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UNIONDALE, N.Y. — CJ Kirst is a man on a mission. Anyone who dares step in his path, he lays waste to. It just so happens that Syracuse was his latest victim.

The fifth-year senior has tormented teams around the country this season with video-game-like numbers, leading the country in goals (4.9) and points (6.6) per game. It’s led him to be the runaway favorite for the Tewaaraton Award.

Attempting to completely shut him out is treated as an afterthought. Even containing him is something every team has subsequently failed at, recording at least five points in seven games this season. Kirst can beat teams anyway he wants. He has the size — standing at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds — to get by anyone in a one-on-one matchup. If defenses send two bodies his way, Kirst will simply find the open man.

Defending Kirst is like a riddle. One that Syracuse failed to solve Saturday.

Kirst put on a show at Nassau Community College, as No. 1 Cornell (10-1, 4-0 Ivy League) defeated No. 4 Syracuse (9-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) 17-12. The fifth-year senior recorded eight points (five goals, three assists) as SU conceded its most goals of the season. Despite Kirst’s notoriety, Syracuse constantly lost track of him, which led to his outburst. The performance puts Kirst on the brink of history. He started Saturday 11 goals away from breaking Payton Cormier’s all-time NCAA scoring record, and now he’s just five away.

“He’s the best player in the country,” Cornell head coach Connor Buczek said postgame. “He’s a superstar. But he does it in flow. He does it so efficiently.”

Syracuse is quite familiar with Kirst. In two career games, he’s recorded 11 points. Last season, he registered a game-winning goal in overtime after Cornell came from seven goals down. During Gary Gait’s weekly media availability, when asked about what he’d do to slow down Kirst, the head coach cracked a joke.

“Don’t let him score,” Gait said with a wry smile.

In a more serious tone, Gait said they’d give Kirst a couple of looks and make sure he didn’t have any easy scoring opportunities. He ended the answer by saying:

“We’re hoping we can execute (the game plan). Have some luck with it.”

Luck isn’t going to get you anywhere when defending Kirst. That was evident with 2:02 remaining in the first half when Kirst had six points, and Syracuse had five goals.

Kirst constantly found crevices in Syracuse’s defense, patiently waiting to strike. SU opted to use Billy Dwan III as Kirst’s primary defender, but whenever Kirst contributed to a goal, Dwan was sometimes nowhere to be seen. He got caught out chasing after loose balls or failed to switch a screen, which allowed Kirst to wreak havoc.

Gait felt the Orange were fine when playing six-on-six, but getting caught out of position led to their downfall.

“It was their whole offense,” Gait said. “They scored five or six goals off ground balls off scramble plays.”

After a scoreless opening six minutes, Kirst punished Dwan for double-teaming Michael Long along the goalline. Kirst unleashed a snipe into the top right corner, leaving Jimmy McCool no chance.

McCool picking the ball out of his net after a Kirst shot was common practice Saturday. He denied Kirst once, who scored on five of his six shots on target. Kirst can wind up from wherever seemingly getting his hands free no matter how much space he has. Kirst and Cornell gave the sophomore, who finished with a season-low 30.4 save rate, fits throughout the contest.

Later in the first quarter, McCool had to deal with Kirst getting wide open yet again after Cornell won a loose ball. Letting Kirst get free is a recipe for disaster, and Syracuse allowed that to happen way too much.

By the end of the first quarter, Cornell led 5-2, and Kirst had four goal contributions.

“He’s a guy that we can lean on and get us going at any given time,” Buczek said, “When we need the spark, he gives us the spark. When he needs the ground ball, he gets his ground ball. He’s just a guy that’s reliable, steady, as good as they come.”

Cornell’s offensive firepower is no secret. The Big Red entered as the nation’s leading offense with 15.9 goals per game. They’re not just a one-man show, with Long and Ryan Goldstein — who also recorded eight points — making a three-headed snake at attack. But Kirst is the engine behind it all.

When the Big Red need a play, they go to him. So, when they were looking for an early knockout blow in the first half, they went to Kirst. Amid a 5-0 scoring run, he was isolated in the middle of the field against Dwan. Kirst received a screen, which completely took Dwan out of the picture. Nathan LeVine failed to rotate over and left Kirst with a wide-open path to the goal. Kirst roofed a right-handed shot to give Cornell a commanding 8-2 lead.

The goal followed the same theme — Kirst having it too easy.

Kirst finished the half, picking up a loose ball behind the cage, easily curling around and finishing low. He was barely touched before scoring, signaling a lack of attention to detail from Syracuse’s defense.

“The eight points are great, but I think when we watch the tape, the amount of plays that he makes that change that game aren’t the things that show up in the stat sheet,” Buczek said. “He’s a heck of a ball player, and he’s making our team better right now.”

It was an uncharacteristic performance from Syracuse’s defense, which has allowed eight goals per game since letting up 15 against Harvard on Feb. 22. Just last week, the Orange held Notre Dame scoreless for 40 minutes. Cornell’s a different beast. More specifically, Kirst.

He capped off his scoring, once again getting isolated against Dwan, this time on the right wing. Kirst received a screen again and spun back upfield, which shook him loose of Dwan. Michael Grace tried to slide, but it was too late as Kirst unleashed his fifth and final tally of the day. This one put Cornell up 12-7 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

A Long tally 53 seconds later put Cornell up six for the second time. Though the Orange cut that deficit to two both times, it was too much to overcome as the Big Red outscored them 4-1 in the fourth quarter.

Kirst didn’t record a point during that stretch and only had one across the final 22 minutes, but he didn’t need to. The damage was already done. For the fifth time this season, Kirst recorded an at least seven-point outing.

At this point, it’s customary for Kirst. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. For anybody, Saturday would’ve been a career highlight. For Kirst, it’s just another day at the office.

Published on April 12, 2025 at 10:02 pm
Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22