Cornell Big Red Men's Lacrosse

The Cornell Big Red men's lacrosse team represents Cornell University in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. The Big Red have won four NCAA national championships and currently compete as a member of the Ivy League. Cornell plays its games at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. Three Cornell men have won college lacrosse's highest honor, the Tewaaraton Award: Max Seibald in 2009, Rob Pannell in 2013, and CJ Kirst in 2025.

History

As a member of the Ivy League, Cornell has won 33 conference championships (21 outright, 12 shared), more than any other school. Princeton, with 27 conference championships (18 outright, 9 shared) is second. The Ivy League awards the conference championship to the team with the best record at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more teams are tied with the same record the championship is shared.

The Cornell team was undefeated and untied in league play during 18 of their 21 outright championships, the most of any Ivy League team.

Since the introduction of the Ivy League lacrosse tournament in 2010 Cornell has won the tournament three times, in 2011, 2018 and 2025. The Big Red have appeared in the NCAA lacrosse tournament 31 times.

Cornell has won four NCAA championships, the most recent being in 2025 when they defeated Maryland 13–10. It was their first NCAA championship in 48 years, after five runner up finishes beginning in 1978.

Cornell maintains the oldest ongoing rivalry in college lacrosse with the Hobart College Statesmen. Their main Ivy League rivalry is with Princeton.

Cornell has claimed four NCAA national championships and four pre-NCAA era titles. Some of the all-time great lacrosse players and coaches have played for or coached the Big Red, including Mike French, Eamon McEneaney, CJ Kirst, and Richie Moran.

Cornell played their first official season of lacrosse in 1892 and have a record of 826-502-27 (.619) following the 2025 season.

In 2009, Max Seibald won the Tewaaraton Award, awarded to the "Most Outstanding" collegiate lacrosse player in the United States.

In 2013, Rob Pannell won the Tewaaraton Award while leading Cornell to the NCAA semifinals, also breaking the all-time career scoring mark that season.

Eamon McEneaney is one of the top all-time college lacrosse players, McEneaney teamed with Hall of Fame players Mike French, Dan Mackesey, Bill Marino, Bob Hendrickson, and Chris Kane, and coach Richie Moran to lead the Cornell Big Red to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1976 and 1977. His top season was 1975 when he scored 31 goals and handed out 65 assists for 96 total points in 17 games, and was named the USILA player of the year. That year, he was also awarded the Turnbull Award given to the top collegiate attackman. His career was played in an era when freshmen were not eligible to play varsity sports. McEneaney was also an outstanding football player, playing wide receiver. He was named to the All-Ivy second team in 1976, when he led Cornell in receiving and was second in team scoring. He was voted the outstanding player in the 1977 NCAA Championship game and represented the United States in the 1978 World Lacrosse Championships. McEneaney was inducted into the Cornell Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1995, he was named to the NCAA's Silver Anniversary Lacrosse Team, recognizing his place among the best players of the first quarter century of NCAA lacrosse. McEneaney's jersey number (#10) was retired by Cornell University on April 27, 2002, in memoriam.

In April 2025, senior CJ Kirst became the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse all-time leading goal scorer, bringing Cornell the Ivy League regular season title in a game against Dartmouth. Kirst finished his collegiate career with 247 career goals and tied the single season scoring record with 82 goals. Kirst was also unanimously selected as Attackman of the Year in 2025. In May 2025, Kirst became the third Cornellian (and fifth Ivy League student-athlete) to earn the Tewaaraton Award, days after leading his team to its first NCAA title since 1977.

Head coaches

Cornell has had thirteen men's lacrosse head coaches since 1892:

* No Head Coach (1892-1914), 69-65-12, .514 winning percentage
* Talbot Hunter (1915-1916), 7-8-1 record, .469 winning percentage
* Nicholas Bawlf (1920-1939), 62-63-11 record, .496 winning percentage
* Ray Van Orman (1940–1949), 24-45 record, .348 winning percentage
* Ross H. Smith (1950-1961), 75-56-3 record, .571 winning percentage
* Robert Cullen (1962-1965), 16-24 record, .400 winning percentage
* Ned Harkness (1966-1968), 35-1 record, .972 winning percentage
* Richie Moran (1969-1997), 257-121 record, .680 winning percentage
* Dave Pietramala (1998-2000), 23-17 record, .576 winning percentage
* Jeff Tambroni (2001-2010), 109-40 record, .732 winning percentage
* Ben DeLuca (2011-2014), 37-10 record, .787 winning percentage
* Matt Kerwick (2014-2017), 32-26 record, .552 winning percentage
* Peter Milliman (2018-2020), 28-10 record, .737 winning percentage
* Connor Buczek (2021–Present), 52-15 record, .776 winning percentage, as of the 2025 season

As of the 2025 season, the program has a record of 826-502-27, which is a .620 winning percentage, with 4 NCAA titles.

Season results

The following is a list of Cornell's results by season:

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† NCAA cancelled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.
†† Ivy League cancelled 2021 collegiate season due to the COVID-19 virus.

References

External links

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1892 establishments in New York (state)
College lacrosse teams in the United States
Lacrosse clubs established in 1892
NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams