After a close loss to No. 2 Richmond on Saturday, No. 7 men’s lacrosse still felt like a national contender. But, after a painful journey to No. 14 Penn State, that status is in question.
Cornell (3-2) fell 19-7 to Penn State (4-2), after being thoroughly dominated the entire game.
The Red have started slow in a few games this season, but took it to a new low today. Neither the defense nor the offense could stand their ground early.
Cornell was unable to score during the first quarter, while the defense allowed Penn State to jump out to a 7-0 lead. Cornell would only score seven all game.
The Nittany Lions increased the lead to 8-0 to begin the second quarter before the Red were able to get on the board. However, the Red’s goal from junior midfielder Ryan Waldman was answered by Penn State piling on another two.
Cornell would score once more before half, sending the teams to the locker rooms with Penn State holding a 10-2 lead.
The second half did not go any better for Cornell. The Red were unable to string together more than two goals and Penn State found another seven goal run. The final score was 19-7, closer than the game actually was, after Cornell scored three of the last four goals scored late in the fourth.
There were few, if any standout performances for the Red today. Junior attackman Ryan Goldstein and Waldman led the way with three points each, but both had multiple turnovers to go along with them.
Cornell struggled mightily at the faceoff X, a spot that was an advantage for the Red early in the season and was supposed to be all season. Senior Jack Cascadden won just five of his 20 faceoffs, but sophomore Michael Melkonian backed him up well, winning six of his nine chances.
Cornell, letting up 19 goals, struggled defensively, too. Junior goalkeeper Matt Tully saved only eight of 27 shots on goal, not having a good day, but also facing tough shots due to an unstable defense in front of him.
It will be difficult for Cornell to build on this game, with the Red losing the battle in faceoffs (11 to 18), clears (77% to 80%), save percentage (30% to 61%), shooting percentage (20% to 48%) and ground balls (28 to 41) — almost every important stat.
Even with freshman attackman Rowyn Nurry and junior midfielder AJ Nikolic out with injuries, the offensive production for the Red has been weak, scoring just 14 goals in the last two games. But, even more perplexing is the fall off on defense and at faceoff over the past week, with no notable injuries.
Cornell will return home and try to rally for its first Ivy League game of the season. The Red will face off against Brown (3-2) at Schoellkopf Field at noon on March 14. Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
