It seemed that senior attackman CJ Kirst had no achievement yet to complete. In last week’s Ivy opener against Princeton, Kirst broke Cornell’s all-time scoring record, securing his place in program history. He topped the national leaderboard for points per game. He has already earned three Ivy League Player of the Week recognitions.
Who else did he have to one-up but himself?
In the team’s first road conference match, Kirst netted nine goals to break his own single-game high, previously set at seven on March 2, 2024 against Ohio State. Not only did he set a personal best, but he scored more goals than any other player has in a single game in 2025.
“CJ [Kirst] is an exceptional individual,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15 MBA ’17 after Kirst’s historical performance against Princeton. “He’s a person that makes our team better because of how he carries himself, because of his love for the game. No surprise that he’s reached the feats he has.”
Buoyed by Kirst’s domination in front of the net, sophomore attackman Ryan Goldstein’s personal record of eight assists, and characteristic offensive depth, No. 4/3 Cornell (6-1, 2-0 Ivy) took a 19-14 win over Yale (1-5, 0-2 Ivy).
Kirst opened the game’s scoring less than two minutes after the first whistle off an assist from Goldstein. He went on to score the first four goals of the game for Cornell, giving the Red an early 4-1 lead.
Yale clawed one back before Cornell got a pole goal from sophomore midfielder Walker Schwartz. The lefty converted a shot from deep for his first career goal.
Cornell and Yale traded pairs of goals from there to close the first 15 minutes of play. Kirst, left alone on the right side of the field, netted his sixth goal of the quarter to bring the Cornell lead to 7-4.
Yale was the first to score in the second quarter, but Goldstein rattled home an answer just nine seconds later, his first goal of the game.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to 8-7, but Cornell’s offense used some quick ball movement to open up Kirst for a wide open shot that he did not waste. Yale answered with a goal from Chris Lyons, who posted 62 goals in 2024 and has been bouncing back from a disappointing early season.
The last eight minutes of the first half would be dominated by Cornell. Senior attackman Micheal Long scored twice and was followed by Kirst ripping an on-the-run, sidewinding shot into the top corner. This marked a new career high in goals for Kirst with 8, with time still on the clock in the first half.
Trying to score to beat the halftime buzzer, Long dove toward the crease and was crunched by Yale defenders. This resulted in a Yale penalty, and Long would not return to the game.
Long, who has been an integral part of the Red’s offense in his sixth season on the team, has battled several injuries during his time at Cornell.
“[Long] has been a leader for many years as a three-time captain,” Buczek said prior to the 2025 season. “He’s a guy that has been through it, has had his setbacks, and has a handle on what it is that makes him move to the best of his abilities every day.”
Yale made it 12-9 to open the third quarter but left sophomore attackman Willem Firth wide open on the crease. Firth buried his first of the game to put Cornell up by four.
Two penalties on Yale in the same possession — one offside and one slashing — led to a two-man-up opportunity for the Red. Cornell was stonewalled on this chance by Yale goaltender Hugh Conrad, but Firth ripped a low-to-high shot later in the possession that put the Red in a commanding five goal lead.
Kirst added on, picking up a ground ball and immediately slotting it home. The next strike came from senior attackman Danny Caddigan, who easily finished a feed to the crease from junior midfielder and attackman Brian Luzzi. Cornell closed the third quarter with a 16-9 lead.
Caddigan scored again to open the final stanza on yet another Goldstein assist. Luzzi scored a low, long shot which chased Conrad from the game, Jared Paquette taking his place inside the crease for the Bulldogs.
Yale was finally able to find another with just over 10 minutes to go, breaking their 18 minute scoring drought. They followed with another goal after senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust gave up a bad rebound. Lyons then scored three straight to cut the Red’s lead to 18-14 with two minutes left in the game.
“[Yale] puts pressure on constantly in the course of the game,” Buczek recalled before the match. “They really make you defend for 60 minutes. They make it hard, so it takes a great, cohesive defensive unit [to win against Yale].”
Though the game had a chance of repeating the crushing defeat to Penn State earlier this season, in which Cornell lost despite holding a four-goal lead two minutes from final time, the Red were able to hunker down and defend its position. After a faceoff violation from the Bulldogs that gave the Red possession, Yale couldn’t find its way back to the offensive zone.
With seven seconds left on the clock, Goldstein, with an assist from Kirst, found the back of a wide-open net to come away with a 19-14 win.
Though Kirst took responsibility for half of the Red’s scoring, seven Cornell players earned goals, with both Kirst and Goldstein notching 10 points on the day. Long, despite exiting late in the first half, took four points with two goals and two assists, and Firth earned two goals and one assist for three points.
Despite allowing five goals in the final ten minutes of play, Knust made 13 saves on 27 shots for a 48 percent save percentage.
Junior faceoff and midfielder Jack Cascadden won 17 of his 31 faceoffs, good for a 55 percent win percentage, while freshman Michael Melkonian went one for four.
The Red now turn their attention to No. 16/17 University of Pennsylvania, who they will face at Schoellkopf Field at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. Last year, the Quakers upset Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals to prematurely end the Red’s season, a memory that will no doubt be at the forefront as the team prepares for next weekend. Coverage of the high-stakes rematch will be available on ESPN+.
