Kirst, scored two goals and added an assist to pace five multi-point scorers for the Big Red, with Ryan Goldstein adding a hat trick and both Michael Long and Hugh Kelleher registering two goals and an assist. 
• Brendan Staub and Walker Schwartz each caused two turnovers. 
• Hunter Aquino scored a goal and assisted on four others, including the game-tying and game-winning goals. 
• Colby Baldwin won 15-of-25 faceoffs, including three of the final four to close regulation.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell has scored at least 12 goals in all five contests this season.
• Senior CJ Kirst is the nation's active leader in career goals (188) and points (263), well ahead of Princeton's Coulter Mackesy (141 and 209).
• Both Kirst (first, 4.96) and senior Michael Long (ninth, 3.98) rank among the nation's top 10 active leaders in career points per game.
• Willem Firth ranks sixth in the nation with four extra-man scores.
• Since regaining his starting spot last April, senior Wyatt Knust has 160 saves (14.5 saves per game) with a 9.90 goals against average and a .606 save percentage in his past 11 contests.
• Junior Jack Cascadden has scored 10 career goals (with three assists) directly off face-offs in his career, including five goals in his past four games.
• Senior defender Jayson Singer has started 33 of the past 34 games for the Big Red.
• Cornell is 19-6 (.760) at home under head coach Connor Buczek.

PRESEASON HONORS
• Senior attackman CJ Kirst is the USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Player of the Year and Attackman of the Year.
• Kirst, senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher and senior attackmen Michael Long have been selected to the 2025 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
• Kirst was also chosen as a USA Lacrosse, USILA and Inside Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason All-America first team selection. 
• Kirst was chosen as college lacrosse's top player by Inside Lacrosse in its IL Top 50, while Long was slotted No. 19.
• Long was a third-team All-America choice by both USILA and Inside Lacrosse.
• Sophomore midfielder Willem Firth, senior defender Jayson Singer and senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust were honorable mention selections by USILA, while Inside Lacrosse honored Firth, senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher and senior short-stick midfielder Chris Davis.

THE HARD HAT
• Charlie Box was selected to carry the Hard Hat for the 2025 season. 
• Sixth-year senior Michael Long (2023) and fifth-year senior CJ Kirst (2024) have also carried the Hard Hat during their careers.
• The tradition of the Hard Hat began in the fall of 1999. 
• Midway through the fall season, a player is selected to carry the Hard Hat for the year. 
• The recipient is someone that the coaches feel demonstrates a blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse; he is driven and selfless, not the most talented player on the field, but consistently the hardest worker. He puts the team first, and embodies • how the coaches want Cornell players to act and respond on or off the field.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
• Cornell has traditionally been very successful against collegiate teams from New York state, posting an all-time record of 305-168-7 (.643).
• The Big Red has three New York teams on its schedule during the 2025 season – Hobart (22-9), UAlbany and Syracuse.
• Cornell is 17-2 over its past 19 contests against New York state teams dating back to 2018, including 4-1 vs. Syracuse, and owns a six-game win streak against teams from the Empire State.

PROFESSIONAL NOTES
• Jeff Teat '21 broke the single-season Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) scoring record with 64 points (28 goals, 36 assists), shattering the previous mark of 44 by Lyle Thompson (2022) and matched by Marcus Holman (2023).
• Professional lacrosse's all-time single-season leading point scorer is Rob Pannell '13. The former Big Red player set the record in the 2018 season of the Major League Lacrosse (MLL), putting away 43 goals and 35 assists for 78 points.
• Chayse Ierlan '23 became the fourth Big Red player taken in the PLL Draft after the goalkeeper was chosen No. 29 overall by the California Redwoods last May. He joins Gavin Adler '24, Jeff Teat '21 and Clarke Petterson '19. Teat was the No. 1 overall pick in 2021 and Adler went No. 1 in 2023.
• Since 2002, Cornell has had 38 players chosen in the MLL/PLL Draft.

HALLS OF FAME
• One of the most successful lacrosse coaches of all time, Nevin D. "Ned" Harkness was announced as one of four coaches making up the 2024 class of inductees to the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLAC) Hall of Fame. 
• Another Cornell name to be inducted into this class is Big Red alumnus Howie Borkan '81, who is the "Bob Russell Contributors Award" recipient.
• Additionally, Texas A&M coach Tony Scazzero '75, who was the longest tenured coach in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association before retiring last spring, was inducted into the MCLA Hall of Fame.
• Jason Noble '13 was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame this past fall. 
• The three-time All-America selection (first-team in 2013, second-team in 2012, honorable mention in 2011) was also a two-time first-team All-Ivy pick and anchored of one of the nation's top defenses. 
• He later was named the 2017 NLL Defensive Player of the Year in leading the Georgia Swarm to the league title.

IVY PRESEASON POLL
• The Big Red was chosen first in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll announced in February.
• Cornell finished first with nine of the 14 first-place votes and a total of 90 points, just ahead of Princeton (87 points, four first-place votes).
• Yale (71 points, one first-place vote) and Penn (57 points) rounded out the top four.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red hits the road for the first time in Ivy play when it visits Yale on Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m. at Reese Stadium.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 55-30-1, though the teams have split the past 16 meetings (8-8).
• The Big Red earned an 18-15 victory last season in Ithaca behind four goals and four assists from CJ Kirst.