Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/17/24
From Press Releases
Freshman Ryan Goldstein (Radnor) had three goals and two assists in his first collegiate appearance and fellow freshman AJ Nikolic (Malvern Prep) scored his first two goals as the Cornell men’s lacrosse team opened its Ivy League season today with a thrilling 15-14 win over Princeton.
Sophomore defenseman Matt Dooley’s first-career goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game served as the game-winner. No. 88 took a leading pass from Kyle Smith and buried the first shot of his career in the back of the goal. The Big Red moved to 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in Ivy play, while Princeton dropped to 4-3 (0-1 Ivy).
Goldstein – a 2022 Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year who prepped last year at Salisbury School (CT) – had missed the first five games with a hand injury. He added two caused turnovers and a groundball. Nikolic, also a Phillylacrosse 2022 Co-Player of the Year – had one groundball. Also for Cornell, Charlie Box (Marple Newtown) had two groundballs and Aiden Blake (Haddonfield-NJ) had a groundball.
Princeton’s Chad Palumbo and Sean Cameron led the Tigers’ attack with three goals and an assist each. Tucker Wade also clocked four points, all of which came off goals. Nate Kabiri, John Dunphey, and Coulter Mackesy rounded out the multi-point scorers, each with a goal and an assist. Andrew McMeekin (Episcopal Academy) went 18-of-31 at the faceoff X, and grabbed a game-high 13 groundballs. Goalie Michael Gianforcaro (resident of Lincoln University/Duke’s LC) had 11 saves and freshman Cooper Mueller (Radnor) – a 2023 Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year – had a groundball and a caused turnover.
