ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's lacrosse team will tune up for Ivy League play when it welcomes No. 9/8 Penn State to Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, March 8 at 12 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• With the Ancient Eight opener a week away, the Big Red will be looking to build on its 4-0 start while snapping a two-game skid against the Nittany Lions when the teams meet this weekend.
• Preseason Player of the Year candidate CJ Kirst enters the weekend within five goals of the school record 191 set by Mike French '76 48 years ago.
• The nation's active leading scorer at 260 points Kirst is the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for two straight Mondays and paces Division I with his 30 points (21 goals, nine assists).
• While the offense continues to make headlines as the nation's second-leading scoring team, it is the defense that has made Cornell elite — it is allowing just 8.8 goals per game with senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, saving 64 percent of its opponents' shots.
• The game features the return of former Big Red head coach Jeff Tambroni. Tambroni served as head coach for 10 seasons (2001-10) directing the program to a 109-40 record with eight Ivy League titles, three NCAA Final Four appearances (2007, 2009, 2010) and a national runner-up finish in 2009.
• Cornell will be in search of its first win over a top 10 team since its 18-17 double-overtime thriller at home against Syracuse last April.
• Big Red 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
#9/8 Penn State at #3/3 Cornell
DATE & TIME: Saturday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Penn State 4-1 (0-0 Big Ten); Cornell 4-0 (0-0 Ivy))
SERIES RECORD: Penn State leads 24-23
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Penn State leads 24-23
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Penn State leads 13-11    
On neutral fields: Cornell leads 2-1
Streak: Penn State, 2
Last 5: Penn State, 3-2
Last 10: Tied 5-5
Last meeting: Penn State 20, Cornell 9 (3/9/24 at PSU)
Last Cornell win: Cornell 16, Penn State 15 (3/12/22 at PSU)
First meeting: Cornell 3, Penn State 1 (4/20/1923 at Cornell) 

A WIN OVER PENN STATE WOULD ...
• make Cornell 5-0 for the second time in four seasons under head coach Connor Buczek (2022).
• give the Big Red a 3-0 record this season against top 20 opponents.
• even the all-time series between the programs at 24-24 dating back to 1923.
• snap a two-game losing streak against the Nittany Lions.
• push Buczek's career record to 39-14 (.736).
• be the 813th in program history (812-501-27, .616).

VS. THE BIG 10
• Cornell sports a 51-60-2 (.460) all-time record against current members of the Big 10.
• Cornell holds series advantages over Ohio State (7-2) and Rutgers (9-1) and have split two previous meetings with Michigan.
• The Big Red trails all-time series with Johns Hopkins (6-16-1), Maryland (5-16-1) and Penn State (23-24).
• Head coach Connor Buczek's teams are 6-4 against Big Ten opponents, including 1-2 against the Nittany Lions.
• This is the only scheduled regular season contest against a Big 10 opponent this season.

LAST TIME VS. PENN STATE
• Penn State goaltender Jack Fracyon stopped 14 shots on goal to keep the Cornell attack at bay, while the Nittany Lions offense exploded for 32 points, downing the Big Red 20-9.
• The Cornell attack was led by Michael Long, who tallied four points on a goal and three assists. 
• CJ Kirst followed with three points on two goals and an assist. 
• Willem Firth and Hugh Kelleher each notched two goals. 
• Marc Psyllos and Angelo Petrakis combined for 19-of-33 faceoff wins, their best combined of the season.
• Penn State's Matt Traynor and TJ Malone accounted for eight and seven points, respectively. 
• Will Peden put up four points on one goal and three assists. 
• Jack Fracyon posted 14 saves on 22 shots face, while Colby Baldwin won 14-of-31 face-offs.
• The Nittany Lions limited the Big Red to a 14-of-20 effort clearing the ball.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior CJ Kirst enters the contest with 186 career goals, five shy of reaching Mike French '76 (191), a record that has stood for 48 years.
• Kirst's 260 points are eight 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 one goal from moving to 17th on he career list with his 91, needs two to reach 16th and four to jump into the top 15. Long is just nine from becoming the 14th player to hit 100 for a career
• At seventh place in career assists, Long is nine from matching Andrew Collins '04 for sixth with 98.
• Long is nine points from reaching seventh in career points (Matt Donovan '15 with 189).
• Junior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust has 216 career saves, 27 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 seven points from reaching 100 for his career.
• Junior Jack Cascadden is 15th in career faceoff wins with 188, nine behind Marc Psyllos '24 for 14th place.

LAST TIME OUT
• 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 at Robins Stadium. 
• Trailing 11-8 with nine minutes to play, senior Michale 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.
• 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.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell has scored at least 12 goals in all four contests this season.
• Senior CJ Kirst is the nation's active leader in career goals (186) and points (260), well ahead of Princeton's Coulter Mackesy (137) and Mackesy (204) and Michigan's Ryan Cohen (204), respectively.
• Both Kirst (first, 5.00) and senior Michael Long (seventh, 4.00) rank among the nation's top 10 active leaders in career points per game.
• Willem Firth ranks third in the nation with four extra-man scores.
• The Big Red is assisting on 66 percent of its goals this season, well above the national average of 58 percent this year.
• Since regaining his starting spot last April, senior Wyatt Knust has 151 saves (15.1 saves per game) with a 9.59 goals against average and a .624 save percentage in his past 10 contests.
• Knust has double figure saves in all four games this season.
• Junior Jack Cascadden has scored nine career goals (with three assists) directly off face-offs in his career, including four goals in his past three games.
• Senior defender Jayson Singer has started 32 of the past 33 games for the Big Red.
• Cornell is 19-5 (.792) 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
• Cornell kicks off the 2025 Ivy League season when it host top five foe Princeton on Saturday, March 15 at 12 p.m. on Schoellkopf Field.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell (31 Ivy titles) and Princeton (27 Ivy titles) have dominated the Ivy landscape over the years.
• The Big Red has won four straight contests between the programs, including a last-second 15-14 triumph last season in New Jersey.