After a two-game losing streak culminating in a 19-7 loss to Penn State, Cornell was able to bounce back with a secure 18-9 win over Brown. However, Cornell will immediately be thrown back into the fire, as it travels to New Jersey to face No. 3 Princeton.
Princeton (5-1, 1-0 Ivy League) is a balanced team, with head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17 citing the Tigers’ midfield, faceoffs, goalie, offense and defense as strengths. That’s every position on the field, so the Red (4-2, 1-0 Ivy League) will need to play a strong game to compete with Princeton on the road.
“There's not much that’s obvious on tape that you can pick on, so it’s going to take a full group effort — both sides of the ball, middle of the field — to win this one,” Buczek said.
The Tigers will also be highly motivated to beat Cornell, with the Red beating the Tigers twice in 2025, including in the Ivy League championship. But this is not new for Cornell. The Red played Albany, Richmond and Penn State twice each in 2025, coming out on top in the most important of those games, the NCAA tournament. But, this season, the Red have gone 1-2 against those opponents.
Willem Firth '27 tries a shot against Princeton during last year's Ivy League Championship.
“It’s par for the course at this point,” Buczek said. “It’s just another week for us but certainly gives everybody else a little extra motivation.”
Cornell has a strong foundation to build on after the Brown game. With the attack unit anchored by juniors Willem Firth and Ryan Goldstein, the difference maker for the Red’s offensive production has been the midfield, which started the year strong, slumped during the losing streak, but bounced back for a strong performance against Brown.
“The more dynamic you can be, the more options that you have, the more guys that are producing, the harder you are to guard generally,” Buczek said.
One such midfielder who came out of nowhere for most Cornell fans is freshman Seamus Riordan, who scored a hat trick and an assist against Brown.
“He's in that lineup for a reason, seems that he just needed that first one to fall and once it did, he really picked up and started running with it from there,” Buczek said. “Big, athletic, really skilled, high IQ guy and he shows up to work every single day.”
Another area of improvement was the clearing game, where the Red was perfect on clears and forced some turnovers with a more aggressive ride.
“If you're going to ride well you have to be ready to flip your mindset through the ride when those moments happen,” Buczek said. “And so it's finishing possessions better, it's [about] where you turn the ball over, it’s recognizing, low shot clock, where the ball has to be. And then from there, it's executing and feeling the space and working together where it's really a 10 man mission to ride.”
Part of the improvement on clearing and riding may be due to the easing up of the weather and Cornell’s schedule. Cornell had to battle awful early-season weather, a cross-country trip and a two-game week early in the season. Now, Cornell is in the middle of a six week stretch of one game weeks, and has been able to settle into a consistent practice schedule.
“Practice time in general, it's hard to come by in the Ivy League,” Buczek said. “We had 10 days of practice prior to game one. So the full weeks certainly have been helpful as we try to build this team and mature across the board, through the game experience, and then what we can learn on the practice field.”
One area of concern is the faceoff position for Cornell, with senior Jack Cascadden not getting into the Brown game after taking the vast majority of faceoffs for the Red both in 2025 and 2026. There is currently no update on Cascadden’s status or timeline for return.
However, Cornell’s faceoff depth showed up big time against Brown, combining to win 69 percent of draws throughout the game. Sophomore Michael Melkonian took, and won, most of the draws.
“Mike's done a great job for us over the years, a guy that we can really rely on and he was in a bigger role on Saturday, and executed at a really high level,” Buczek said. “We feel really good about the depth [at faceoff], and I think they all contributed on Saturday in a really positive way.”
Cornell will face off in Princeton at noon on Saturday. Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
