Pioneers Power Up in Fourth Quarter to Defeat Cornell

It was a day of firsts when No. 7 Denver and No. 5 Cornell squared off at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday.

The top-10 matchup was the first home contest against a ranked opponent for the Pioneers under first-year head coach Matt Brown, who ascended to the top spot after longtime DU coach Bill Tierney announced his retirement following the 2023 season.

When Denver ultimately emerged with a 17-16 victory, it was the first time the Pioneers had won that matchup in three meetings between the teams, and it spoiled Cornell’s first trip to Denver in program history, by far their longest road trip of the season.

“We’ve never beat Cornell,” Brown said. “We’ve beaten a lot of great programs both here and on the road. So, to take a historic program in our sport like that, that has multiple national championships and played in the final four two years ago, to beat them in this type of atmosphere and this type of fashion, that’s a great day to be a Pioneer.”

DU trailed for much of the game after back-to-back goals from Cornell’s CJ Kirst, a USA Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason All-American. Kirst’s goals sparked a 5-2 run across the final eight minutes of the second quarter that allowed the Big Red to build a 9-6 lead at the break. Cornell led for the entire third quarter, despite the Pioneers closing to 11-10 midway through the period, and took a 14-12 advantage into the final 15 minutes.

But from there, it was all Denver in a multitude of ways. The Pioneers won all eight faceoffs in the fourth quarter, scored on both their man-up opportunities and came away with 15 of 20 ground balls.

JJ Sillstrop cut into the Big Red’s lead with the first goal of the fourth quarter, then Noah Manning whipped a shot between two Cornell defenders scrambling to close a gap, bulging the back of the net with a high finish to tie it 14-14 with 10:43 to go. The Big Red went back on top less than 90 seconds later on a goal from Willem Firth, an edge they would hold for more than three minutes before the Pioneers netted two goals just seven seconds apart to gain their first lead since the start of the second quarter. The first came when Manning found the net by tiptoeing around the crease and swatting home a goal.

On the ensuing faceoff, the ball squirted out toward the north sideline and directly to long-stick midfielder Ryan Giles. The senior made a beeline toward the cage and chopped in his first goal of the season from at least 25 feet away.

Richie Connell added a man-up goal with 4:55 to go, enough padding for Denver to survive Danny Caddigan’s tally in the game’s final two minutes.

While Manning’s five goals were a career-best mark, the Pioneers’ junior attackman shifted credit for the victory to the rope line and faceoff man Alec Stathakis.

“We have the best faceoff guy in the country in Alec Stathakis,” Manning said. “He’s the hardest-working guy on the field and he’s going to get us the ball.”

Beyond Manning’s big day, Sillstrop netted a hat trick for the Pioneers and Jack Tortolani added two more goals. Ten different players scored for Denver, which has now unseated two top-10 blueblood programs after beating Johns Hopkins 13-12 in overtime in Baltimore. That victory, too, took a comeback effort, something Brown said his program can handle.

“You’re never out of it in this sport, which we’re thankful for,” the DU coach said. “In some sports, you get down two or three scores and the next thing you know, the game might be over. Lacrosse is so action-packed and there are so many plays in the middle of the field. We have a phenomenal rope unit that can push the ball in transition and you saw that today with Casey Wilson getting a goal and Ryan Giles getting a massive goal in the fourth quarter.”

Cornell’s scoring was much more concentrated, led by Firth with four tallies. Kirst, Caddigan and Spencer Wirtheim chipped in three goals apiece.

Big Red coach Connor Buczek said his team maintained solid offensive intensity but needs to improve on discipline moving forward.

“Kudos to that Denver team,” Buczek said. “They’re well-coached, able to execute in a lot of situations and they fight. Every time we opened that gap they seemed to claw away at it. We need to get better at closing out some situations and maybe be a little more disciplined and stay out of the box. Obviously, that contributed at points to their run. Can’t take anything away from Denver because they’re a great team, but we need to keep getting better and hopefully this was a good learning moment for our team.”

HOPKINS TOPS UNC FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN

Brendan Grimes is coming to life, a welcome development for Johns Hopkins.

A senior midfielder, Grimes scored three goals and added an assist in the Blue Jays’ 13-9 victory over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He now has six goals over the last three games after going scoreless in the first two.

Freshman Jimmy Ayers added two goals—the first of his career—and an assist to help Hopkins to its fourth straight win. Midfielders accounted for eight of the Blue Jays’ 13 goals.

The real story, however, was Hopkins’ close defense, which held the Tar Heels’ starting attack scoreless on 0-for-13 shooting. Freshman Quintan Kilrain got his first career start alongside veteran stalwarts Scott V. Smith and Beaudan Szuluk, who combined for 11 ground balls.

Goalie Chayse Ierlan made 13 saves, outdueling Collin Krieg (11).

NOTABLE

Everyone’s favorite underdog story, NJIT improved to 5-0 with its third one-goal win over the season. Owen Corry scored with 51 seconds remaining to lift the Highlanders to an 11-10 victory over Manhattan. NJIT had never won more than three games in a season before this year.

Quinnipiac might just be for real. For the second straight week, the Bobcats defeated a highly regarded New England foe. Dylan Donnery had four goals and three assists and Mason Oak made 19 saves to lead Quinnipiac to a 13-10 win over Bryant. The Bobcats, who beat Brown last week, are 3-0 for the first time since 2013.

No Jack Posey, no Kevin Parnum, no problem for Penn State. Missing their top two defensemen, the Nittany Lions nonetheless suffocated Navy, blanking the Midshipmen for nearly the entire second half in a 13-3 victory in Annapolis. Will Peden scored four goals and Jack Fracyon made 15 saves in the win, the third straight for Penn State after getting upset by Colgate in its season opener.

A week after Army blew out Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights got a measure of redemption against another Patriot League stalwart, throttling Loyola 13-5. Three different players contributed hat tricks for Rutgers, which scored the first three goals and never looked back.

Princeton’s young offense was no match for Maryland’s veteran defense as the Terps led from start to finish in a 13-7 win over the Tigers. Maryland moved to 4-0 for the sixth time in eight seasons. Eric Spanos scored a career-high four goals, Eric Malever tied a career high with five points (two goals, three assists) and Luke Wierman won 20 of 23 faceoffs.

For the second time in four days, Harvard rallied in the fourth quarter to remain undefeated. Coming off a comeback win over Bryant, the Crimson trailed Bucknell 8-1 in the first half and were down four goals in the fourth quarter before exploding for six goals in fewer than five minutes en route to a 13-12 victory.

Tynan Walsh had two goals and five assists and Emmet Carroll made 16 saves to lead unranked Penn to an 11-10 win over No. 14 Delaware in the first meeting between the teams since 2000. The Quakers trailed 7-4 in the third quarter but went on a five-goal run to take control of the game.