No. 1 Cornell proves too much for UAlbany men's lacrosse in NCAA First Round

ITHACA, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The No. 19 University at Albany men's lacrosse team fell to No. 1 Cornell, 15-6, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night in Ithaca. The Great Danes struck first and stayed within two at the half, but the Big Red pulled away in the second half with a dominant offensive performance, led by CJ Kirst's six goals. UAlbany was paced by two goals from Silas Richmond.
  
Key Stat Lines  

• Silas Richmond led the Great Danes with two goals on five shots on goal.
• Jackson Palumb (1G, 1A) and Ben Wimmer (2A) matched with two points each.
• Conner Fingar, James Reid and Koleton Marquis each added one goal.
• Ryan Doherty added one assist on the day.
• Three Great Danes – Brady Smith, Rocco Mareno, and Jacob Smith – all led with three ground balls each.
• Cade Galko and Max Neeson anchored the defense with two caused turnover each.
• Rocco Mareno went 9-for-20 at the X.
• Brady Smith made nine saves in goal.  

Head Coach Scott Marr: "I'm incredibly proud of these guys. From August until know, it’s just been awesome. They just made it enjoyable to come to work and practice every day… I'm just so full of pride in how hard we played tonight and the effort that we gave. Credit to our kids… Cornell is a hell of a team, super talented all over the field."

How it Happened:  

• Silas Richmond got UAlbany on the board first with an unassisted shovel shot at 9:58 in the opening quarter.
• Cornell responded with a 3-0 run to end the frame. Michael Long tied the game at 4:43, CJ Kirst scored off a Ryan Waldman assist at 3:45, and Long added his second just 14 seconds later from TJ Lamb, putting the Big Red ahead 3-1 after one.
• In the second quarter, James Reid found twine at the 9:40 mark off a feed from Ben Wimmer, trimming the deficit to one.
• Cornell answered with another goal from Kirst, but Jackson Palumb kept UAlbany within reach, scoring unassisted at 3:30 to make it 4-3.
• Kirst recorded an un-anassisted tally of his own two minutes later, pushing the Big Red advantage to two at halftime.
• Kirst notched his fourth goal just 55 seconds into the second half off a pass from Michael Long. Brian Luzzi followed at 9:31, Hugh Kelleher struck unassisted at 6:31 and Kirst scored again on another assist from Long to make it 9-3.
• Koleton Marquis snapped that run with a goal at 1:09, assisted by Wimmer, which sent UAlbany into the fourth trailing 9-4.
• Cornell opened the final quarter with back-to-back goals from Willem Firth and Kirst - his sixth of the game - to extend the lead to 11-4.
• Hugh Kelleher scored his third goal of the day before Richmond found the back of the net for a second time. He was assisted on the play by Jackson Palumb; trying to give the Great Danes some life.
• But Cornell answered again. Kelleher added another from Michael Long, and Ryan Sheehan scored off a Ryan Goldstein assist just over a minute later.
• The Great Danes' last strike came at 4:28 with a goal from Conner Fingar, assisted by Ryan Doherty, before Firth finished the game with a feed from Kelleher at 15-6.

 
Next: With the loss, the 2025 season officially comes to a close. Stay up to date with UAlbany men's lacrosse by following the team on X (@UAlbanyMLax) and Instagram (@ualbanymlax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.