It’s easy to describe attackman CJ Kirst’s accomplishments with numbers.
239 goals made him the highest-scoring Dl men’s lacrosse player of all time. 74 goals is the most any Cornellian has achieved in a single season. With 4.62 goals per game, he leads the country. Twice, he’s been named a Tewaaraton Award finalist — and likely, this year, he will win it. He was the first overall pick in the 2025 Professional Lacrosse League draft.
The record books tell one story. It’s impossible, however, to quantify Kirst’s leadership, charisma and character.
“The things that he does are immeasurable on the stats sheet,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17. “The heart that he plays with sets the tone for our entire team.”
Kirst played his first game with the Red in 2022, after his freshman season in 2021 was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. The year prior, the team had only completed five games before all activity shut down.
In 2022, the Red released the bottled-up tension built during two seasons off the field. Though Cornell fell in the semifinal of the Ivy League Tournament, an at-large bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament gave the team a second chance.
The Red faced Ohio State in its first round game, sending the Buckeyes home with a 15-8 defeat. Behind seven of those goals? Kirst, in his first season.
Kirst scored in every game of the Red’s unlikely seventh-seed run to the NCAA Championship, which it ultimately lost to the University of Maryland. He was second only to John Piatelli ’22 in goals and points on the season.
He didn’t let up. In 2023, he led the team with 65 goals, and even in 2024, a comparatively unproductive year (partially due to a shortened postseason), he topped the list. Kirst returned for his fifth-year season with a hunger – not just for personal success, or even to return the Red to glory, but to make the most of his time with his teammates.
“The goal is to earn more time together,” Kirst said. “To host an [NCAA Tournament] game was the goal, and having that opportunity was pretty crazy.”
The Red won the Ivy League Tournament for the first time since 2018. Not only did it win, but it was decisive; Cornell scored over 20 goals in both games.
What distinguishes Kirst on the field, potentially even more than his seemingly unstoppable solo attacks on the net, are his partnerships.
Kirst and senior attackman Michael Long have played side-by-side since high school, graduating the college-preparatory Delbarton School one year apart. The pair operate as a unit; during the Ivy League Tournament alone, three Kirst goals were assisted by Long, and two Long goals were assisted by Kirst.
On April 26, Kirst officially surpassed the NCAA scoring record with his 225th goal. Making the final pass, of course, was Long.
“If I were to draw it up it couldn't be any better,” Kirst said after the game. “[Long and I have] been through a lot together.”
The other dynamic duo drawing eyes on Cornell’s offensive line consists of Kirst and sophomore attackman Ryan Goldstein. Goldstein replaced Long’s past position at the X and has thrived; he is second on the team in points, with 34 goals and 48 assists.
The trio is collectively responsible for over one half of the team’s total points for the season.
“I came back as a sixth-year senior,” Long said. “I wanted to come back here. I knew I wanted to play with [Kirst]. You’ve seen it out there; between him and [Ryan] Goldstein, we’re just having the time of our lives.”
Against Yale on March 22nd, Kirst broke his personal record for single-game goals. Goldstein, in that same game, broke his personal record for single-game assists.
“[Goldstein’s] a pass-first kind of guy,” Kirst said after the season’s home-opener against Denver, in which he notched six goals and two assists, while Goldstein earned five assists and one goal. “He’s always got his head up and makes our offense go. It was always an easy shot today, so all credit to him.”
Kirst’s bonds with his teammates aren’t the only evidence of his crucial role within the program; while breaking records, he always has the legacy of his predecessors in mind. On May 4th, Kirst broke Cornell’s school record for most goals in a single season, set by Piatelli in 2022, when Kirst was making his debut on the team.
“[John Piatelli was] a guy I looked up to, a guy I idolized,” Kirst said. “Fortunately, he was able to be here this weekend. I was able to talk to him and catch up with him. He’s one of my best friends and will be for a long time.”
Kirst’s interactions with program alumni exemplify the team’s values of honoring tradition. When he broke the career goals record, Mike French ’76 was in the stands, ready to cheer him on as he replaced French’s own name in the record books.
Kirst will soon face the same transition as his heroes, the switch that Piatelli, French, Tim Goldstein, Jeff Teat and every other Cornell great has had to make. From student-athlete to legend.
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.
