Revisiting last season’s wild matchup between Syracuse, Cornell
Last season, then-No. 4 Syracuse led by seven goals in the first quarter, but fell to then-No. 13 Cornell 18-17 in double overtime. Maxine Brackbill | Senior Staff Photographer
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When Syracuse and Cornell face each other, there are always fireworks. The past two meetings were crazy back-and-forth matchups, both of which featured wild comebacks by Cornell. The first came on April 11, 2022, when then-No. 5 Cornell erased a five-goal first-quarter deficit to defeat Syracuse 16-15 in overtime.
Last season on April 2, 2024, SU led 7-0 after 12 minutes and looked to be cruising to a victory. That was before Michael Long and CJ Kirst led a furious comeback, eventually downing SU 18-17 in double overtime. The Orange didn’t score for over 20 minutes in the second half and let a six-goal lead slip.
For the first time since that dramatic day in Ithaca, SU and Cornell meet again Saturday. This matchup promises to be just as jam-packed. In March, the Orange and Big Red won a combined nine games. Both squads returned many pieces from last season, meaning SU will be looking for revenge, while Cornell attempts to cement itself as national-title favorites.
Before No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) much-anticipated rematch with No. 1 Cornell (9-1, 4-0 Ivy League), here are the biggest talking points from last year’s game:
Turning point: Pat March’s ejection
Syracuse offensive coordinator Pat March is the mastermind behind its explosive attack. Through the first quarter of last year’s edition, March had the Orange firing on all cylinders but got ejected with 15 seconds left in the frame.
After Syracuse went up 7-0 following Billy Dwan III’s between-the-legs pole goal, Kirst got Cornell on the board. Long added another toward the end of the quarter, causing some commotion from SU’s sideline.
When Cornell gained possession, long stick midfielder Brenden Staub crept offside, but the refs didn’t catch it. March argued the call, leading to an unsportsmanlike conduct flag. Per head coach Gary Gait, the official threw another flag when March asked what the initial one was for. The second flag led to March’s ejection, with Syracuse leading 7-2.
“It was clearly a missed call, and Cornell went down and scored,” Gait said postgame. “We were not real happy about it. We just let the official know that his mistake cost us a goal. I guess he didn’t like that and proceeded to come over to our bench and our coaching and started getting into it with coach March.”
Without March, Gait took control of the offense. There wasn’t a drop off immediately, as the Orange still totaled a season-high 14 goals in the first half. Though March’s absence was felt after halftime, when Syracuse notched just three goals. Joey Spallina and Luke Rhoa scored to increase SU’s lead to six in the third quarter, but it didn’t score again until Sam English’s game-tying goal with a second left.
SU’s offense was out of sorts in the second half and overtimes, recording more turnovers (13) than shots (10). Gait thought March’s absence affected SU’s execution.
“As an offensive coordinator, he does a tremendous job and is excellent at what he does,” Gait said. “Obviously, stepping in to replace him was tough to do. We work so closely with the offense. But we had tons of opportunities in that second half and overtime to put this game away and unfortunately we didn’t make the plays.”
Cornell streams onto the field in celebration following its comeback double-overtime 16-15 win over Syracuse last season. Maxine Brackbill | Senior Staff Photographer
The game was won when: Wyatt Knust stuffed Finn Thomson in 2OT
Wyatt Knust didn’t start against Syracuse. When Mathew Tully allowed 14 goals on 20 shots in the first half, Cornell head coach Connor Buczek turned to the backup. Two years earlier, versus Syracuse, Buczek made the same decision. Chayse Ierlan couldn’t make a save on seven shots in the first quarter of the 2022 matchup, which led to Knust taking over.
Knust made eight saves on 16 shots that day to slow Syracuse’s offense. The same happened last year. Knust allowed just three goals and recorded nine saves.
His signature moment? Denying Finn Thomson on the crease in the second overtime. Spallina received a pick from Michael Leo at X and dished a perfect feed to Thomson, who quickly released what looked to be the game-winner. Knust angled his stick perfectly to thwart Thomson’s effort.
On the other end, Spencer Wirtheim got a pick from Kirst. Dwan and Wyatt Hottle both went to Wirtheim and left Kirst wide open for a step down. Kirst took advantage as he rifled a low shot past Will Mark to cap Cornell’s stunning comeback.
Quote of the day: Gait on the overtime collapse
“In every single one, we’ve had opportunities to win the game,” Gait said. “Unfortunately, we’re just not making the play.”
This wasn’t Syracuse’s first overtime rodeo last season. The Orange had two other overtime contests, both of which ended in heartbreaking fashion. The first came against then-No. 4 Maryland, where Leo seemed to have scored the game-winner, but it was waved off for a goal-mouth violation. George Stamos ended the game on the ensuing possession.
Against then-No. 5 Army, Christian Mulé missed an open goal from midfield, which allowed the Black Knights to win it on the other end.
Kirst’s game-winner marked Syracuse’s latest overtime failure. The Orange had chances to win in all three games, but as Gait said, they didn’t make enough plays when they needed to.
Syracuse’s Sam English and Owen Hiltz jump in celebration of English’s game-tying goal with one second left in regulation to push the game to overtime, where the Orange lost in double-overtime. Maxine Brackbill | Senior Staff Photographer
Player of the game: Michael Long
Long completely tore apart Syracuse’s defense, registering a career-high nine points. Long isn’t as physically imposing as Kirst, standing at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, but he’s just as skilled, and the Orange couldn’t stop him. Whether it was his goals or elite vision, Long had a complete performance versus SU. His slick moves from X were too fast for Syracuse’s long poles Dwan and Riley Figueiras.
While Kirst is a pure goal scorer, Long initiates Cornell’s offense. He catalyzed the Big Red’s comeback. Across a 27-minute stretch from the second quarter to five minutes left in the fourth, Cornell scored nine goals; Long either scored or assisted six of them. Though he didn’t contribute to any of the final three goals, Cornell wouldn’t have won without Long.
Top storyline for the rematch: How will Syracuse defend CJ Kirst?
Kirst is the odds-on favorite to win the Tewaaraton Award and is an absolute nightmare matchup. He leads the country in points per game (6.6), while his lowest points in a game this season is three. Outside of that, Kirst has had fewer than five points just once this season. That begs the question: does Syracuse let Kirst get his way and shut down Cornell’s other weapons, or does it sell out to stop Kirst?
The graduate student will likely be guarded by Figueiras, who’s done an excellent job as SU’s main cover guy this season. Syracuse probably won’t leave Figueiras completely on an island, but defensive coordinator John Odierna will definitely trust the long pole to stifle Kirst.
