Cornell, Maryland survive and advance to NCAA men's lacrosse championship game at Gillette Stadium
This time, when the Nittany Lions chipped away in the fourth quarter, the top-seeded Big Red (17-1) held their ground. Cornell advances to its second national title game in four years, earning a 2022 rematch with second-seeded Maryland (14-3) in Foxborough on Monday at 1 p.m.
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The Terrapins dispatched sixth-seeded Syracuse, 14-8, in the second semifinal. All four teams put on a show for 31,524 fans, as a sea of red, orange, and blue flooded the stands.
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Maryland is searching for its fifth national title and third since 2017. Cornell is one win away from capturing its first national championship since 1977.
'Even though there were pockets of that game that weren't as pretty as we'd like, it's about surviving and advancing right now,' Cornell coach Connor Buczek said.
Hugh Kelleher paced Cornell with three goals, while Liam Matthews tallied four for the fifth-seeded Nittany Lions (12-5).
The Big Red took a 1-0 edge through one quarter, thanks to a strike from Willem Firth with 9.9 seconds left to cap a defensive-minded quarter. Lincoln-Sudbury product Matt Dooley dictated the action defensively for Cornell, serving as a shield for goalie Wyatt Knust (nine saves).
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Both teams found an offensive rhythm in the second, shaking off some early jitters and moving the ball with precision and poise. Matthews buried a behind-the-back beauty and Will Peden put the Nittany Lions ahead, 2-1, with 12:45 left in the half.
The sides continued to trade goals, then Penn State took a 5-4 edge into the break thanks to a delivery from Matt Traynor with 42 seconds left.
Penn State maintained momentum early in the third quarter, then Cornell ripped off five straight in the final 9:21 to take a 10-6 edge into the fourth. Suddenly, the floodgates opened as the Big Red displayed their usual dose of firepower and finesse and began to create separation.
'It was just staying the course,' Buczek said.
Ryan Waldman provided a highlight with an 80-mile-per-hour bullet to vault the Big Red back in front, then Ryan Goldstein delivered from his knees to give Cornell its first two-goal lead with 6:08 left in the quarter.
The Nittany Lions trimmed it to 10-9 early in the fourth, as a beautiful day briefly turned into a torrential downpour. Kelleher scored with 5:49 left — to cement his third hat trick in four games — and Dooley and the Big Red held on from there.
'All eyes to Monday,' Kirst said. 'We're excited for the opportunity to compete for a national championship.'
They'll be up against a Terrapins team that outlasted Cornell, 9-7, in the 2022 title game when this year's seniors were freshmen. The Big Red seniors are grateful for a chance to complete the full-circle journey.
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Maryland left no doubt against the Orange. Eric Spanos paced Maryland with four goals, and Logan McNaney made 14 saves. Finn Thomson and Michael Leo scored two each for the Orange.
The Terrapins poured in eight straight goals to take a commanding 8-2 halftime edge.
Boston native Jimmy McCool did what he could in net for the sixth-seeded Orange (13-6) with 12 saves, but the Terrapins kept coming in waves.
Syracuse trimmed it to 11-6 early in the fourth, on a goal from Norwell product and faceoff specialist John Mullen.
The Terrapins immediately responded, as they have all season, to set up a heavyweight showdown Monday afternoon.
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New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
The Big Ten's 10 biggest offseason moves, from Penn State returnees to key QB additions
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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Friday was a bad day after the loss of a good one in South Bend boys basketball
SOUTH BEND ― Five minutes. Maybe eight, tops. Those eight minutes were so fitting that it was funny. In the time it took to play one quarter of a high school basketball game in Indiana, where high school basketball is more than just, well, high school basketball, the guy who talked quietly but was a loud prep legend locally rarely allowed a phone message or a text to go unanswered for long. Advertisement Hit me back at this time, he'd say. I got you. He always had us. Noie: Top-ranked Penn baseball again turned to that guy at that field to do what he does Noie: How one high school athlete overcame a life-altering health condition to flourish in football That was former Clay High School basketball standout Jaraan Cornell. That was Indiana High School basketball legend Jaraan Cornell. That was former Purdue swingman Jaraan Cornell. That was longtime South Bend resident Jaraan Cornell. It didn't matter if you wanted a few minutes on the 25th anniversary or the 30th anniversary of Clay High School doing what many figured would never be done and winning the 1994 Indiana High School boys' state championship (before class basketball). It didn't matter if you wanted to gauge his feelings on watching his beloved Boilermakers advance to the 2024 Final Four and challenge for the national championship. Advertisement It didn't matter that Cornell made the biggest shot in South Bend area boys' basketball history that night in the long-since-gone RCA Dome against Valparaiso. It didn't matter that the moment the ball nestled into the net in regulation, the second the clock ran out in overtime on that Saturday night in 1994, Cornell's legacy was cemented. Forever. A Clay Colonial champion. Even decades later when he seemed bigger than life, Jaraan Cornell made sure to never big-time anybody. Especially if you were from the Bend. The South Bend kid was a South Bend legend. Always reppin' the 574, first at Clay where he became a Top 30 college prospect, then down at Purdue where he played 125 games for legendary coach Gene Keady. Then, naturally, back in South Bend where he coached two years of girls' basketball at Clay. Where he worked with local youth at Heroes Camp and, most recently, the South Bend Boys and Girls Club. Advertisement Where he was Jaraan Cornell. Cornell never was one of those former area ballers you forgot about and wondered about. The kid, then the man, they called J-Kool was always in town, always a call away, always willing to help and do what he could for South Bend. Always there. You needed five minutes from him, you got 10. You needed 20, he went for 30. Always patient. Always polite. Always ... himself. Get everything you need, he'd ask when the conversation concluded. If not, hit me again, Cornell would offer. His door was seemingly always open. He was always Jaraan Cornell. That's what made the news that broke early Friday afternoon so stunning. So numbing. The 48-year-old Cornell, who would've turned 49 in November ― the start of high school basketball season ― was found dead in his South Bend apartment. Advertisement A living legend. Our living legend. Gone. Hard to think. Hard to write. Harder to imagine that the South Bend community, the South Bend boys' basketball community, feels a lot emptier without No. 22 smiling that sly smile, shooting that smooth lefty jumper, always wanting to help however he could help. Word early Friday afternoon was that those closest to Cornell ― friends, maybe some former Clay teammates ― gathered at his residence to help one another cope. Surely, there were tears. There could not be tears, but eventually, maybe some smiles at the stories. About who he was as a basketball player. About who he was as a person. About how many lives he touched just by being himself. Jaraan Cornell never forgot his roots. He never turned his back on a town that wrapped their arms around him because of one magical March night in 1994. They write books about nights like that. They make movies about nights like that. They build statues for people like that. Advertisement That moment never left our consciousness in South Bend, not even after 10, 20, 30 years slipped away and life got in the way. You would drive down Darden Road, past the state championship sign, past Clay High School, which closed last summer, and you couldn't help but think of Cornell. Of those Colonials. At the start of every high school basketball season, you'd think of Clay and Cornell and that shot, those arms raised in celebration, the class that he carried that season, that game and all those years afterward. Look up class, look up character, look up champion in the dictionary and it should say, see Cornell, Jaraan. Now the guy's gone. Can't call him and wait for that return call. Can't text him and wait for that return text. Can't talk hoops with him. Can't talk South Bend with him. Can't hear his stories. Can't hear that deep, baritone laugh. Advertisement We can only talk about him. And we will. Next boys' basketball season. Next March. Next. As long as high school basketball is high school basketball and Indiana is Indiana, Jaraan Cornell lives forever in our hoops hearts. Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@ This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Remembering a Clay High School boys basketball standout gone too soon
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3 days ago
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Jaraan Cornell, South Bend Clay and Purdue basketball legend, dies at 48
SOUTH BEND ― Jaraan Cornell, who authored one of the greatest shots in IHSAA state basketball history for Clay High School, died unexpectedly Friday, June 6, at the age of 48. The details surrounding his death are unknown, but multiple sources confirmed to the South Bend Tribune that his body was found in his apartment Friday morning. Advertisement Noie column: Friday was a bad day after the loss of a good one in South Bend boys basketball More: 30 years ago South Bend Clay made HS basketball history. What the team is saying today Cornell was a star for the South Bend Clay boys basketball team in the 1990s. He hit one of the defining shots in state history during the 1994 state championship game, draining a '3' as time expired in regulation to force overtime. Clay went onto beat Valparaiso, 93-88, in overtime in one of the final title games on the one-class era. Jaraan Cornell celebrates hitting the tying shot at the buzzer as South Bend Clay went on to defeat No. 1 Valparaiso in overtime for the 1994 state championship. Cornell was a sophomore on the 1994 team. He would be named an Indiana All-Star and finished third in the Mr. Basketball award voting in 1996. He then had a decorated playing career at Purdue University, including back-to-back third team all-Big Ten selections in 1998 and 1999. He was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary team in 2021. Advertisement Cornell returned to South Bend later in life, becoming a basketball coach. He spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons leading the Clay girls basketball program and was still active in the hoops scene in town. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Legendary South Bend Clay basketball player Jaraan Cornell dies at 48
