Harvard Falls to No. 4 Cornell, 17-8, Puts Postseason Play In Jeopardy

No. 13 Harvard was completely outplayed by No. 4 Cornell in the semifinal of the Ivy League Tournament, handing the Crimson its fourth straight loss, 17-8.

Harvard will now nervously await its fate on Sunday, during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, with its postseason hopes on life support.

“It’s going to come down to the wire,” said head coach Gerry Byrne. “We’re going to be in this conversation for the last three or four spots. I’m hopeful, but I’m cautious.”

The Crimson turned the ball over 17 times, but what really buried the team were the hustle stats. The tough loss was defined by prolonged defensive possessions, sloppy passes, and an inability to capitalize on numerous opportunities to get back in the game.

The Ivy League Midfielder of the Year, senior Jack Cascadden, led the way for Cornell at the faceoff circle, winning 18 of his 24 opportunities.

The unanimous Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, Willem Firth, scored six times today, after putting up five in the Crimson’s loss last week.

“Listen, they had proven to be a team that could go on runs,” said Byrne. “And a lot of that is connected to having an elite faceoff guy that can counterpunch quickly. So, you know, we get a little momentum, halfway through the second quarter. We had come into the game with some strategies around the faceoff, and they didn’t work and got exposed, and they were able to score a couple of unsettled goals that halted the momentum we thought we had.”

The game marked the Crimson’s first time making back-to-back Ivy League Tournament appearances. Harvard has never won the Ivy League Tournament and has not punched a ticket to the conference final since 2016.

After beginning the season 8-0, its best start since 1961, the Crimson has lost five of its past six contests.

That skid included the close loss to Cornell last week, and a 15-14 heartbreaker against No. 2 Princeton, but also blowout defeats against No. 9 Yale and No. 5 North Carolina.

Harvard boasted an early lead in the Ivy semifinal, thanks to a goal from freshman attacker Logan Turley. However, Harvard’s lead lasted for less than a minute. Cornell’s sophomore attack Jack Herendeen responded rapidly, while Firth and junior attack Ryan Goldstein each tallied one to put the Big Red in front, 3-1.

Senior Brendan Staub fired a pole goal to give Cornell a demoralizing fourth consecutive point.

Goldstein tagged on another one to extend the Big Red’s lead to four.

Senior midfielder John Aurandt IV stopped the bleeding, but Cascadden won the next faceoff and took it to the cage to make it 6-2 at the end of the first.

The quarter was defined by Cornell utterly outhustling the Crimson, leading the groundball battle, 10-5.

Junior captain Jack Speidell capitalized on a rare Harvard faceoff win to give the Crimson some juice on the first possession of the second.

The momentum stayed Harvard’s way as senior attack Teddy Malone caught a pass from All-Ivy First Team Midfielder Logan Ip on the crease to make it 6-4.

Firth came through with another one, and freshman attack Rowyn Nurry scored on the next faceoff to put Cornell ahead by four once again.

A clearly fatigued Harvard defense botched a clear, setting Firth up for another one. He scored again as time expired to give the Big a 10-4 advantage heading into the halftime break.

Cornell took advantage of an exasperated Harvard defense all half, winning 11 of 15 faceoffs to maintain the pressure after each score. What little momentum swung Harvard’s way was snatched up by surrendering fast-break goals and incessant unforced turnovers.

A small bright spot for the Crimson at the half was sophomore goalkeeper Graham Stevens. Stevens, who led the Ivy League in saves entering the game, recorded seven saves in the second quarter to prevent the game from getting further out of hand.

Any hope of a second-half comeback for Harvard was quickly silenced when junior attack Ryan Waldman struck to make it a seven-goal Cornell lead. Another big goal quickly made it 12-4.

Ip fired a goal from 12 yards out, and sophomore attack Nathan Cobery capitalized on the fast break to cut the deficit to six.

However, Cornell scored twice more to end the third with a 14-6 lead and then notched three more goals to open the fourth quarter.

Senior midfielder Francisco Cortes got one back for Harvard, and Aurandt scored his second before the whistle blew, with a final score of 17-8.

Since its hopes for the Ivy League Championship were dashed by the Big Red, Harvard’s fate now lies in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s hands as it sits firmly on the bubble alongside No. 9 Yale, No. 10 Maryland, No. 11 Duke, and No. 15 Penn State. The selection show airs on Sunday, May 3, at 9:30 p.m. EDT on ESPNU.

Thankfully for the Crimson, the selection committee does not take recency bias nor margin of defeat into account, meaning Harvard’s recent slump won’t destroy its chances, while its victory over then-No. 1 Syracuse in February will hold significant weight as its résumé is considered.

“Our win over Syracuse will be a little bit better than Yale’s win over Cornell and things like that,” said Byrne on the RPI-based selection process. “Then when it’s really close, I think head-to-head wins become important, and so that could hurt us relative to Yale.”

“Listen, it’s billed to be objective,” the coach added. “So feelings are maybe the least important factor in that. It’s hard to tell when you’re looking at math and some human analysis. I’ve been on both sides of these things. Who knows, you know?”

Cornell, meanwhile, will face No. 2 Princeton for the Ivy League Tournament Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT.

—Staff writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].