With two games to win in order to host the Ivy League Tournament, men’s lacrosse got through the first and easier leg with a 15-9 win over Dartmouth.
On paper, the game seemed poised to be a blowout, with nationally ranked, top of the Ivy League No. 6 Cornell (9-3, 4-1 Ivy) going to Hanover, New Hampshire, to face a Dartmouth team that had not won an Ivy League game. But there are no easy tasks in Ivy League lacrosse.
The start of the game was sloppy, with Cornell seemingly feeling the long road trip. Dartmouth (4-8, 0-5 Ivy) started strong offensively, but junior goalkeeper Matt Tully saved the first three shots of the game, killing an extra-man opportunity for Dartmouth and allowing the Red to pull out to a 2-0 lead.
But Dartmouth came back immediately with a four-goal run in under six minutes. Cornell converted on a man-up with sophomore midfielder Luke Robinson lobbing up an alley-oop to junior attackman Ryan Goldstein on the crease, who caught the ball and scored all while in the air.
Senior faceoff Jack Cascadden won the faceoff and sophomore midfielder Jack Herendeen scored a wide open shot against a sleeping Dartmouth defense. Junior attackman Willem Firth added the next goal for the Red before Cascadden again won the faceoff and Goldstein scored on a wrap-around seconds later. Cornell took a 6-4 lead into halftime.
Again, Dartmouth would not go away easily, and the Big Green mounted a three-goal run to take the lead in the third quarter. It wasn’t until less than three minutes left in the quarter that the Red mustered a goal in transition to tie the game. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied 7-7 with the possibility of a huge upset loss looming.
Cornell came out with the urgency that the team had been lacking earlier in the game, forcing a turnover from Dartmouth and scoring in transition 30 seconds in. Shortly following this was freshman attackman Rowyn Nurry, who beat his man and the Dartmouth defense never helped with a slide, giving him an easy path to goal.
Cascadden won the ensuing faceoff and dished to Goldstein, who scored six seconds later. Cornell again got the next possession and scored, followed by, of course, a Cascadden faceoff win. Herendeen scored a step-down shot to cap off a five goal run in less than five minutes to open the fourth quarter, including a four-goal run where Dartmouth did not even touch the ball.
Dartmouth managed to claw one back to keep its hopes momentarily alive. The Big Green threw a long pole out for the faceoff in an attempt to mess with Cascadden’s rhythm, but it was to no avail, as Cascadden won the draw and immediately streaked to the net to score.
Cornell then held Dartmouth without a shot on goal until two minutes to go in the game, when the Big Green scored. Cornell piled on two more before the game ended as a 15-9 Cornell win.
Cascadden was easily the standout of the game, winning 19 of 23 faceoffs for a ridiculous 83% clip. Cascadden did not just win extra possessions for the Red, but also created numerous unsettled chances for Cornell right off of faceoffs, which the Red consistently cashed in on.
Tully had a nice day in net, saving 13 of 24 shots and holding the opponent to single digits for the eighth time this season. Again strong for the Red on the defensive end were the short stick defensive midfielders, who played a big part in Cornell’s transition success and also caused four Dartmouth turnovers.
On offense, Goldstein led the way with five goals and six points. Firth and Nurry also had hat-tricks.
Cornell will now return home to face Harvard (9-3, 3-2 Ivy) in the regular season finale. The Red and the Crimson will face off at Schoellkopf Field at noon on Saturday. Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
