ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's lacrosse team faces a big test in is quest for a 33rd Ivy League title when it visits No. 10 Harvard on Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m. at Jordan Field. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• A win for the Big Red would guarantee at least a share of its 33rd Ivy League title and its fourth straight.
• Cornell, ranked No. 1 in the latest national polls for the fourth consecutive week, brings a six-game win streak into yet another top 10 matchup for the Big Red.
• The Big Red ranks No. 1 nationally in goals (16.0), assists (10.5), and points (26.5) per game, as well as in shooting percentage (.361) while scoring at least a dozen goals in every contest this season.
• Senior All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy candidate CJ Kirst is on the cusp of becoming Division I lacrosse's all-time leading goal scorer with 219, just five behind Payton Cormier's record of 224 for Virginia from 2020-24.
• The nation's active leading scorer at 304 points, the five-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week became the 24th player in Division I history to reach 300 for a career and he paces all of college lacrosse with his 74 points (54 goals, 20 assists) this season.
• Kirst's running mate Michael Long is just the sixth player at Cornell to surpass 200 points, as well as the fourth Big Red player to surpass both 100 career goals and 100 career assists.
• Junior Jack Cascadden has been outstanding at the faceoff X, winning 61 percent of his restarts in the past six contests (92-of-152).
• The defense has surrendered just 9.3 goals over its past four games and is allowing opponents to shoot just 25 percent overall this season.
• The Big Red has been jumping out on opponents all season, outscoring opponents 98-52 in the first half (an average score of 9-5).
• 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
#1/1 Cornell at #10/10 Harvard
DATE & TIME: Saturday, April 19 at 12:00 p.m.
SITE: Jordan Field - Cambridge, Mass.
RECORDS: Cornell 10-1 (4-0 Ivy); Harvard 9-2 (3-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 69-22
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD ...
• make Cornell 11-1 on the season with its seventh straight win.
• clinch at least a share of the program's 33rd Ivy League title and its fourth consecutive.
• guarantee that Cornell will host the 2025 Ivy League Tournament at Schoellkopf Field from May 2-4.
• boost the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 70-27.
• push head coach Connor Buczek's career record to 45-15 (.750).
• be the 819th in program history (818-502-27, .617).

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD
• For the first time since 2015, Cornell men's lacrosse posted a perfect home record in the regular season, improving to 7-0 with a 15-8 victory over Harvard.
• Nine different Big Red found the back of the net to clinch an Ivy Tournament bid for Cornell. 
• Freshman Willem Firth and senior CJ Kirst led the Big Red attack with five points each, both off of two goals and three assists. 
• Angelo Petrakis went 7-of-11 on the faceoff today and Marc Psyllos posted a team-high five ground balls. 
• Wyatt Knust posted his sixth game this season with a save percentage above .500, stopping 16-of-24 shots for .667. 
• Harvard's Logan Ip led the Crimson attack with three points on two goals and an assist. 
• Sam King and Graham Blake followed with two goals apiece. 
• Andrew DeGennaro went 13-of-25 from the faceoff X, scooping a game-high six ground balls.

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior CJ Kirst (eight) and sophomore Ryan Goldstein (seven) combined for 15 points and the top-ranked Cornell men's lacrosse team used gritty play all over the field to top No. 4 Syracuse 17-12 at Mitchel Field. 
• The Big Red earned a second top-five win of the season by at least five goals by jumping out to a six-goal lead early and answering back a number of SU runs to lead from wire-to-wire.
• The win had every signature of Cornell lacrosse - a full-field effort on the ground (38-36 edge in ground balls), strong faceoff play against one of the nation's top units, successful extra-man opportunities (4-of-7) and overall offensive execution (17 goals on 40 shots). 
• Add in a strong day in goal from Wyatt Knust, who had 14 saves with eight in the decisive first period, and the Big Red earned its third straight victory over its Central New York rival.
• Kirst finished the day with five goals and three assists. 
• The Orange got four goals and two assists from Owen Hiltz, while Luke Rhoa had three goals and an assist and Michael Leo notched two goals and two assists. 

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior CJ Kirst's 304 points rank second on the school's career list — Rob Pannell '13 sits first with 354 points.
• Kirst also has 56 career caused turnovers, two from reaching sixth on Cornell's all-time list.
• With his next man-up goal, Kirst would reach 13th on the school's career list with 14.
• Senior Michael Long is two assists from joining the top five in school history, matching Mike French '76 with 105
• At 14th place in career goals with 104, Long is two from matching his Big Red head coach Connor Buczek '15 with 106 for 13th.
• Junior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust has 294 career saves and is six away from becoming the 15th Big Red goalkeeper with 300 career stops.
• With 18 career wins in goal, Knust is four away from reaching the top 10 at Cornell.
• Junior Jack Cascadden is 11th in career faceoff wins with 288, seven from joining the top 10.

KIRST WATCH
• Cornell and the Ivy League's all-time goal scoring leader (219), senior CJ Kirst in nearing the top of the all-time NCAA career charts.
• Kirst is the nation's active leader in career goals (219) and points (304), well ahead of Princeton's Coulter Mackesy (156), and Mackesey (231) and Harvard's Sam King (231).
• The 10th player in Division I history to reach the 200-goal mark, he became the fastest player to reach that mark and his 59 games played are seven fewer than any of the other players on the list.
• He enters the weekend two goals shy of reaching No. 2 all-time in Division I history (Mac O'Keefe of Penn State, 2017-21) and five from Payton Cormier's record of 224 for Virginia from 2020-24.
• Kirst's 3.71 goals per game is the fourth-best average in Division history — and second at Cornell behind Mike French's 4.06, which is No. 2 in NCAA history. NC State's Stan Cockerton scored 4.39 goals per game from 1977-80.
• His points total of 304 made him the 24th player in Division I history to surpass 300 and leave him three from reaching the top 20.
• Kirst's 4.91 goals per game leads all players in all NCAA Divisions, with Eli Spence of Division III Elmhurst (4.73) ranking second. 
• The senior is the nation's leading goal scorer in Division I at 4.91 goals per game with No. 2 being Army West Point's Jackson Eicher at 3.45 — nearly a goal and a half behind the Big Red captain.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell has scored at least 12 goals in all 11 contests this season.
• Seniors CJ Kirst (first, 5.15) and Michael Long (12th, 3.98) rank among the nation's top 15 active leaders in career points per game.
• Willem Firth ranks fifth in the nation with seven extra-man scores.
• Since regaining his starting spot last April, senior Wyatt Knust has 227 saves (13.4 saves per game) with a 9.92 goals against average and a .582 save percentage in his past 17 contests (14-3 record).
• Junior Jack Cascadden has scored 12 career goals (with four assists) directly off face-offs in his career, including seven goals in his past 10 games.
• Senior defender Jayson Singer has started 39 of the past 40 games for the Big Red.
• Cornell is 22-6 (.786) 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 306-168-7 (.643).
• The Big Red has three New York teams on its schedule during the 2025 season – Hobart (22-9), UAlbany (18-11) and Syracuse.
• Cornell is 18-2 over its past 20 contests against New York state teams dating back to 2018, including 4-1 vs. Syracuse, and owns a seven-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 men's lacrosse team will close out the regular season and celebrate its seniors when it faces Dartmouth on Saturday, April 26 at 12 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 57-15 and sports a 12-game win streak over the Big Green.
• Extending it back, the Big Red has won 24-of-25 meetings in the series and is 52-5 against Dartmouth since 1966.