RICHMOND, Va. -- Third-ranked Cornell weathered an early Spider infestation, fell behind by three in the fourth and scored the game's final four goals to edge No. 12 Richmond 12-11 on Sunday afternoon at Robins Stadium. Senior Michael Long's game-winner improved the Big Red to 4-0, while the Spiders slipped to 3-1.

Trailing 11-8 with nine minutes to play, Long bookended a Big Red rally with classmates CJ Kirst and Hugh Kelleher also cashing in. Long caught the ball behind the cage and beat his defender straight out front where he buried his second of the day with 2:21 left to give the visitors their first lead of the afternoon.

The Big Red won the ensuing face-off and worked the clock, but Richmond's Zach Vigue made his 13th save of the afternoon with a minute to play to give the home team the ball back. After a Richmond timeout, the Spiders put one shot off target and turned it over as time ran out.  

CJ Kirst had three goals and an assist and Ryan Goldstein notched two goals and two assists to lead the offense, with Long and Kelleher scoring two apiece. Jack Cascadden won 16-of-23 face-offs with 10 ground balls to control possessions and Wyatt Knust made 14 saves in goal. Cornell overcame 19 turnovers by winning the battle on the ground (33-30) and dominating at the face-off circle (19-8). 

Richmond led 6-1 early and seemed to be off and running, with Aidan O'Neil leading the way with two goals and two assists. Both Max Merklinger and Joe Sheridan scored twice with Merklinger adding an assist, while Lucas Littlejohn scored once and assisted on two others. The Spiders caused 12 turnovers in front of Vigue, who made 13 stops.

Richmond scored a minute into the game, only to see Kirst equalize on a feed from Willem Firth less than three minutes in. The Spiders broke that deadlock, triggering a 5-0 run that featured five different scorers, including goals by Merklinger and O'Neil in the span of just 12 seconds to kick it off. Richmond was in control and leading 6-1 at the first break.

Cornell settled down and scored five of the next six, including two goals and an assist from Goldstein. The run began when Goldstein scored on a feed from Andrew Dalton just 25 seconds into the second, then five ticks later Cascadden cashed in his fourth goal of the season after a clean face-off win. Goldstein later found Kirst on the doorstep for a dunk with six seconds remaining in the half to get the visitors within 8-7 at the break.

Cornell evened the game on its first possession of the second half when Firth scored, but the Spiders scored the next three to regain the lead and build it to 11-8 on O'Neil's 11th score of the year with 10:48 to play. Long got the momentum back two minutes later, with Kirst and Kelleher scoring in quick succession to even the score with 5:35 remaining to set up Long's heroics.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red begins a stretch of four home contests in a five-game stretch when it welcomes Penn State to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 8 at 12 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Nittany Lions hold a narrow 24-23 edge in the all-time series dating back to the first meeting in 1923.
• Penn State has won the two previous meetings, including a 20-9 triumph last year in University Park.