Men’s lacrosse had a lot on the line this week in terms of its NCAA tournament hopes, and the Red took a big step toward securing one with a sweep of Duke and High Point.
Cornell (8-3, 3-1 Ivy) faced Duke (8-3, 0-2 ACC) in Long Island, New York, on Saturday. Cornell started the game strong, scoring the game’s first two goals and holding Duke scoreless until under one minute remaining in the first quarter.
Duke took the lead early in the second quarter, but Cornell fired back with goals from freshman attackman Rowyn Nurry and sophomore midfielder Luke Robinson. Duke scored two more of its own to take a 5-4 lead at halftime.
Rowyn Nurry '29 celebrates a goal against Duke.
Junior attackman Ryan Goldstein scored first in the second half. Goldstein dropped the ball behind the net, and when his defender came around for the ground ball, he picked it up and went around the other side to score.
Senior faceoff Jack Cascadden won the ensuing faceoff and scored on a fundamentally sound high-bouncing shot — the stuff of a lacrosse coach’s dreams. Senior midfielder Brian Luzzi added a goal just over a minute later, but Duke responded to cut the lead to one.
Robinson added another with a signature on-the-run lefty shot, and senior defender Brendan Staub added a step-down pole goal to give the Red momentum and a 9-6 lead late in the second.
Duke managed another goal before the end of the quarter, sending the teams into the final frame with Cornell in a 9-7 lead.
The fourth quarter saw hard and heavy lacrosse. Cornell was shut down, getting no shots on goal, and Duke was limited to just two.
With 10 minutes to go, a Duke attackman had senior defender Matt Dooley beat on a question mark dodge, but a massive hit on a coma slide from junior long-stick midfielder Walker Schwartz ended the threat, though it was penalized.
Cornell killed the penalty and continued to run the clock down with a two-goal lead. After multiple short possessions with turnovers or missed shots, Duke got the ball with a minute to go. Cornell played great defense, not allowing a shot until just 15 seconds were left on the clock. Junior goalkeeper Matt Tully was up to the task, and the Red closed out the scoreless fourth quarter to win 9-7.
The Red celebrate with fans after a huge win against Duke.
The game was well played by both teams and completely evenly matched in terms of turnovers, clearing, ground balls and faceoffs. The difference was Tully.
Duke had seven more shots than Cornell, two more on goal, yet Cornell won by two thanks to its goalkeeper. Tully faced difficult shots and came up with big saves, saving 12 of 19 shots on goal for 63%.
Monday was a runaway victory for the Red, dominating High Point (6-6, 4-0 A10).
High Point scored first, on the man-up, but Cornell responded with an eight-goal onslaught that included a hat-trick from star junior attackman Willem Firth. By halftime, the lead was 9-2 in favor of Cornell, and High Point never got back within spitting distance, leading to a 17-9 final.
Firth collected a remarkable nine points in the game behind his five goals. Luzzi also had a career game, scoring four of his own for six total points. Sophomore midfielder Jack Herendeen made his mark, with his first collegiate multi-goal game.
Tully was again impressive, saving 10 of 17 shots, and sophomore goalkeeper Tim Piacentini also saw action late in the game, making four saves.
Now, Cornell comes down the home stretch of the regular season. Cornell will go to Hanover, New Hampshire, to face Dartmouth (4-7, 0-4 Ivy) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
