The Cornell Big Red saw their season come to a heartbreaking end Saturday afternoon as Johns Hopkins escaped with a 9-8 overtime victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell finished its season 14-5 after winning the Ivy League regular-season title and reaching the Ivy League Tournament championship game, while Johns Hopkins advanced with the win.
FL1 FORECAST: Dangerous heat builds this week as Finger Lakes enters summer's hottest stretch Cornell appeared in control early, building a 6-3 halftime lead behind a strong second quarter from freshman Rowyn Nurry, who scored back-to-back goals to help stretch the advantage. The Blue Jays, however, completely shifted momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Red 3-0 while limiting Cornell to just three shots to even the score heading into the fourth.
The teams traded goals throughout the final quarter before Brian Luzzi buried the equalizer with 3:27 remaining to force overtime. Johns Hopkins ended the game just 1:15 into the extra session when Jimmy Ayers finished off a feed from Matt Collison for the game-winner.
Nurry led Cornell with three goals, while AJ Nikolic added two scores. Ryan Goldstein contributed a goal and two assists, and Willem Firth added a man-up tally late in the first half.
Yankees lose third straight to Red Sox Goaltender Matthew Tully was outstanding despite the loss, stopping 17 shots over more than 62 minutes, including two key saves in overtime before Ayers finally broke through. Jack Cascadden won 12-of-19 faceoffs and collected 11 ground balls in his final collegiate game.
Firth’s goal moved him into a tie for 14th on Cornell’s all-time scoring list with 106 career goals, while Brendan Staub finished his career fourth in program history with 65 caused turnovers.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.