In 2025, men’s lacrosse faced little challenge to its position as the best team in the country.
The Red dominated nearly every game of the season, first reaching the No. 1 spot in the Inside Lacrosse poll in week seven and keeping that rank all the way to its first National Championship victory since 1977. A historic offense, with Tewaaraton award winner and all-time leading NCAA goal scorer CJ Kirst ’25 at its heart, led Cornell to the title.
Now, the team must put last year’s trophy out of sight and focus on rebuilding and defending its hard-won position. Despite losing 16 seniors between 2025 and 2026, including many key pieces, the Red came in at No. 4 in preseason polls.
“I think for us, it’s about figuring out the leadership as much as the on-field play,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17. “I think we're very fortunate to have guys that played very significant minutes [last season]. That’s the group we’re kind of building around.”
Here’s The Sun’s rundown of who’s gone, who’s back and who’s new on the roster for the returning national champions.
Offense
On attack, Kirst and Michael Long ’25 leave big shoes to fill.
Junior attackman Ryan Goldstein, named as a first-team Preseason All-American by both Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse, is the most promising contender for the task. Goldstein led the team with 50 assists last season and was second only to Kirst in goals, scoring 43.
Junior attackman Willem Firth, tabbed on both third-team Preseason All American lists, may leave the midfield to slot into one of the open spots on attack alongside Goldstein, who is sure to keep his role behind the net at X for the Red.
Though Buczek is hesitant to name starters for the season opener, Goldstein and Firth’s likely spots leave one highly contested starting position up for grabs. Senior Matt Perfetto and freshman Rowyn Nurry may be poised to seize the role.
“The experience of Perfetto goes a long way, and Nurry’s got incredible upside,” Buczek said.
Midfield
The midfield also lost a lot to graduation, including first-team All-American Hugh Kelleher ’25, Andrew Dalton ’25 and Ryan Sheehan ’25. The Red will turn to junior midfielder AJ Nikolic to take on a bigger role, although the once highly-touted recruit has struggled with injuries during his college career. Also likely stepping in will be sophomore midfielder Luke Robinson, who provides speed and a left-handed shot.
At defensive midfield, the Red lost short sticks Michael Bozzi ’25 and Christopher Davis ’25 and long pole Walker Wallace ‘25. Returners such as senior Charlie Box and juniors TJ Lamb and Luke Gilmartin give the Red some experience at SSDM.
“[SSDM] might be the most important position on the field, you know? [It’s] certainly the least heralded and not one that most people notice unless it's going poorly,” Buczek said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have made a career on that side of the ball and guys that I think we can lean on.”
Junior Walker Schwartz and senior Eddie Rayhill may see more playing time at long stick midfield.
Big bodies like Kirst, Kelleher and Wallace powered an elite ride and offense for the Red in 2025. With less size this season, Cornell might struggle to create as many turnovers on the ride and be more reliant on one-on-one dodging on offense.
Buczek is not too concerned about his team’s size.
“Any shape, any size I think can be successful,” Buczek said. “We’re hoping to rely on different tools more than just the physicality, but certainly, I don’t think [Cornell will have] necessarily a small lineup coming out.”.
The Red retains all three faceoffs from last year, with senior specialist Jack Cascadden poised to take most of the work from the X again. Cascadden, also a dual third-team Preseason All-American, ended 2025 with a 60.9 faceoff winning percentage, good for tenth-best nationally.
Defense
At close defense, the Red graduated All-American Jayson Singer ’25, whose spot is likely to be filled by sophomore defender Michael Marshall. Senior defenders Matt Dooley and Brendan Staub should retain their spots on the Cornell defense.
Staub ended the 2025 campaign with 19 caused turnovers, 57 ground balls and an All-Ivy honorable mention.
“The nice part is we’ve had a few guys competing for [the open spot], and that’s one, honestly, that’s still playing itself out a little bit as we speak today,” Buczek said. “The nice part is to have Brendan Staub and Matt Dooley back.”
The team also lost its goalkeeper, Wyatt Knust ’25, to graduation. Knust’s spot could be filled by junior Matt Tully, another high ranked recruit who battled Knust for the starting role in 2024, or sophomore Tim Piacentini, a former top-100 recruit.
Freshmen
Cornell added 12 rookies to its 2026 roster, with three making an appearance on the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Power-100 Freshman Rankings. Nurry, already a two-time high school All-American and four-time Delaware state champion, took fourth place in the rankings — the highest of the cohort.
Midfielder Grady Taylor and long-stick midfielder John Rodehorst also received pre-rookie accolades.
Coaching Staff
Even on the sidelines, Cornell is heavily decorated. After taking home the national title in his fifth year as head coach, Buczek served as Team USA’s assistant coach at the 2025 World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship and won recognition as the 2025 USILA Division I Coach of the Year. Cornell acknowledged his accomplishments by extending Buczek’s contract in November.
Jordan Stevens ’15, Buczek’s former right-hand man as associate head coach from 2020 to 2025, stepped down from his position soon after the championship, giving former assistant coach Paolo Ciferri the opening to fill the role. In his fifth year working primarily on the faceoff units and transition play, Ciferri led the team to the country’s eleventh-best faceoff and fifth-best clearing performances.
The Red will start its season on the road against the University at Albany. The game will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Cornell faced UAlbany twice last year, the second coming in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Red won both meetings, by scores of 18-11 and 15-6, respectively.
Buczek anticipates that the weather will be a factor for the first game, with cold temperatures causing the ball to move slowly, making possessions and goals valuable.
“Got to pick up ground balls, you’ve got to clear the ball successfully, and hopefully, between your faceoff, goalie and ridebacks, steal a couple possessions here and there,” Buczek said.
The action will be streamed live on 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.
