ITHACA, N.Y. -- 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 on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red dropped its first contest of the season in falling to 4-1, while Penn State improved to 5-1.

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. Jack Cascadden scored a goal and won 8-of-18 faceoffs with Wyatt Knust making eight saves in goal.

Hunter Aquino scored a goal and assisted on four others, including the game-tying and game-winning goals. Liam Matthews scored three with one assist. Colby Baldwin won 15-of-25 faceoffs, including three of the final four to close regulation.



Cornell looked to be in control when Goldstein completed his hat trick with his goal with 6:08 remaining in regulation, putting the Big Red up 12-8. For nearly four minutes, it was. Kyle Aldridge, Liam Matthews and Luke Walstrum scored in succession in a span of 1:09, the final two coming after a two-minute unreleasable penalty was assessed to the Big Red. Michael Melkonian won the ensuing faceoff, but the Big Red turned it over less than 20 seconds after calling a timeout, and with a man advantage still, Penn State went to work. After a good clear, Aquino found Aimone for the game-tying score. The Nittany Lions won the ensuing faceoff with 17 seconds left, but could not get a shot off as the game went into the extra session.

Cornell scored the game's opening goal and trailed only briefly at 2-1 as the Big Red answered with a five-goal run that included two goals apiece from Long and Kirst ti make it a 6-2 game midway through the second quarter. The Nittany Lions scored five total goals with a man advantage, including one by Mac Hobbs late in the first half to get the visitors within 6-4 at the break.

Cornell maintained a lead of at least two goals throughout the second half until the final flurry where the Nittany Lions seized control.

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.