The Big Red missed double-digit scoring for only the second time this season, dropping a 13-9 decision to the Quakers for the home team’s second loss to Penn this season. With the win, Penn advances to the 2024 Ivy Tournament finals. Cornell’s record fell to 9-5, while the Quakers improved to 9-5 on the year.
Senior Hugh Kelleher led the Big Red attack with three points on a goal and three assists. Freshmen Ryan Goldstein and Luke Gilmartin each put up two goals. Marc Psyllos rounded out Cornell’s multipoint scorers with two assists. Psyllos went 12-for-23 from the faceoff X. Knust made 11 stops in the game.
Ben Smith was the lone player to grab a hat trick in the contest, tallying three points for the Quakers. Leo Hoffman posted two goals and an assist for three points as well. James Shipley, Conell Kumar, and Davis Provost put up two goals apiece. Tynan Walsh added two apples, and Luke DiNola completed the list of multi-point scorers with a goal and an assist. Chris Arceri went 9-for-15 at the faceoff, and Penn goalkeeper Emmet Carroll made 19 saves for a .679 save percentage.
FIRST QUARTER
- It took the Big Red all of six seconds to get on the boards when a faceoff violation against the Quakers on the opening pull. Marc Psyllosfound Luke Gilmartin from almost fifteen yards out to get the Big Red a 1-0 advantage.
- The Quakers were held off the boards for nearly four minutes before getting a goal with 11:01 remaining, followed by Penn taking its first lead less than four minutes later to bring up the media timeout.
- Out of the break, Cornell had the answer with a score when Alex Holmes had a solo goal for his first score of the season.
- Five scoreless minutes ensued until the Quakers found the net with 1:14 remaining in the first, bringing up a 3-2 Penn lead after 15 minutes of action.
SECOND QUARTER
- Cornell again opened the scoring again in the second quarter when a shot by AJ Nikolic had so much spin that after the initial stop from Penn netminder Emmet Carroll dribbled into the net.
- Penn outscored the Big Red the rest of the quarter 4-1, to bring a three-goal lead into the second half.
THIRD QUARTER
- Cornell and Penn traded goals twice before a find from Kelleher to Firth helped cut the deficit to two and bring up the media timeout with 6:41 remaining in the quarter.
- One more for each team brought up a 10-8 score at the end of the third, with the Big Red trailing.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Penn killed off a two-minute penalty to open the final quarter of action, keeping the Cornell attack at bay.
- A second two-minute penalty was awarded against the Quakers with 10:28 remaining in the quarter, and the Penn man-down again earned the kill after a one-minute slash was assessed to Jayson Singer to make 5-on-5 lacrosse for the final 45 seconds of the two-minute unreleasable.
- After both man-down units killed off the penalties, Penn found the goal to grow the lead, but Psyllos and Gilmartin replicated their first-quarter magic with a goal seven seconds after the faceoff win off a Penn violation.
- Penn tacked on two more to finish out the win, 13-9, to advance to the Ivy League Tournament championship.
BIG RED NOTABLES
- CJ Kirst extended his point streak to 48 games.
- Marc Psyllos posted a 10+ faceoff win for the eighth time this season.
- First-year Luke Gilmartin posted his first multi-goal game of his career.
UP NEXT
Cornell awaits its fate with the NCAA Tournament when the selection show goes down on Sunday, May 5. Coverage begins at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].