The Big Red got big revenge.
Last year, Penn upset the then-first seed Cornell 13-9 in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals. But today, the script has completely flipped. In Ithaca, Penn (4-6, 1-2 Ivy) found themselves on the wrong side of a 15-5 blowout against No. 1 Cornell (7-1, 3-0 Ivy).
The landslide started with an early 4-0 for Cornell, coupled by a few man-up opportunities when Penn players were called for violations. Junior attacker Griffin Scane fired off a shot that sailed past into the right side of the goal. But while Scane’s goal gave some hope of a potential comeback and momentum push, Cornell was firing on all cylinders on the offensive end and scored three more goals to end the quarter — including a hat trick by attacker Michael Long.
Cornell had its share of heroics with goals coming from eight scorers, including two goals from attacker CJ Kirst. After today’s performance, he has 204 career goals. The 2024 Tewaaraton Award Finalist needs only 18 goals to break the NCAA leading scoring record, currently held by Mac O’Keefe of Penn State.
Penn couldn’t get that same offensive firepower going. Its five goals today are the least amount of goals they’ve scored all season. So far this season, they have broken double-digits four times and have only averaged 8.7 goals per game.
But for the Red and Blue, their 37 shots today were only one goal behind Cornell’s 38. Still, Cornell goalkeeper Wyatt Knust and the rest of the defense stood strong to prove why they are currently the best in the country.
In total, Penn went on a 24:37 long scoring drought that further deterred them from mounting a comeback. Scane’s goal came with a little under five minutes left in the first quarter, and it was not until the third quarter that sophomore attacker/midfielder Davis Provost found the back of the net.
Before today, the defense — anchored by the Tewaaraton Award Watch List senior goalkeeper Emmet Carroll and defender Brendan Lavelle — had been steadfast on protecting the cage. In the past five games, they had only allowed as many as 11 goals, either securing the team to victory or keeping it tight in neck-and-neck battles. Today, though, the Big Red’s offense had every answer to a usually stout defense.
During the second half, Penn had a little more success on offense, including a set of back-to-back goals. But desperation to mount a comeback only led to more errant passes and turnovers. On the day, they committed 15 turnovers. They also were not as successful on the clears, going 15-17 on the day.
Now, Penn has three more Ivy games left on the schedule before the end of its season closer at defending champion Notre Dame.
Next, they face off against Yale at Franklin Field on April 5 in hopes of getting an Ivy League Tournament berth.
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