No Comeback This Time Around as Men's Lax Falls to Cornell, 16-8

PHILADELPHIA – For the second straight weekend, the 15th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team found itself down by a sizable margin late in the third quarter of its game against an Ivy League opponent. Unlike last Saturday, when the Quakers regrouped for a comeback win, there was no rabbit in the hat this time around as defending NCAA champion and 12th-ranked Cornell left Franklin Field with a 16-8 victory.

Penn moved back to .500, both overall (5-5) and in Ivy play (2-2). Cornell improved to 3-1 in league action and 6-3 overall.

Quaker Notemeal

*Cornell outshot Penn, 38-34, although the Quakers held a 22-12 advantage in the second half.

*The Big Red also won the faceoff X, 17-10, although senior FOGO

Ethan Costanzo had a solid day with six wins in 10 draws (.600).

Griffin Scane, who along with Costanzo was one of 16 seniors honored prior to the contest ahead of their final home game, led the Quaker attack with three goals. It was his fourth hat trick this season and his first since February 27. Scane also had an assist.

*Penn's only other multi-point player on Saturday was freshman

Quinn Langton, who dished out three assists.

*Junior

Davis Provost kept his goal and point streaks alive—he's had at least one in every game this season—but the team's leader in goals and points was held to just one goal.

*Penn's other goal scorers on Saturday were junior

Anthony McMullan—the SSDM netting his second this season—sophomore

Nate Lucchesi, and freshmen

Jackson Maher and

Quinn Ball. For the FOGO expert Ball, it was his first collegiate point.

*Sophomore defenseman

Dante Vardaro recorded two caused turnovers and five ground balls on the day.

Jack Pelot went most of the way in goal, coming up with 11 saves before giving way to senior Frank Cacciutti for the final two minutes.

*Cornell used a balanced attack, with seven players scoring goals and nine recording points. Willem Firth (4g/1a) and Brian Luzzi (3g/2a) had five points each, while Ryan Waldman netted a hat trick and Ryan Goldstein finished with four points (2g/2a). In goal, Matthew Tully made 11 saves.

How It Happened

Cornell wasted no time getting on the board Saturday, scoring just six seconds in off the opening faceoff. Penn got it back a little more than two minutes later, Lucchesi scoring on an individual effort, before the Big Red went back in front midway through the quarter. The Quakers tied things at 2-2 with just six seconds left in the first period when Langton found Provost through a host of sticks and the junior sniped one home.

Penn needed just 21 seconds to go in front in the second, Scane finding McMullan and the junior SSDM surprising everyone with his shot that found the back of the net. However, Cornell needed just 36 seconds to tie it back up, then six seconds later another faceoff win led to another Big Red goal. Turnabout was fair play, though, Ball winning the ensuing faceoff and taking it right to the house for his goal. It was a three-goal spurt that took 12 seconds off the clock and left things tied at 4-4.

Things slowed down after that, and gradually Cornell took control. An EMO opportunity was converted with 9:05 left in the period, and then more than five minutes went by before the visitors found the goal again. They scored a third unanswered just 33 seconds later, and a fourth 1:06 after that to double up the Quakers at 8-4. Scane finally found a response, converting a Langton feed, but Cornell answered with just 12 seconds left to take a 9-5 lead at the break.

Penn had nearly all of a two-minute, non-releasable extra-man opportunity to start the second half, but the Quakers couldn't cut into Cornell's lead. Instead, it wasn't until the quarter was more than six minutes old before anyone scored, and it was the Big Red with a beautiful behind-the-back effort. Just 50 seconds later, the Big Red scored again, and then they tacked on two more in the final four minutes of the period. Cornell's lead was 13-5 entering the fourth quarter.

Scane tried to start the comeback, beating several defenders to land on the doorstep and convert just 1:12 into the fourth. However, Cornell scored the next two goals—and more importantly, more than five minutes went off the clock. Maher scored an unassisted goal with 5:42 left, and Scane followed 35 seconds later when he curled off a screen up top and whipped home a feed from Langton. However, that was all the scoring the Quakers could muster the rest of the day.

Up Next

Penn is on the road for its last three regular-season games, starting next Saturday when the Quakers make the short trip North to face No. 4 Princeton in another important Ivy League game. Faceoff with the Tigers is scheduled for noon.

For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.

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