(Photo Courtesy of Cornell Athletics)
While the final nine minutes and change were only seen by those in attendance due to a power issue at Michie Stadium, the top-10 battle between Army West Point and Cornell certainly lived up to the hype.
Cornell came out on top in dramatic fashion as Aiden Blake put home the game-winner off a Billy Coyle feed with just nine seconds remaining. Michael Long had tied it all up at 10-10 with 3:32 left.
Michael Long, playing in just his third game of the season, recorded a hat trick with the game-tying score. He also dished out two assists to end the day with five points. Aiden Blake (2G/1A) was the only other double-digit goal-scorer for a Cornell offense that saw eight different players find the back of the net.
The Big Red’s final two goals saw them tie it up and get back in front to finish off with the win. However, that was the only instance where Cornell had to come back from any kind of deficit as they led for almost the entirety of the game. A four-goal Army run in the fourth quarter that ended with a natural hat trick from Paul Johnson gave the Black Knights their only lead of the game at 10-9 with 7:34 left.
Anchored by a 12-save day from Chayse Ierlan, Cornell held Army to just one goal in both the first and third quarters. During that opening frame, Cornell was able to jump ahead 3-1 and during the third quarter they were able to stay ahead 7-6.
Ierlan made nine of his 12 saves during the first and third quarters alone, facing a combined 26 shots from the Black Knights during those frames. Gavin Adler drew the Reese Burek matchup and held him to one goal and one assist.
For Army, AJ Pilate held Cornell’s CJ Kirst to an 0-for-5 day shooting and to just two assists.
Army, after getting down 4-2 early in the second, was faced with a nearly four-minute defensive stand that saw the Black Knights fail two clears and faced seven shots from the Big Red. Knox Dent made three of his 12 saves on the day during that stretch.
The Black Knights held Cornell of the board for an 11-minute stretch during the second quarter, which included that aforementioned long defensive stand, and allowed just two goals for a lengthy stretch in the second half of play.
In this defensive battle, it was Cornell who dominated possession for the majority of the contest. The Big Red went 6-for-12 (50%) at the dot during the first half and won two of the three draws in the third quarter, combining to go 8-for-15 (53%) through those first three frames. Cornell also held Army to a 16-for-20 (80%) mark in the clearing game with all four of those failed clears coming during the first half. The Big Red caused five of Army’s 11 turnovers on the day.
Army tied the game up three times (4-4, 5-5, 9-9). However, Cornell was able to answer each time and do so in a seemingly bigger way. In the third quarter, Cornell got a pair of scores from Ryan Sheehan and Christopher Davis that came after stops on the other end and on the back half of transition sequences. Rory Graham put home the first score of the fourth quarter as an Army penalty expired. Spencer Wirtheim put home a diving score minutes later to make it a 9-6 game with 11:40 left. And of course, Long and Blake put in those final tallies for the win after Army pulled ahead.
The Black Knights got off two shots late to potentially make it a two-goal game. One went wide and the other was gobbled up by Ierlan.
Paul Johnson led Army with four goals and one assist. Knox Dent, who made his return after missing the last two weeks with an injury, made 12 saves. Will Coletti went 13-for-24 (54%) at the dot and went 6-for-9 (66%) in the fourth quarter.
Cornell (9-2, 3-1 Ivy League) hits the road again next week as they face Brown in Providence. Army (9-2, 6-0 Patriot League) heads to Annapolis next week for a nationally televised battle against arch rival Navy under the lights.
Duke Holds off Virginia
For the 25th time in the last 27 meetings between these two ACC foes and for the second time this season, the Duke Blue Devils have beaten the Virginia Cavaliers. This time the Blue Devils achieved the win 15-14 on the road.
Virginia outscored Duke 10-5 in the second half of play and scored the final three goals, as well as seven of the last 10. However, the Cavaliers’ comeback fell short. Duke’s William Helm made two game-saving stops late to ensure the win, stopping a Payton Cormier shot with 13 seconds left and Jeff Conner shot at the buzzer.
Helm made 12 saves on the day to anchor the Duke defense. Kenny Brower (4GB) drew the Connor Shellenberger matchup once more. Shellenberger, who returned to the Virginia lineup after being out last week, had one goal and two assists.
Andrew McAdorey (3G/1A) led Duke with four points on the day while Brennan O’Neill (2G/1A), Dyson Williams (2G/1A), Tommy Schelling (2G/1A), and Owen Caputo (2G/1A) all had identical stat lines.
Jake Naso went 21-for-32 (65%) at the facroff dot. Naso went 11-for-15 (73%) in the first half alone and proved to be a near guarantee for Duke in the possession game.
Dyson Williams scored the first goal of the game and Brennan O’Neill followed a minute later. From that point on, the Blue Devils’ offense avalanched through the rest of the opening half. A three-goal run to end the first quarter made it a 6-2 game in favor of Duke while they added four more in the second quarter to pull ahead 10-4 at the break.
Virginia, however, wasn’t going to lay down lightly. A Jeff Conner score to end the half was the first of an eventual four-goal Cavaliers run to pull back within three (10-7). The last of those goals came from Connor Shellenberger off a Cole Kastner feed to cap a transition sequence.
After seeing Duke pull back ahead by five (13-8) early in the fourth quarter, Virginia put in a pair from Xander Dickson and Evan Zinn to make it a three-goal game once more. That would be as close as the Cavaliers would get until their three-goal run to end the game that made it a one-goal loss.
Payton Cormier (4G) and Griffin Schutz (3G/1A) each had four points to lead Virginia. Matthew Nunes made 17 saves with 10 of them coming in the second half of play.
Duke (11-2, 4-1 ACC) host Syracuse in its final ACC game of the season in two weeks. Virginia (8-3, 2-2 ACC) host Syracuse next week.
Michael Leo Lifts Syracuse Past North Carolina
The Syracuse Orange snapped their seven-game ACC losing streak that stretched back to March of 2022, taking down the North Carolina Tar Heels 15-14 in a neutral site battle.
Freshman Michael Leo (2G) scored the game-winner for the Orange, getting under his defender and taking a diving shot with just 12 seconds left in the contest.
Leo’s game-winner marked the fifth time in which the Orange were able to get or remain ahead after things were tied. The contest saw five lead changes nine ties.
Syracuse went on two sizable runs during the contest. The fist instance saw them outscore the Tar Heels 6-2 from the 4:18 mark of the second through the 5:33 mark of the third to comeback from down 6-3 and take a 9-8 lead late in the third. The Orange also tied it at 7-7 and got ahead 8-7 during that run, as well.
A Griffin Cook score with 25 seconds left in the third frame was the first of an eventual 5-1 run that helped the Orange pull ahead 14-12 with 6:17 remaining.
North Carolina answered that last Syracuse run with a pair of scores from Griffin Gallagher and Dewey Egan to knot things all up at 14 with 2:43 left. While Andrew Tyeryar won the ensuing facoeoff for the Tar Heels and an immediate timeout was called to draw up a play, the only look they would get was a shot from Harry Wellford that was stopped by Will Mark. The Tar Heels had one more chance in the dying seconds to try and tie it once more, but a Logan McGovern shot would sail wide and roll out as the buzzer sounded.
In addition to Leo’s two scores, Joey Spallina (2G/2A) and Cole Kirst (3G/1A) each had four points. Will Mark made 13 saves.
Logan McGovern (3G/1A) and Lance Tillman had four assists. Andrew Tyeryar went 20-for-29 (68%) at the dot.
Syracuse (8-5, 1-3 ACC) moves to play Virginia on the road next week. North Carolina (7-5, 1-3 ACC) travels next to play Notre Dame.
Three Winners and Three Losers
Winners: Yale Bulldogs
Yale came into the weekend allowing 14.44 goals per game this season and had allowed an average of 17.75 goals against Ivy League opponents. However, it was the Bulldogs’ defense who helped to lead the way in what was an Ivy League tournament elimination game versus Brown. The Bulldogs beat the Bears 16-10 and held the opposition to just two goals in the second half. Yale trailed 4-1 early in the game. Chris Lyons (7G/1A) led the Yale offense.
Winners: Vermont Catamounts
Vermont beat Bryant 13-12 on Saturday afternoon in what was a battle of unbeaten teams in league play. With the win, the Catamounts clinch a playoff spot and take over as the sole top team in the America East. Freshman Tristian Whitaker led the way with five goals. Matt Shaffer anchored the Catamounts’ defense with 11 saves, helping to stave off a late-game effort from the Bulldogs.
Winners: Syracuse Orange
The saying ‘Syracuse is a year away’ has been said all season long. And it is likely true. With many new and young faces leading the way for this Orange squad, head coach Gary Gait has himself an extremely talented team that has shown its youth all season. However, this group got their first ACC win together on Saturday evening in a game that they would almost certainly lose had it been played a month or so earlier. It is also of not that Saturday’s win came after a wire-to-wire win at Princeton last week.
Losers: Army West Point Black Knights
Losing by one goal in a top-10 battle in the regular season should be no utterly momentum-shifting result in a negative sense. And it’s not. But a win for Army would have done wonders to give them more cushion as selection Sunday approaches. A slow start and the fact that Cornell was able to counter ever punch the Black Knights threw is what held the Black Knights down. They now head into two tough games over the next two weeks: at Navy and vs Boston U. Both will be uber-important for postseason implications.
Losers: Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State got run out of Homewood on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 17-7 decision to Johns Hopkins in what was a 10-8 game at the half. The Buckeyes only scored one goal in the second half and left the Blue Jays up them 7-0 in the third quarter alone to pull away. It is the second conference game in which they were unable to hit double-digits. In a Big Ten that looks tighter and tighter every week, Ohio State is the bottom feeder.
Losers: Drexel Dragons
As always, the CAA brings the craziness. On Saturday, Drexel played its worst game in over a month as they fell to Hofstra 8-7. It marked their first loss in CAA play. The Dragons were held to just two goals in the first half and held off the board for a nearly 27 minute stretch.
Conference By Conference Notes
America East
- Merrimack defeated UMass Lowell 13-10 on Friday night.
- UAlbany defeated NJIT 13-7.
ASUN
- Robert Morris defeated Queens 14-10 to earn its second consecutive league win.
- After an early 3-0 deficit, Jacksonville pulled away to top Lindenwood 15-5.
- Air Force blasted Detroit Mercy 22-7.
- Utah pulled away to a 22-12 win over Mercer.
- Bellarmine plays Cleveland State on Sunday.
A10
- Mason Bregman had a career-high five points (5G/1A) to help UMass 14-3.
- Stephen Dwyer put home the game-winner as Saint Joseph’s knocked off Hobart 11-10.
- Richmond beat High Point 13-9 in a battle between old SoCon rivals.
Big East
- Denver escaped St. John’s 12-10.
- Villanova blasted Providence 20-8.
- Tucker Dordevic put home the game-winner to push Georgetown past Marquette 15-14 in OT.
Big Ten
- Michigan host Penn State on Sunday.
- Rutgers host Maryland on Sunday.
CAA
- Towson beat Hampton 20-1.
- Delaware topped Stony Brook 12-9.
- Max Paparozzi (4G/1A) and Bryce Ford (3G/2A) each had five points to help lead Fairfield past Monmouth 15-14 in a must-win CAA game.
Ivy League
- Penn topped Harvard 15-9 to get back to .500.
- Princeton topped Dartmouth 17-7.
MAAC
- Wagner beat Canisius 10-8 to earn its second MAAC win.
- Siena pulled off a big 10-6 win over Manhattan. Christian Watts (3G/1A) led the Saints.
- Mount St. Mary’s won its seventh straight game as it topped Sacred Heart 13-12.
- Quinnipiac topped VMI 14-13.
- Marist beat LIU 16-10 behind a seven-point (2G/5A) day from Jamison Embury.
Patriot League
- Bucknell beat Holy Cross 18-12.
- Boston U. ran past Loyola 16-9.
- Navy won its fourth consecutive game as the Midshipmen beat Lafayette 9-6.
- Lehigh led Colgate with 2:17 left in the first quarter when inclement weather postponed the rest of the game to Sunday at noon.
This article will be updates after Sunday’s games
Lacrosse Bucket 