Cornell University’s second one-goal victory over Richmond this season has the Big Red headed back to the Final Four.
Andrew Dalton scored with 5 minutes, 28 seconds left to break a 12-12 tie as Cornell prevailed, 13-12, in an NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse quarterfinal May 17 at Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York.
Ryan Goldstein paced top-ranked Cornell (16-1) with four goals and two assists.
Dalton scored three goals for Cornell, and CJ Kirst — the all-time goal-scorer in NCAA history — contributed two goals and two assists.
This will be the 15th Final Four for Cornell, which won national championships in 1971, 1976 and 1977. The 16th victory matched the unbeaten 1976 team for the most in program history.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” Cornell head coach Connor Buczek said in the postgame press conference. “They stayed the course, they kept fighting. They went further, longer, harder and made the plays when necessary.
“It wasn’t always the prettiest game, and certainly that’s a great team with great ballplayers, great coaches. Not taking anything away from them, but they made us work for everything we got today.”
Richmond had possession in Cornell territory in the closing seconds, but the Big Red prevented the Spiders from getting a shot off.
The Spiders finished with a 14-4 record, including two losses to Cornell. The Big Red won the first matchup, 12-11, on March 2.
Max Merklinger had three goals and an assist for Richmond.
Up Next
Cornell will play the winner of the May 18 meeting between defending champion Notre Dame and Penn State in a semifinal at noon March 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 26 at the same site.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Cornell men’s lacrosse team headed to final four after edging Richmond
Reporting by Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
