With its sights set on the 2022 campaign, the Cornell men’s lacrosse team has unveiled its schedule for the upcoming season. Featuring a pair of 2021 NCAA Tournament teams and an always-challenging Ivy League slate, the Big Red’s long-awaited return to the field will be nothing short of exciting.
Fans won’t have to wait long to see Cornell in action at Schoellkopf Field, as three of Cornell’s first four games will take place at home. For the first time in 714 days, the Big Red will take the field when it opens the season against UAlbany on Feb. 19 at the Crescent.
After getting one game under its belt in front of a home crowd, Cornell will face an early season test when it travels to 2021 NCAA qualifier Lehigh on Feb. 26. The Mountain Hawks are coming off of a record-setting season, going 10-2 overall in 2021, including a perfect 8-0 record in Patriot League play. Lehigh’s eight conference wins set a school record, and it marked the program’s first undefeated Patriot League season since 2013. In addition, the contest will feature family ties, as Cornell sophomore attackman CJ Kirst will go head-to-head with his brother, Lehigh attackman Cole Kirst.
The Big Red will return to Ithaca for home games against Ohio State on March 5 and Hobart on March 8. Cornell’s matchup with the Buckeyes will be a rematch from 2020 when the Big Red edged Ohio State, 17-16, in Columbus, Ohio. The Big Red’s series with Hobart is filled with history, standing as the longest-running series in the history of collegiate lacrosse. This season, the Big Red and Statesmen will meet for the 139th time.
Cornell will hit the road for four of its next five contests, starting with a game on March 12 at Penn State. The last time the Big Red was in action in 2020 was against none other than the Nittany Lions in a game that ended in dramatic fashion with face-off specialist Angelo Petrakis running the length of the field to score the game-winning goal with just eight seconds left, giving Cornell the 18-17 victory on March 8, 2020 at the Crown Lacrosse Classic.
The Big Red will kick off Ivy League play on March 19 at home against Yale, who was the NCAA Runner-up the last time the conference played in 2019. Defending Ivy League Champion Penn follows the next weekend when Cornell travels to Philadelphia to take on the Quakers on March 26. A mid-week non-conference tilt at Colgate on March 29 precedes another Ivy League contest at Dartmouth on April 2.
Three of Cornell’s final five contests of the season will be at Schoellkopf Field, starting with a battle against Harvard on April 9. Back-to-back non-conference games against 2021 NCAA qualifier Syracuse on April 11 and Army on April 16 lie ahead for the Big Red. Cornell will venture to the historic Carrier Dome for its matchup with the Orange, while Army will make the trek to Ithaca, N.Y. Army will be the third-and-final Patriot League opponent that Cornell faces in 2022, with the Army Black Knights coming off a season that saw the team go 7-4 overall and 5-2 in conference action in route to a Patriot League Tournament semifinal appearance.
Cornell’s regular season schedule will conclude with two Ivy League games, as the Big Red will host Brown on April 23 before traveling to Princeton for its conference finale on April 30. The top four teams in the Ivy League standings will square off in the conference tournament from May 6-8.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].