Men’s lacrosse (11-1, 5-0 Ivy) faced a formidable opponent in the Harvard Crimson (9-3, 3-2), its sixth match against an opponent ranked in the top 15 at the time of the game. This was the final away game of the season for the Red, the last of seven.
Cornell came out on top, by a score of 20-12, defending its No.1 ranking for the fourth consecutive week.
Cornell hit the ground running, scoring five straight to open the game. Senior attackman Michael Long drew first blood, followed by sophomore midfielder Willem Firth, who snuck a last-ditch effort past the Harvard goalkeeper with the shot clock winding down.
Sophomore attackman Ryan Goldstein scored two in the first quarter and Firth added another before the period ended with Cornell in a 5-1 advantage.
Harvard scored twice early in the second quarter, but junior faceoff Jack Cascadden went straight to the goal off of the resulting faceoff and scored. The Crimson scored again before junior long stick midfielder Eddie Rayhill scored his first career goal, right off of another Cascadden faceoff win.
Harvard tallied again, followed by junior midfielder Brian Luzzi scoring for Cornell. Then, senior attackman CJ Kirst added another remarkable accolade to his season by three uninterrupted goals for a natural hat trick. He did this in just 41 seconds.
Harvard outscored Cornell 3-1 before halftime. The lone Cornell goal came from Firth on a man up opportunity, a situation he has thrived in the past two seasons.
The Crimson scored three straight to start the second half, bringing the Cornell lead down to one with the score at 12-11. Cornell was not fazed, and the Red rattled off eight in a row, the goals coming from seven different players.
The last goal of the run came from Kirst, who snuck behind his defender and scored his 224th career goal. Kirst is now tied for the all-time NCAA record.
Harvard found the back of the net for a moral victory goal, and the final horn sounded to finalize a 20-12 win for Cornell.
With the victory, the Red secured the top ranking in the Ivy League for the regular-season and the right to host the conference tournament.
Kirst was outstanding for the Red. He tied the all-time scoring record with his five goals, collecting a natural hat trick along the way. Also starring on attack was Goldstein, who collected six points and Firth, who scored four goals from his role in the midfield.
Cascadden had a tremendous day against a group of Harvard faceoffs that have struggled all season. Cascadden won 23 of 29 draws, good for a dominant 79 percent faceoff win percentage. He also scored a goal.
Though he collected no points, ground balls or caused turnovers, senior defenseman Jayson Singer shut down Sam King, Harvard’s Tewaaraton nominee and one of the best attackmen in the nation. Singer allowed King just one goal, tied for his lowest mark on the season.
Senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust, who has been consistent all season, was solid again. He stopped 12 of 24 shots on goal for a 50 percent save percentage.
The Red will close the regular season by hosting Dartmouth, where Kirst will attempt to break the national career scoring record.
Dartmouth, who has long been the punching bag of Ivy League lacrosse, is having a good season, avoiding last place in the Ivy League for the first time since 2010. Unfortunately, they will not be able to secure their first winning record in conference play since 2005 even with a win next week.
The game will take place at Schoellkopf field on Saturday, April 26 at 12 p.m. Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
