Delaware Falls to No. 7 Cornell in NCAA Quarterfinals 10-8
Hunter Peters
BOX SCORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 22, 2022) – Delaware’s run in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament came to an end in the national quarterfinals as the Blue Hens fell to seventh-seeded Cornell 10-8 Sunday afternoon at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Cornell improves to 13-4 on the season and advances to face sixth-seeded Rutgers in the NCAA Semifinals on May 30. The setback snaps a seven-game winning streak for Delaware as the Blue Hens conclude the season 13-6.
The fourth quarter made the difference as Cornell scored three straight goals that put the game out of reach after entering the final period tied 7-7. Michael Long initiated the run by breaking the tie at the 10:06 mark in the period. Spencer Wirtheim tacked on the second goal of the quarter with 6:49 remaining in the game before Billy Coyle made it 10-7 one minute later.
Tye Kurtz recorded his fifth goal of the game and the final tally for the Blue Hens with 40 seconds left on the clock to make the final score 10-8.
Cornell jumped out to an early, scoring 55 seconds into the contest courtesy of a John Piatelli goal. Piatelli added another tally at the 7:48 mark in the opening stanza to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead.
The Blue Hens responded with a 4-0 run that allowed Delaware to lead 4-3 after 15 minutes of play. Kurtz opened the scoring for Delaware before
Clay Miller added a pair of goals, separated by a long pole goal from
Owen Grant. Miller’s first goal and Grant’s goal came just 11 seconds apart, giving the Blue Hens their first lead of the game.
Wirtheim added the final goal for the Big Red to close out the first quarter, giving Cornell momentum they carried into the second. The Big Red added a pair of scores in the second quarter and shut out the Blue Hens to take a 5-4 advantage at the half.
The run continued into the third as Cornell netted the first two goals in the second half, giving the Big Red a 5-0 run and a 7-4 lead. Piatelli capped the run, securing a hat trick in the game.
However, Delaware would not go down without a fight. The Blue Hens scored three goals over the final six minutes of the third quarter to even the score heading into the fourth. Kurtz accounted for all three goals, breaking a 26-minute scoring drought with his goal at the 6:00 mark that cut the deficit to 7-5. He tied the game with just 13 seconds remaining in the quarter, capping the 3-0 spurt.
Delaware held slight advantages in shots (37-36) and shots on goal (23-22); however, Cornell maintained a substantial 16-6 advantage at the face-off X and collected 39 ground balls to 25 for the Blue Hens.
Kurtz led all scorers with his five goals, while Piatelli paced Cornell with his hat trick. Both goalkeepers went toe-to-toe between the pipes as
Matt Kilkeary made 12 saves and posted a .545 save percentage for Delaware, while Chayse Ierlan turned away 15 shots, recording a .652 save percentage for Cornell.
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