The 2025 Cornell men's lacrosse team has left nothing to chance.
After being left out of the NCAA Tournament in 2024 - despite winning the Ivy League regular-season championship - the Big Red was determined to control its own destiny this season.
The result has been nothing short of historic.
Cornell (14-1), ranked No. 1 in the nation, clinched its spot in the NCAA tournament by beating second-ranked Princeton, 20-15, on May 4 in the Ivy League championship game. It's the Big Red's first Ivy tournament title since 2018.
Riding a 10-game win streak, longest in the nation, Cornell is the top seed heading into the NCAA Tournament and next plays on May 11 at 7:30 p.m. against the University at Albany at Schoellkopf Field. The Great Danes (10-8) held off Siena, 11-9, on Wednesday in the opening round.
The Big Red prepare to play Princeton.
"The failure [to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament] hurt," said Connor Buczek '15, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Lacrosse. "But the scars create a callus. They create a toughness and a resilience. All of these experiences have gotten us to where we are today."
Leading the way against Princeton was co-captain CJ Kirst '25, who scored four goals and added three assists. Kirst made history on April 26 against Dartmouth when he became the NCAA's all-time leading goal-scorer, with the 225th of his career.
Kirst made a little more history on May 6 when he was the first player taken in the Premier League Lacrosse (PLL) draft by the Philadelphia Waterdogs. He joins all three of his older brothers in becoming a professional lacrosse player.
"It's always been my dream to keep playing lacrosse," said Kirst, whose career goals total stands at 233. He has a team-high 68 this season, to go along with 30 assists. "I'm a huge fan of the league and what they're doing for the game, so to be able to join my older brothers is pretty cool."
Driven by disappointment
Kirst and fellow co-captain Michael Long '25 lead a battle-tested cohort of seniors who have glimpsed the top of the lacrosse mountain.
The Big Red lost to Maryland, 9-7, in the 2022 national championship game, coming up just short in the school's bid for its first NCAA team title since 1977.
That loss, and the bitter end to the 2024 season, drive the team each day - on and off the field.
"The biggest takeaway from the 2022 final is having a blueprint for how to build a team that contends," said Long, who was named an honorable mention All-American in 2024 and is Cornell's third-leading scorer this year (27 goals, 30 assists). "The seniors on that team left us something to emulate and now we're in a great spot."
Krist said they played a critical role in showing him how to be a leader.
"They never seemed to have a bad day, and if they did, they didn't show it," Kirst said. "They had a strong relationship with every single guy in the locker room and brought their best every day on the practice field."
Jayson Singer '25, who was just named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, said having the bar set so high as a freshman, and then not meeting that standard the last two years, has motivated the team leaders.
"We really want to make this year different and make sure we left on a season we could be proud of," Singer said. "We want to leave the program in even better shape than we found it."
Cornell co-captain CJ Kirst celebrates after scoring against the Tigers.
Buczek, who was a three-time All-America midfielder at Cornell, believes this year's seniors recognize how important the daily work is to building a championship-caliber team.
"They've been stellar," Buczek said. "It's not easy feeling the urgency in the summer and fall, and even in the middle of the season. But they've recognized how thin these margins are and have held everyone on the team to the high standards of Cornell lacrosse."
The Cornell culture
Cornell's legacy in college lacrosse runs deep, having produced many legendary players and coaches. But the one name most associated with the Big Red and its high standards is Richie Moran.
Moran became the head coach of Cornell in 1969, and went on to win three national championships (1971, '76, '77) and 15 Ivy League titles in 29 years.
His legacy only grew in retirement, where he became the program's biggest supporter. He maintained close ties with the coaches who came after him and all players in the program. Moran, who died in 2022, always stressed the importance of properly representing the university he came to love.
"Richie was a connector of people," Buczek said. "He had a great passion for how Cornell lacrosse players carried themselves."
Buczek credits Moran for the intense support Cornell lacrosse receives from lacrosse alumni.
The Big Red beat Princeton, 20-15, to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They open play May 11 at home against the University at Albany.
"His relationships created the strength of our culture," Buczek said. "The fact that guys don't just come back occasionally - they come back all the time - is all due to Richie's influence."
Traces of the strong bonds Moran fostered are on display at each Cornell game. Long is a second-generation Big Red lacrosse player: His father, Steve '87, played for Moran.
"It's been a blessing being part of such a tradition," Michael Long said. "The beautiful thing about this program is it's player-agnostic. Guys come and go but the culture is always set in stone and carried down to the new players."
Cornell's players and coaches won't be overlooking Albany - whom they defeated, 18-11, on April 1 - when they hit the field Sunday night.
They'll spend this week reviewing video of last weekend's games. "We'll correct any fundamental issues we see, and Thursday we'll start turning our attention to our opponent," Long said.
Buczek said it's a unique week in that the Big Red didn't know who their opponent would be for several days. "It gives us time to just focus on our team and what we can do better," he said.
With four more games standing between Cornell and the apex of college lacrosse, the Big Red will be taking nothing for granted.
"We're going to play every game like it's the national championship," Singer said. "We know now that we can't have any slip-ups. We're not leaving any stone unturned."
