After 35 minutes of lacrosse, the Tigers looked like a team destined for a third consecutive Ivy tournament crown. But in the final 25, everything unraveled. On Sunday afternoon, the No. 2 ranked men’s lacrosse (12–3 overall, 5–1 Ivy League) fell to No. 1 Cornell (14–1, 6–0) in the Ivy League tournament title game.
“They’re a great team, a very explosive team,” Head Coach Matt Madalon wrote to The Daily Princetonian about Cornell. “When they get going, you have to try to slow them down or match their goals. You have to give them a lot of credit. They scored 41 goals in two games in the tournament. That’s impressive.”
The Big Red — hosts of the tournament after an undefeated league regular season — came into the title game after beating Yale (5–8, 3–3) 21–14 in the first semifinal game. Meanwhile, Princeton beat No. 11 Harvard (10–4, 4–2) 11–8.
Despite not winning the Ivy title on Sunday, the Tigers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Madalon’s squad was given the No.3 seed and a date with No.14 Towson (11–5, 7–0 Coastal Athletic Association).
Should the Tigers beat Towson, they will play the winner of No.12 (seeded No.6) Syracuse (11–5, 2–2 Atlantic Coast Conference) and No.11 Harvard. The two sides played earlier this year, with the Crimson winning 15–14. Notably, Syracuse is led by senior midfielder Sam English ’23, a projected top-three pick in the Premier Lacrosse League draft on Tuesday.
In a game filled with runs, the Tigers took their biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter, going up 14–10. However, the nation’s No. 1 team went on a 10–0 run, holding Princeton scoreless for over 25 minutes en route to a 20–15 win.
Cornell standout CJ Kirst, the all-time NCAA leading goalscorer, had four goals and two assists. Kirst was named tournament MVP.
Cornell’s star of the night was fellow attacker Ryan Goldstein. The sophomore had three goals and four assists, two days after he had five goals and three assists against Yale. Moreover, Cornell face-off specialist Jack Cascadden dominated the draws, winning 23 of 38 (60.5 percent).
For the Tigers, junior star Chad Palumbo had the best game of his career with four goals and two assists. Palumbo, junior face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin, and sophomore attacker Nate Kabiri were named to the all-tournament team.
“[The] energy and attitude were there all day,” Palumbo wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’
“The guys played with a lot of love and trust,” he added. “[A] few minutes in the beginning and end of the game ended up being the decider, but a loss like this can be a blessing in disguise if we deal with it the right way.”
Princeton found itself in trouble early, falling into a 4–0 hole against Cornell. The Tigers opened in a zone defense, but Cornell picked it apart with ease, scoring on its opening possession and adding two more following a turnover and a transition goal.
However, the Tigers roared back. Kabiri got Princeton on the board with under seven minutes left in the quarter. Moments later, Palumbo powered through contact to score a second, drawing a two-minute unreleasable penalty on Cornell in the process.
“They’re [Kabiri and Palumbo] both outstanding players who have a great sense for the goal,” Madalon wrote. “They’ve also both shown consistently in their time here that they like to have the ball in big spots. I wasn’t surprised by how either one of them played today.”
The Tigers capitalized on the man-up advantage with a hidden-ball trick that cut the deficit to one. With under a minute to play, Palumbo found sophomore attacker Colin Burns for the equalizer, completing the comeback. Four unanswered goals in just over five minutes erased a disastrous start for the Tigers.
It took only seven seconds in the second quarter for Kirst to score his first of the game, giving the hosts a 5–4 lead. Cornell continued to capitalize, taking a 7–4 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Princeton started to garner momentum after three consecutive face-off wins by McMeekin. Burns and Palumbo, and junior midfielder John Dunphey each scored for Princeton to tie the game at seven. Both sides traded goals with Kirst and Palumbo finding the back of the net.
With under a minute remaining, Princeton earned another man-up opportunity, capitalizing on it to take its first lead of the game, 9–8. Heading into the locker room, the Orange and Black held its slim one-goal advantage in what was a game of runs.
Despite McMeekin winning just five of the 18 face-offs, Princeton took advantage of its man-up opportunities, picked up runs, and stayed resilient despite going down multiple times.
To start the second half, senior standout attacker Coulter Mackesy scored his 163rd career goal, tying the program record set by Jesse Hubbard ’98. A face-off win by McMeekin led to a goal from sophomore midfielder Tucker Wade, putting Princeton up 11–8.
Kabiri capped off an 8–1 run with a perfectly placed shot as the Tiger bench erupted. But the nation’s top offense responded with two straight goals to cut the deficit to one. Palumbo’s career day continued with his fourth goal, making it 13–10. Less than 10 seconds later, junior midfielder Quinn Krammer found Kabiri, who completed his hat trick.
“Complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ first, and then 100 [percent] confidence in the 51 guys that make up this team,” Palumbo wrote. “Every goal scored takes 6 guys to dodge, feed, pick, and give good spacing. Grateful that I found the back of the net today, but in [the] Tiger offense, it’s a different guy stepping up every game.”
Cornell answered with its 11th goal before both teams went scoreless for over five minutes as rain poured and defenses tightened. With just over two minutes left in the third, Cornell earned its first man-up opportunity. Three quick passes led to a goal by Cornell attacker Willem Firth, trimming the Tiger lead to two.
After Cornell goalie Wyatt Knust made his 12th save of the night, Cornell’s Hugh Kelleher scored in transition. Kelleher — the Ivy League midfielder of the year — completed his hat trick. Despite a four goal lead at one point, Princeton held a slim 14–13 lead after three quarters of play.
It was Kelleher again who started the scoring in the final quarter. After consecutive penalties gave Cornell’s offensive unit two man-up opportunities, Goldstein made it 15–14. Fortunately for the Tigers, they only gave up one goal during the unreleasable two-minute penalty after McMeekin won a crucial face-off.
Back at full strength, Goldstein completed his hat trick and assisted Firth to extend Cornell’s lead to three. Cornell’s onslaught continued as Kirst scored his third of the game. In doing so, he broke Cornell’s program record with 67 goals in 2025. The dagger came with 5:36 remaining as Kirst scored number 68, getting by senior defender Colin Mulshine.
When the final buzzer sounded, Cornell won its first Ivy tournament title since 2018. Moreover, the 35 goals were the most in an Ivy tournament title game. For Cornell, it marked the fourth time they scored 20 goals this season. Knust finished with 15 saves while junior goalie Ryan Croddick made 12 for Princeton.
“I think everyone on our team has great faith in our systems,” Madalon wrote. “The game today doesn’t define a season. We won 12 games against a really tough schedule. We just have to refocus on what makes us successful and continue to do those things.”
The focus now turns to Towson, which started the season 1–5, but have won 10 in a row since. In 2017, they made it to the final weekend of the tournament. They are led by midfielder/attacker Mikey Weisshaar, who has 68 points (46 goals, 22 assists) on the season. Fellow attacker Ronan Fitzpatrick has 39 goals on the season.
“The goal is clear. Love, trust, and desperation take us there,” Palumbo concluded.
Madalon said, “We also have to understand the urgency of this time of year. There are no second chances now.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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