Men’s lacrosse won’t have any trouble getting pumped up for Saturday. A top ten matchup with the chance to host the Ivy League tournament on the line, the possibility to all but lock up an NCAA tournament berth and senior recognition make this the biggest game of the season so far for the Red.
No. 6 Cornell (9-3, 4-1 Ivy) will have its hands full as No. 10 Harvard (9-3, 3-2 Ivy) comes to Ithaca.
The Crimson started the season with eight straight wins, including an upset over then No. 1 Syracuse. But since then, Harvard has lost three of its last four games, including a 15-14 loss to No. 2 Princeton on Saturday.
Harvard is led by a strong offense that can overwhelm even the best defenses in the country. Teddy Malone and Jack Speidell are the players to watch out for on the Crimson attack and will likely draw Cornell’s top poles in senior defenders Brendan Staub and Matt Dooley.
“I think [Staub] is as good as there is in the country on the defensive end,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17. “He covers top matchups, he picks up the ball as well as anybody in the country, he creates transitions, he's got a great stick. He's very comfortable in the clear and in the transition games.”
Harvard also has a good defense, though it struggles at times to cover up the Crimson’s largest issue, which is the faceoff position. Harvard has won just 40% of faceoffs on the year, which has been detrimental to the team at times.
“They've got a lot of really impressive seniors that have played a lot of minutes for them over the years, and they do a lot of things really well,” Buczek said. “Their defense is incredibly unified. Offensively, they share the ball and they play together incredibly well. … I think they get a lot of juice from the ride, and so our ability to clear is going to be super important.”
With senior faceoff Jack Cascadden coming off of a tremendous week, winning 83% of his draws, Cornell will look to again dominate on faceoffs. Cascadden’s ability to win draws and create unsettled opportunities toward goal was a big part of Cornell’s success on Saturday.
“'[Cascadden]’s got some serious [shooting] range, and so that puts a lot of pressure on defenses,” Buczek said. “But, I think that's always a work in progress for us — being efficient in the transition game and making sure that we are applying pressure — and we are doing so intelligently as to not shoot ourselves in the foot and create reverse transition.”
Saturday will also mark senior night for Cornell. The Red is set to graduate 13 seniors who have been with the team since the 2023 season.
“'It’s a special group that's done a lot of things for Cornell lacrosse and given us a significant chunk of their time here to build something very special,” Buczek said. “To be a part of a national championship team, to be a part of a handful of Ivy League championships, and hopefully another here, and hopefully make another run in May.”
Cornell and Harvard will face off at noon on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field, coverage will be available on ESPN+.
