On a chilly, wet day in Ithaca, No. 1 Cornell (7-1) dominated the University of Pennsylvania (4-6). The Red held the Quakers to just one goal in the first half in its impressive performance.
“The sixty minute effort on both sides of the ball, in the middle of the field [and] on special teams I thought we executed really well today,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17.
Penn came into the game looking to ride its star goalkeeper, Emmet Carroll. Carroll was the reason that Penn was able to beat Cornell twice last year, posting an impressive 65 percent save percentage against the high powered Cornell offense in 2024.
Today, the Red was able to solve Carroll.
Senior attackman Micheal Long, who exited at halftime against Yale with a shoulder injury, was in the starting lineup for the Red.
“You’ve got to lean on your guys,” Long said. “We have a great training staff … it’s one of those games I did not want to miss.”
Sophomore midfielder Willem Firth opened the scoring by skipping one past Carroll on the wet turf. With a flag down, sophomore midfielder Ryan Waldman made it 2-0.
Again with a delayed penalty on the play, Long opened his tab for the day. Senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher, who drew the penalty, scored on the ensuing man-up. Penn followed with its first goal of the day.
The second midfield line of Cornell responded with the goal coming from Waldman, assisted by senior midfielder Ryan Sheehan. Long added another and then completed his hat trick to end the quarter with a score of 7-1, Cornell in front.
In the second quarter, Carroll got a piece of a shot from Sheehan, but it trickled over the goal line and Cornell pushed its lead to seven. Senior attackman CJ Kirst scored his first two goals of the game soon after. Feeling the momentum, senior long stick midfielder Walker Wallace tried to go behind the back while wide open on the doorstep, but sent the shot wide.
The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with Cornell in a commanding 10-1 lead. Sophomore attackman Ryan Goldstein pushed the lead to 10 to start the second half. This was followed by junior long stick midfielder Brendan Staub dotting the top corner.
Trying to spark a monumental comeback, Penn finally scored its second and third goals of the game. The Quakers then got a two minute, non-releasable man-up chance to sandwich the final intermission. But they wasted the opportunity.
Penn extended its scoring run to four, but Cornell was able to defend its lead for the rest of the match and secure the 15-5 victory.
“We’ve reached a level of maturity that I’m really proud of, and I think we’re going to keep building,” Long said.
Long and Kirst led the way for Cornell, with Long posting six points on four goals and two assists.
“He brings a different factor to our offense, and it’s not just the things that show up on the stat sheet,” Buczek said. “We’re going to keep leaning on him to lead our group.”
Kirst had a pair of goals and three assists. Staub also showed up for the Red, picking up four ground balls and scoring a goal.
Senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust closed the day with 12 saves on 17 shots — a 71 percent save percentage. Carroll did not fare as well, saving just 8 of 23 shots for a 35 percent save percentage.
Junior faceoff Jack Cascadden was dominant from the dot, winning 12 of 19 for a 63 percent faceoff win percentage.
The Red will remain at home but have a quick turnaround for their game on Tuesday against the University of Albany.
“We’ve got a ton left in the tank,” Long said. “We’re going to be kicking on all cylinders; [I] can’t wait for that game.”
Faceoff between UAlbany and Cornell will take place at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf field, and live coverage of the game will be available on ESPN+.
