ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's lacrosse team will play for its third Ivy League Tournament title in program history in a showdown between the top two teams in the country when No. 1 Cornell faces No. 2 Princeton on Sunday, May 4 at 1 p.m. on Schoellkopf Field. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Chris Cotter, Paul Carcaterra and Quint Kessenich on the call.

• The Big Red advanced to the championship game thanks to a 21-14 victory over Yale in a contest that featured two separate lightning delays of more than an hour each.
• The Big Red attack featuring seniors CJ Kirst (three goals, six assists) and Michael Long (four goals, four assists) and sophomore Ryan Goldstein (five goals, three assists) combined for 25 points in the victory. 
• It will face a Princeton team that picked up an 11-8 victory over No. 11 Harvard in Friday's second semifinal.
• The Big Red won the regular season meeting between the teams 15-10 on March 15 on Schoellkopf Field behind Kirst's five goals and two assists.
• That was Cornell's fifth straight win over the Tigers, giving them a narrow 43-42-1 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1922.
• Either Cornell or Princeton has won at least a share of the championship in 54 of the 69 years in conference history - including four straight for the Big Red. 
• In 36 of those seasons - more than half of the conference's existence - one of those two teams won the title outright.
• Five of the past eight meetings between the programs have been decided by a single goal.
• Cornell, ranked No. 1 in the national polls for the sixth consecutive week, brings a nine-game win streak into the championship game.
• The Big Red clinched its 21st outright Ivy title thanks to its 18th unbeaten season in conference play in program history.
• The Big Red ranks No. 1 nationally in goals (16.2), assists (10.8), and points (27.0) per game, as well as in shooting percentage (.370), while scoring at least 10 goals in every contest this season.
• Senior All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy candidate CJ Kirst became Division I men's lacrosse's all-time leading goal scorer with two in the win over Dartmouth, surpassing Virginia's Payton Cormier (2020-24). He enters the game with 229 scores.
• The nation's active leading scorer at 321 points, the six-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week in 2025 paces all of college lacrosse with his 92 points (64 goals, 28 assists) this season.
• His 64 goals move him within two of former teammate John Piatelli '22 for the school's single-season record. Piatelli scored 66 in 2022 in helping lead Cornell to an NCAA runner-up finish.
• 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 (109) and 100 career assists (110). • Arguably the most underrated player in the country enters the week with 219 points, sixth all-time at Cornell.
• The midfield has been led by senior Hugh Kelleher and sophomore Willem Firth, two offensive-minded players who have combined for 66 points.
• Junior Jack Cascadden has been outstanding at the faceoff X all season, winning 64 percent of his restarts in the past nine contests (145-of-228) and scoring nine goals as well.
• An underrated Cornell defense has surrendered just 10.1 goals over its past seven games (scoring 16.3 gpg over that span) and is allowing opponents to shoot just 26 percent overall this season.
• Sparked by All-America candidate Jayson Singer and all-league candidates Brendan Staub, Walker Wallace and Chris Davis, the Big Red defensive unit has been exceptional in front of goalkeeper Wyatt Knust. 
• 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 — but did not get an invite to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection. 
• The National Coach of the Year candidate has a 47-15 career record with four consecutive Ivy titles in his four seasons directing his alma mater.

GAME INFORMATION
#2/2 Princeton at #1/1 Cornell
DATE & TIME: Sunday, May 4 at 1:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Princeton 12-2 (5-1 Ivy); Cornell 13-1 (6-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 43-42-1
BROADCAST: ESPN2 / ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD ...
• make Cornell 14-1 on the season with its 10th straight victory.
• give the Big Red its third Ivy League Tournament championship in program history (2011, 2018).
• mark the program's fifth season with at least 14 wins since 2007 and the seventh time in school history to reach that mark.
• push head coach Connor Buczek's career record to 48-15 (.762), including 25-6 (.806) at home.
• be the 822nd in program history (821-502-27, .618).

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON
• CJ Kirst became Cornell's all-time leading goal scorer and the Big Red men's lacrosse team got its Ivy League season off to a great start with a 15-10 victory over No. 2 Princeton at Schoellkopf Field. 
• Kirst scored five goals as part of a seven-point effort to eclipse Mike French's nearly 50-year-old goals record of 191, ending the night with 193. 
• His fourth goal of the contest with 4:12 left in the third was the record breaker. French, a lacrosse legend, was in attendance at Schoellkopf Field cheering Kirst and the Big Red on against its longtime rival.
• Willem Firth had two goals and two assists and Michael Long (two goals, one assist), Hugh Kelleher (two goals, one assist) and Ryan Goldstein (one goal, two assists) each had three-point afternoons to pace a balanced offense. 
• Matt Dooley caused three Princeton turnovers and Jack Cascadden won 13-of-23 faceoffs to give Cornell plenty of possessions, especially in the second half when the Big Red won 9-of-12. 
• Wyatt Knust made a dozen saves for the Big Red in goal. 
• Princeton's Coulter Mackesy had a pair of goals among four Tigers with multiple scorers. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Sophomore Ryan Goldstein and seniors CJ Kirst and Michael Long combined for 25 points as top-ranked Cornell defeated Yale 21-14 in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal at Schoellkopf Field. 
• The win advanced the Big Red to their fifth Ivy Tournament championship game and first since 2018.
 • Goldstein finished with five goals and three assists while Kirst, the NCAA's all-time leading goal scorer, added three goals and six assists for Cornell, which extended its winning streak to nine games.
• Long contributed four goals and four assists as the Big Red set a program record for goals in an Ivy Tournament game.
 • Yale was led by Max Krevsky natural hat trick and Brad Sharp and Chris Lyons who netted two goals and an assist for the Bulldogs.
• Junior Jack Cascadden dominated at the faceoff X, winning 16-of-38 draws, propelling the faceoff specialist into fourth in the single-season record books with 207, while adding 13 ground balls. 
• Senior Wyatt Knust made 14 saves in goal for Cornell.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior CJ Kirst's 322 points rank second on the school's career list — Rob Pannell '13 sits first with 354 points.
• The senior has 64 goals this season and is just two shy of John Piatelli's 2022 record of 66.
• With 92 points in 2025, Kirst needs eight to become just the fourth Big Red player to reach 100 in a season and is 13 away from the single-season school record of 105 by Mike French in 1976.
• Kirst also has 59 career caused turnovers, four from matching Big Red defensive coordinator Jordan Stevens '15 and Gavin Adler '23, the USILA William C. Schmeisser Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and first pick in the PLL Draft.
• With 21 career wins in goal, Knust is one away from reaching the top 10 at Cornell.
• Sophomore Ryan Goldstein's 53 assists put him No. 18 in school history and needs one to reach 17th, two to get to 16th and four from hitting the top 15.
• Sophomore Willem Firth has eight man-up goals this season and is one from reaching fourth in a season.
• Junior Jack Cascadden needs to win six ground balls to become the 15th Big Red player to hit 200 in a career.
• At eighth place with 341, Cascadden is eight faceoff wins from hitting No. 7 at Cornell for his career.

KIRST WATCH
• Senior CJ Kirst is Cornell (191, Mike French, 1974-76), the Ivy League (198, Matt Brandau of Yale, 2019-24) and NCAA Division I (224, Payton Cormier of Virginia, 2020-24) all-time leading goal scorer with 229 and counting.
• Kirst is the nation's active leader in career goals (229) and points (322), well ahead of Siena's Pratt Reynolds (163) and Harvard's Sam King (239), respectively.
• The 10th player in Division I history to reach the 200-goal mark, he became the fastest player to reach that mark at 55 games, and his 62 games played is still four fewer than any of the other players on the list.
• Kirst's 3.69 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 322 puts him 14th in NCAA history and is one from reaching 13th (Virginia's Connor Schellenberger, 2020-24).Entering the week, Kirst's 4.69 goals per game ranked second among all NCAA lacrosse players (Division I, II and III), with Joseph James of Division III Franciscan (4.73) narrowly ahead. 
• Kirst's 62 consecutive games with at least one point ranks as the second-longest streak in Ivy League history, behind only Big Red Hall of Famer Rob Pannell '13 with 72..

NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell has scored double figure goals in all 14 contests this season.
• The Big Red (6-0 in Ivy League) was one of just three unbeaten teams in conference play in Division I, joining Richmond (5-0 in Atlantic 10) and Towson (7-0 in Coastal Athletic Association).
• Cornell (6-0) was one of three Division I teams to go unbeaten on the road in 2025, joining Army West Point (6-0) and Ohio State (5-0).
• Entering the week, senior CJ Kirst (first, 5.13), sophomore Ryan Goldstein (fourth, 4.41) and senior Michael Long (14th, 3.91) ranked among the nation's top 15 active leaders in career points per game.
• Willem Firth ranks second in the nation with eight extra-man scores.
• Since regaining his starting spot last April, senior Wyatt Knust has 256 saves (12.8 saves per game) with a 10.15 goals against average and a .551 save percentage in his past 20 contests (17-3 record).
• Junior Jack Cascadden has scored 14 career goals (with four assists) directly off face-offs in his career, including nine goals this season.
• The Big Red set an Ivy League record for fastest consecutive goals at five seconds in a 10-8 win over Dartmouth. Willem Firth scored on a feed from CJ Kirst with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter to snap a 6-6 tie, then Jack Cascadden won the ensuing faceoff and immediately scored with 10 seconds left in the quarter.
• Senior defender Jayson Singer is in the NCAA transfer portal in an attempt to play football after graduating from Cornell. The Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year has started 42 of the past 43 games for the Big Red on defense. He excelled on the football field at linebacker and running back at Syosset HS, earning first-team All-Long Island and Nassau County all-county honors as a senior.
• Cornell is 24-6 (.800) 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
• Based on Cornell's regular season success, the Big Red will turn its attention to NCAA play beginning on Saturday, May 10 at a site and date to be determined.
• Cornell will turn to the NCAA selection show on Sunday, May 4 at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU where the 18-team field will be announced.