Brown Men’s Lacrosse Falls to #6 Cornell

The sixth-ranked Cornell Big Red (10-2, 4-1 Ivy League) jumped to an 11-6 halftime lead and held the Brown Bears (5-7, 1-4 Ivy League) at bay to take a 16-9 road win Saturday afternoon at Stevenson-Pincince Field.

Matteo Corsi led the Bears offensively with his third career hat trick with four other Bears recording multiple points.

Following the game, Brown honored its 11-member Class of 2023 for their contributions to the Brown Men’s Lacrosse program and Brown Athletics as a whole.

“Our team never quit, they kept battling and I’m proud of that. I’m proud of our team playing the whole game,” said head coach Mike Daly. “That’s a good team, they made plays and they answered every run we took and credit to them. They had the answers today and that’s what good teams do.

“It’s brutal to see the look in those seniors’ eyes, I feel like we’ve let them down. We really cannot thank them enough and I’m appreciative of everything they’ve done for this program and for me.”

Brown took an early 3-2 lead halfway through the first quarter as Corsi tallied goals 15 and 16 on the season with sophomore Wells Bligh adding his fourth of the campaign.

Cornell sophomore CJ Kirst recorded a natural hat trick to give Cornell a 5-3 lead, one they would not relinquish. Cornell’s Billy Coyle and Brown senior Griffin King traded goals to close out the first quarter.

The Big Red stretched their lead to five in the early minutes of the second quarter with three straight goals, including Kirst’s fifth of the afternoon.

Brown cut into Cornell’s lead with goals from Marcus Wertheim and Corsi, but the Big Red responded to close the half with two goals to re-claim the five-goal cushion.

Devon McLane struck twice, including once man-up, and Tanner Burns added his second goal of the season in the third quarter to bring the Bears back within three, but Coyle’s goal late in the quarter pushed Cornell’s lead back to 13-9.

The high-powered Cornell offense added three goals in the final frame to take the 16-9 win.

Brown heads to Bryant (9-3, 4-1 America East) to take on the Bulldogs on Tuesday, April 25 in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. Tuesday night’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and the winner will claim the Ocean State Cup.