ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's lacrosse team had 11 players honored, including taking home three of the league's major awards, when the All-Ivy League teams were released on Wednesday afternoon after voting by the conference's seven head coaches. Senior
CJ Kirst was unanimously selected as Attackman of the Year and classmates
Hugh Kelleher and
Jayson Singer were named Midfielder and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. The trio was also among six Big Red players named to the first team.
In addition to Kirst, Kelleher and Singer, senior
Walker Wallace, junior
Jack Cascadden and sophomore
Willem Firth were also chosen to the All-Ivy first team. Seniors
Christopher Davis and
Michael Long and sophomore
Ryan Goldstein were second-team picks, while senior
Wyatt Knust and junior
Brendan Staub were honorable mention picks.
Kirst joins three-time selection Rob Pannell '13 and two-time winner Eamon McEneaney '77 as the lone Cornell players to earn Ivy League Player of the Year multiple times, also garnering the award in 2023. The unanimous first-team selection leads the nation in goals (61) and points (83). A six-time Ivy League Player of the Week, he became the NCAA's career leader in goals scored last weekend and has raised the total to 226. A two-time first-team All-American, Kirst has scored multiple goals in every game this season and has eight contests with at least five, including a nine-goal effort in the regular season matchup with Yale and a career-high 12 points on six goals and six assists in a win at Hobart. Â
Kelleher, a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection, is the first-ever winner of the Midfielder of the Year award in the league after scoring 15 goals with 10 assists and adding 14 ground balls and three caused turnovers while starting all 13 contests for the Big Red. A steady and physical presence, Kelleher surpassed the 100-point mark earlier this season and currently has 113 (84 goals, 29 assists). The senior has always played his best when the lights are on, scoring six game-winning goals during his career.
Singer captured first-team All-Ivy honors for the second consecutive season and walked away with the award as top defender in the Ancient Eight after posting 15 ground balls and nine caused turnovers while starting all 13 contests. A lockdown defender, Singer is often matched up with the opponents' top scorers and led a defense that allowed just 9.7 goals per game in conference play and has held opponents to 26 percent shooting. Singer ranks among the school's career leaders in caused turnovers with 32.
Cascadden was one of just three players to earn unanimous first-team league honors, joining Kirst and Princeton's Coulter Mackesy. Cascadden led the Ivy League and ranked ninth nationally while winning 61 percent of his faceoffs on the season. He was even better in Ivy play, winning faceoffs at a .648 clip while averaging 8.5 ground balls per game. Cascadden was also a weapon once he won the faceoffs, scoring nine goals and dishing off an assist – including scoring twice in a win over Hobart. He has won better than 50 percent of the restarts in 11 of 13 games, and at least 15 total in seven contests, including four of the past five.
After capturing Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman, Firth is a first-team pick for the first time in the midfield after ranking third on the team in goals (24) and fourth in points (36) while starting all 13 contests. He ranks second nationally with eight extra-man goals and has added 12 ground balls and a caused turnover to the mix. Firth scored four goals in road wins over both Lehigh and Harvard and had multiple points in 12 of 13 contests.
A converted goalkeeper, Wallace earns his first All-Ivy honor after seeing action in all 13 contests with the pole. He registered 13 ground balls and seven caused turnovers while scoring three times. He has done a good job staying out of the box, serving just two penalties during the season. Wallace had three caused turnovers in a 10-8 slugfest win over Dartmouth and had two in a season-opening win at Lehigh. Wallace was also chosen to the Academic All-Ivy team.
Goldstein led the Ivy League and ranked third nationally in assists (2.92 per game) and is seventh in the country in points per game (4.92) after scoring 26 goals with 38 assists in 13 starts. The sophomore has posted at least five points in seven contests this season, including a career-best 10 in a regular season win at Yale with two goals and eight assists, one off a single-game school record for the latter. The sophomore also ranks third on the team in ground balls (29) and was added to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List in the middle of the season.Â
One of the nation's active scoring leaders and just the sixth player in school history to surpass 200 career points, Long ranks third on the team in points (43) and is second in assists (22) with four game-winning goals and a 44 percent shooting percentage. He opened the season with three goals and four assists in a victory at Lehigh, one of three games this season with at least six points. Long has added 19 goals with a pair of caused turnovers.
Davis played in just five games in his return from injury, including three Ivy games, but that was enough to make an impression. One of the top short-sticks in the country when healthy, he recorded five ground ball wins, including two apiece against Syracuse and Dartmouth. It is the first All-Ivy nod for one of the nation's top individual defenders.
Staub is an All-Ivy selection for the second time after capturing second-team accolades in 2024. The team's leader with 15 caused turnovers, he also sits second in ground balls (41) while scoring a goal and adding two assists in 13 starts. The junior had a dominant effort in a win at Hobart, scooping up 10 ground balls and adding three caused turnovers, the first of five games this season with multiple caused turnovers. He sits just outside the top 10 in school history in caused turnovers with 43 in his career.
Knust ranks among the winningest goalkeepers in school history with a 20-5 career mark, providing a steady presence in net. The two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week has 10 games with double-digit saves, including 16 in wins at Hobart and Richmond. His .546 save percentage and 9.84 goals against average both rank in the top 25 nationally this season
The Big Red begin postseason when it hosts No. 4 seed Yale in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday, May 2 at 4 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. The game will be televised on ESPNU with a feed available on ESPN+.
ATTACKMAN OF THE YEAR
CJ Kirst, Cornell (Sr., A)*
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MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR
Hugh Kelleher, Cornell (Sr., M)
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DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jayson Singer, Cornell (Sr., D)
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GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Croddick, Princeton (Jr., G)
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ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Peter Buonnano, Princeton (Fr., A) *
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CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Dartmouth
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CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Princeton
ALL-IVY FIRST TEAM^
CJ Kirst, Cornell (Sr., A)*
Coulter Mackesy, Princeton (Sr., A)*
Sam King, Harvard (Sr., A)
Hugh Kelleher, Cornell (Sr., M)
Willem Firth, Cornell (So., M)
Logan Ip, Harvard (Jr., M)
Tucker Wade, Princeton (So. M)
Jayson Singer, Cornell (Sr., D)
Brendan Lavelle, Penn (Sr., D)
Colin Mulshine, Princeton (Sr., D)
Ryan Croddick, Princeton (Jr., G)
Jack Cascadden, Cornell (Jr., FO)*
Walker Wallace, Cornell (Sr., LSM)
Cooper Mueller, Princeton (SSDM
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ALL-IVY SECOND TEAM^
Ryan Goldstein, Cornell (So., A)
Michael Long, Cornell (Sr., A)
Thomas Power, Dartmouth (Jr., A)
Jack Speidell, Harvard (So. A)
Nate Kabiri, Princeton (So., A)
Leo Johnson, Yale (Sr., A)
Chad Palumbo, Princeton (Jr., M)
Max Krevsky, Yale (Sr., M)
Aidan McLane, Brown (Sr., M)
Griffin Scane, Penn (Jr., M)
Charlie Cave, Brown (Jr., D)
Michael Bath, Princeton (Sr., D)
Martin Nelson, Harvard (Sr., D)
Jack Stuzin, Yale (Sr., D)
Mason Morel, Dartmouth (Sr., G)
Spencer Reagan, Dartmouth (Fr., FO)
Ryan McLaughlin, Penn (Jr., LSM)
Chris Davis, Cornell (Sr., SSDM)
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HONORABLE MENTION
Emmett Paradine, Dartmouth (Jr., M)
Thomas Goguen, Dartmouth (Jr., D)
Brendan Staub, Cornell (Jr., D)
Patrick Pisano, Yale (Jr., D)
Wyatt Knust, Cornell (Sr., G)
Emmet Carroll, Penn (Sr., G)
Machado Rodriguez, Yale (Sr., FO)
Ray Dearth, Harvard (Sr., SSDM)
Jackson Green, Princeton (So., SSDM)
Owen Guest, Harvard (Jr., SSDM)
*unanimous selection
^team expanded due to ties in votingÂ