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Men’s lacrosse falls to Cornell despite third quarter lead, misses playoffs

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Michael Sowers against Cornell on Saturday Photo Credit: Patrick Tewey / GoPrincetonTigers

Men’s lacrosse (7–7, 2–4 Ivy) was defeated 14–13 by Cornell University (10–4, 4–2) on Saturday, eliminating the team from Ivy League playoff contention and cutting its season short. 

Cornell scored first, making it 1–0 a minute and a half into the first quarter. Sophomore attacker Chris Brown responded at 11:18 for the Tigers, tying it up. For the rest of the quarter, however, Cornell was able to keep Princeton contained and finished the quarter 4–2.

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An early goal in the second quarter brought Cornell up 5–2, but good defense and goals from junior attacker and captain Michael Sowers, senior middie Charlie Durbin, and senior attacker Emmet Cordrey enabled Princeton to rally and finish the half with the game tied 6–6. 

Two quick goals in the third quarter from the Big Red put them up two over the Tigers, 8–6, but once again Princeton was able to rally and this time sustain it. Three goals from Sowers and a goal each from junior attacker Phillip Robertson and first-year middie Jake Stevens had Princeton up 11–9 by the end of the quarter. 

The two-point lead wasn’t enough for the team though — to qualify for the Ivy League tournament they had to win by three. With six minutes to go in the final quarter the Tigers were up 12–10 and just needed one more. Cornell responded with a three-goal run in the final minutes, and although Sowers was able to put away one in the final 90 seconds, Cornell’s Clarke Petterson scored with four seconds left in the game to make it 14–13 in the Big Red’s favor. 

Cornell outshot Princeton in every quarter with totals at 56 for the Big Red and 39 for the Tigers, but Princeton’s shot accuracy was much higher than Cornell’s — 64 percent versus 52 percent. 

Even though the defeat crushed the Tigers’ hopes for a postseason, some players hit impressive numbers.

Sowers became the program’s all-time points record holder after his performance on Saturday. The captain had seven goals — no one else scored more than one — and an assist to himself. He moved from being tied with Kevin Lowe ’94 at 247 points to 255. 

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Sowers also broke his own program record for points in a single season. The eight points obtained on Saturday pushed him past his old record of 83 to set a new record of 90. After his second goal of the game he became the first Princeton player and sixth ever Ivy League player to have at least 100 career goals and 100 career assists.

For the first time in 21 years, three Princeton players hit at least 30 goals during a single season. Cordrey’s single goal against Cornell brought his season total to 30, adding him to the list along with Sowers (37) and Brown (34). Brown has scored at least one goal in every game he’s played at Princeton. 

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