ITHACA, N.Y. — Jimmy Ayers scored at 1:15 of overtime Saturday to lift Johns Hopkins past Cornell 9-8 in the NCAA Tournament first round at Schoellkopf Field, ending the Big Red's season with a final record of 14-5.
Cornell led 6-3 at halftime and appeared to be in firm control, but Johns Hopkins outscored the Big Red 3-0 in a third quarter that Cornell managed just three shots and no goals on, erasing the deficit and tying the game at six heading into the fourth. The two teams traded the lead in the final period before
Brian Luzzi tied it at 8-8 with 3:27 remaining, forcing overtime. In the extra period, Ayers, who finished with two goals, collected a Matt Collison assist and beat
Matthew Tully at 1:15 to end it.
Freshman
Rowyn Nurry was Cornell's top scorer, scoring three goals including back-to-back scores in the second quarter that pushed the lead to 5-2.
AJ Nikolic added two goals and
Brian Luzzi scored the tying goal late in the fourth. Goldstein finished with a goal and two assists and Firth added a man-up goal just before halftime, but both were held far below their season norms against a Johns Hopkins defense that limited Cornell to 30 shots and just 11 on goal.
Tully was outstanding in defeat, making 17 saves across 62-plus minutes including two critical stops in the overtime period, on Collison and Ayers, before Ayers broke through.
Jack Cascadden won 12 of 19 faceoffs and collected 11 ground balls in his final game as a Big Red.
Chuck Rawson led Johns Hopkins with two goals and an assist, while Ayers and Charlie Iler each contributed a goal and two assists.
Game Notes
Hopkins now leads the all-time series with the Big Red, 17-6-1.
With his lone tally in the contest, Firth moves into a tie for 14th all-time with head coach
Connor Buczek with 106 career goals. The junior also moves into a tie for fourth all-time with 20 career man-up goals.
Staub, who collected three caused turnovers on the afternoon, finishes his career with 65 caused turnovers, fourth most in program history.
Tully's 17 saves gives him 251 for his career, good for 17th all-time.
Cornell finishes the 2026 season 14-5, winners of the Ivy League regular season title and Ivy League Tournament runners-up.
