Ned Harkness may have been the guest of honor at Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game between No. 11 Cornell and No. 19 Dartmouth, but Cornell junior Sean Greenhalgh stole the show. He scored the game-winning goal with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lead the Red to a tense 12-11 victory.
The goal, which Greenhalgh scored after recovering a rebound in front of the Dartmouth goal, was his third of the game and 94th in his Cornell career. He moved into sixth place on the Red’s all-time scoring list. Greenhalgh was also one of seven Red players to record an assist.
The game was a ferocious back-and-forth battle between two teams which tied for the Ivy League title a year ago. After the Green controlled the pace of play early — winning the first four faceoffs and scoring the game’s first goal only 20 seconds in — the Red went on a 3-0 run to take the lead. However, goals by Brad Heritage and Ben Grinnell gave Dartmouth a 4-3 advantage after the first quarter.
Cornell’s notoriously stifling defense took control of the second period, as the Red limited Dartmouth to five shots in the quarter. Meanwhile, Cornell scored four consecutive goals at the start of the quarter to open up a 7-4 lead. Tom Daniels broke the scoreless streak, firing his second goal of the game past Cornell freshman goalie Matt McMonagle from six yards out with 35 seconds remaining in the half.
Two minutes and 11 seconds into the quarter, Heritage scored his second goal of the game to tie the score at 9-9. At 8:44, Danehy scored to give the Green a 10-9 lead. However, goals by juniors Justin Redd and Kevin Nee gave Cornell back a 11-10 lead with just under two and a half minutes remaining.
At 13:09, Jamie Coffin scored for Dartmouth off an assist by Russell Radebaugh to again tie the game, setting the stage for Greenhalgh.
With less than 10 seconds remaining, Dartmouth goalie Andrew Goldstein allowed a rebound after saving a shot on goal. The ball trickled to Greenhalgh just outside the crease. Greenhalgh scooped up the ball and fired a laser into the right corner at 14:56 for the game winner.
Greenhalgh was one of four players to score three goals in the game. Nee Redd, and Danehy also scored three times, while seniors Andrew Collins, Dave Pittard, and Nee each recorded three assists.
McMonagle recorded eight saves in 45:46, while senior Brandon Ross had three saves in just under a quarter of playing time.
It was the Red’s seventh consecutive victory against Dartmouth.
Archived article by Owen Bochner
Sun Sports Editor