Princeton Falls To Cornell In A Thriller, Looks Ahead To Ivy Tournament

Saturday, April 29

Ithaca, NY

3:00 PM

Princeton University

9-5, 4-21

Cornell

5-8, 32-3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Princeton Tigers	5	4	4	4	17
Cornell	5	6	4	3	18

Gavin McBride went over the 100-goal mark for his career in the loss to Cornell.

Photo by: Robert Goldstein

Princeton Falls To Cornell In A Thriller, Looks Ahead To Ivy Tournament

April 29, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

The 20th save came on the 81st shot and kept the goal total - for Princeton infuriatingly so - at 35.

Christian Knight's save on Austin Sims as time expired preserved an 18-17 Cornell win over Princeton Saturday afternoon on Schoellkopf Field on a wild day that saw goal after goal, big performance after big performance and no lead safe until Cornell eventually held on for the win.

The game wasn't decided until Sims - who had a four-goal, five-point day - launched the last shot of the day, just before time expired, after a restart with 2.3 seconds left as the Tigers went man up. Knight was able to go down and snag it, and that was the game.

Princeton ends the regular season at 9-5 overall and 4-2 in the Ivy League. The Tigers were locked into the No. 2 seed for the coming Ivy League tournament and a date with Brown at Yale (Friday, 3:30, ESPNU) before the Cornell game started, while the Big Red knew that this was the final game for 2017, regardless. The loss did keep Princeton from sharing the Ivy League title with Yale, who had lost earlier in the day to Harvard.

The game was a showcase for some of the best players in the country, especially the two freshmen, who made their first encounter a very memorable one.

Cornell's Jeff Teat had a 12-point day with five goals and seven assists as Cornell built a 15-9 third quarter lead, but the Tigers came storming back, eventually tying it at 16-16 and 17-17 before Cornell's Jake McCulloch scored his sixth of the day, with 2:24 left, for what proved to be the game-winner.

Teat finishes his freshman season with 72 points, which broke the Cornell freshman record of 67, previously held by Rob Pannell. That had been the Ivy record too, but Princeton's Michael Sowers had broken that last week. Sowers had a four-goal, three-assist day of his own, running the record to 77 points, which also happens to be one off the Princeton single-season record.

NOTES

* Gavin McBride had five goals for Princeton. He became the 12th player in Princeton history to reach 100 career goals, and he became the second Princeton player ever to reach 50 for a season. He now has 51 for the year, trailing only Jesse Hubbard, who holds the school record with 53.

* Zach Currier had a goal, two assists, three caused turnovers and 12 ground balls while winning 13 of 25 face-offs. Currier now has 22 goals, 34 assists and 114 ground balls.

* Sowers now has 37 goals and 40 assists. He is two goals away from tying the Ivy League record for goals by a freshman (39, by Cornell's Sean Greenhalgh in 2002) and three assists away from tying the Ivy freshman record for assists (43 by Kevin Lowe of Princeton in 1991). Sowers also passed Jesse Hubbard (72) and Jon Hess (74) to move into second place at Princeton, one point back of Mike MacDonald for the single-season record.

* Sims played his third game since returning from an injury that cost him four games in mid-season. He now has eight goals and three assists in the three games he has been back.

* The Ivy League tournament will be Princeton vs. Brown and Yale vs. Penn Friday, followed by the championship game Sunday at noon.