Riding the high of a definitive victory against No. 12 Harvard, men’s lacrosse comes home for its final match of the regular season. It won’t be an easy one – Dartmouth boasts one of the nation’s best goalkeepers and is coming off a 13-9 win against Brown.
The team will celebrate 16 seniors, including attackmen CJ Kirst and Michael Long, as well as midfielders Hugh Kelleher, Andrew Dalton, and Ryan Sheehan, all of whom earned 10 or more points so far this season. Kirst alone has tallied 59 goals, accounting for over a fourth of the team’s total output.
On the defensive end, senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust has made a mark, starting all 12 games played in the 2025 season and averaging a 55.3 save percentage.
“Experience definitely helps steady the ship, especially when [our opponents] are going to make [scoring] runs,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17. “We’re going to play against great teams that are going to make a push at some point. What we preach, day in and day out, is just to get the next one.”
Against Harvard, Kirst netted five goals to bring him even with Payton Cormier’s NCAA record of 224 career goals, set just last year.
Not only is Kirst just shy of being the sole holder of the record for most career goals, but he is also currently above the record for goals per game average for a season, a record set at 4.83 by Scott Helgans in 1978. If he scores at least four goals against Dartmouth (a feat he has performed in the last four games), he will walk away with two broken NCAA records.
“[Kirst is] a guy who’s done nothing but be humble, work hard, care about the group more than himself, and make plays,” Buczek said. “I’m sure he’s going to be excited about the accomplishment, but … he just wants to make sure that this team is successful. He’s just taking it in stride and making the right play, one play at a time.”
For his multi-goal, record-tying performance against Harvard, Kirst earned his sixth distinction as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. Accompanying Kirst in the honor was Dartmouth goaltender Mason Morel, who was named Defensive Player of the Week following a 20-save performance against Brown.
Morel ranks second for saves per game at the national level with 14.58. He’ll be tasked with staving off the highest-scoring offense in the country, which hasn’t netted fewer than 12 goals yet this season.
The teams will face off at noon on Saturday, after the recognition of seniors on both teams, which will also take place on Schoellkopf Field. Live coverage will be provided by ESPN+.
Alexis Rogers is the sports editor on the 143rd editorial board. She is in the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts & Sciences, and she can be reached at arogers@cornellsun.com.
