ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior Willem Firth scored five goals and senior Brian Luzzi added four more as No. 6 Cornell rolled past High Point 17-9 in non-conference men's lacrosse Monday at Schoellkopf Field.
 
The Big Red (8-3) raced out to a 9-2 advantage through the first half and never looked back, with 10 different players factoring into the scoring on a sunny April afternoon in Ithaca. High Point fell to 6-6 with the loss.
 
Firth, who reached 35 goals on the season with his final tally, finished with eight shots on goal and also dished out three assists for a five-point day. Luzzi was equally relentless, going 4-for-5 with five shots on goal, including a pair on man-up chances, and two assists. Ryan Goldstein chipped in three goals and two assists, also converting on the man-up.
 
Despite allowing High Point to score the first tally of the contest, the Big Red took control early, stringing together eight-straight goals, including five in the first, before the Panthers second score of the game. Three of Firth's five came during the 8-0 Big Red run.
 
High Point made things interesting in the third quarter, outscoring Cornell 4-5 to pull within 14-6. The Panthers used a Carson Robins tally off a High Point rush and goals from Magnus Falkiewicz and Luca Accardo to keep pace, but the Big Red answered each push. Luzzi's four-goal quarter, including two with assists from Firth, kept Cornell firmly in control.
 
Matthew Tully started in goal for Cornell and made 10 saves before giving way to Tim Piacentini in the fourth quarter, who stopped four of the six shots he faced.
 
Jack Cascadden won 15 of 23 faceoffs to help Cornell dominate possession. The Big Red collected 38 ground balls to High Point's 29 and went 2-for-2 on the man-up.
 
Walker Schwartz, Jack Herendeen and Rowyn Nurry each added two goals for the Big Red, while Luke Robinson and Luke Gilmartin combined for three assists. Blake Cascadden had two caused turnovers and three ground balls, while his brother, Jack, finished with a team-high 10 ground balls.
 
For High Point, Robins led all scorers with two goals, while seven other Panthers each tallied one. Zack Overend finished with 15 saves in goal for the Panthers.
 
Game Notes
• Monday marked the second meeting all-time between Cornell and High Point, with the Big Red moving to 2-0 in the series.
• Cornell set a season-high with 11 turnovers.
• After tallying four points in the first half, Goldstein matched his father, Tim Goldstein, for 13th all-time in program history with 168 points. He later added another to take sole possession of 13th place, while also taking sole-possession of 10th place all-time with 84 assists.
• Firth recorded his sixth game this season with at least five points and seventh game with three or more goals. Firth is now two goals shy of Max Seibald '09 for 22nd all-time with 91.
• The win marked Connor Buczek's 60th win as head coach of the Big Red, becoming the fifth coach in program history to reach 60 wins.
 
Next Up
Cornell resumes Ivy League play on Saturday, April 18 when it travels to Hanover, N.H. to take on Dartmouth. The game is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start on ESPN+.