Cornell’s stingy defense kept the Big Red ahead for much of Sunday’s NCAA quarterfinal Sunday at Ohio Stadium. A relentless ride finished the job.
The Big Red scored two goals off bungled clears in the fourth quarter, John Piatelli scored three goals and Chayse Ierlan made 15 saves as seventh-seeded Cornell pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 10-8 victory over unseeded Delaware in Columbus, Ohio.
The Big Red (13-4) will meet sixth-seeded Rutgers (15-3) in Saturday’s semifinals in East Hartford, Conn. Cornell advanced to its first semifinal since 2013, and did so after entering the NCAA tournament with three losses in four games.
“These guys never lost belief and they never lost faith that we have what we need in that locker room,” Cornell coach Connor Buczek said.
Tye Kurtz scored five goals for the Blue Hens (13-6), the Colonial Athletic Association champions who were seeking their second trip to Memorial Day weekend and first since 2007.
Delaware, which upended second-seeded Georgetown last weekend in the first round, had its eye on another surprise when it took a 4-2 lead late in the first quarter. But Cornell silenced the Blue Hens for 26:09 to move ahead 7-4 in the middle of the third quarter
“It was a great overall defensive performance, I think,” Ierlan said. “Everyone was making plays, picking up balls off the ground, picking off passes.”
Yet Delaware had one burst in it. Kurtz rattled off three goals in a row to tie it at 7 before the end of the third quarter, setting the Blue Hens up to follow the same hang-around-and-win-it-late approach that worked so well a week earlier.
Cornell had other ideas, and the Big Red’s possession dominance (helped by Angelo Petrakis’ 15 of 19 showing on faceoffs) helped wear Delaware down. Also vital was the Big Red’s ride.