No. 12 Army Picks Up Statement Win At No. 4 Cornell

Saturday, April 16

Ithaca, NY

3:00 PM

Army West Point

10-2

Cornell University

10-2

Army West Point

Cornell

No. 12 Army Picks Up Statement Win At No. 4 Cornell

April 16, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Game 12
SCORE	No. 12 Army Black Knights 17, No. 4 Cornell Big Red 10
RECORDS	Army (9-2, 5-1 Patriot) \| Cornell (10-2, 3-1 Ivy)
LEADING SCORERS	Army – Brendan Nichtern/Paul Johnson (4) \| Cornell – CJ Kirst (4)
LOCATION	Schellkopf Field

ITHACA, N.Y. – Powered by a balanced offensive attack and a stout defensive unit, the No. 12 Army Black Knights toppled the No. 4 Cornell Big Red, 17-10, on Saturday.

GAME SUMMARY
The Black Knights controlled the game from start to finish in the win over the Cornell Big Red, who are ranked fourth in the USILA Poll and fifth in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Army dictated play by dominating in the faceoff X, winning 20 out of 31, and securing 37 ground balls to Cornell's 30. Army also held advantages in shots and saves.

Army blanked Cornell in the first quarter while putting five passed the Big Red goalie. Gunner Philipp started the scoring at the 12:14 mark and was quickly followed by goals by Bo Waters (11:25) and Will Coletti (11:19) who scored six seconds apart. The Black Knights continued to put pressure on Cornell which led to the fourth goal of the game from Paul Johnson with 5:56 left in the opening quarter. Two minutes later, Danny Kielbasa made it 5-0.

Kielbasa with the bouncer ??????

?? 5
?? 0
Q1 3:38#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/Rrvje0tPnR
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 16, 2022

One minute into the second quarter, Army added its sixth goal with this one coming from Brendan Nichtern, for the sixth different Cadet to score. Waters, then, added his second of the game of a 7-0 lead with 12:57 left in the half. Johnson and Jacob Morin netted in the quarter as the Black Knights went into the halftime break with a 9-3 lead.

No. 9?? on the day was a ?? from No. 9??0??#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/ow3XPiQ5gK
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 16, 2022

Army led 10-5 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter when the Black Knights effectively sealed the game with a 5-0 run in six minutes. The run was highlighted by Ryan Sposito. The Ithaca, N.Y. native scored his first goal of the season to start the run and added two more goals during the stretch for his first career hat-trick.

The hometown kid Sposito with the third quarter hat trick ??

?? 14
?? 5
Q3 5:42#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/0UX2giriQU
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 16, 2022

Abshire and Philipp also scored in the run. Cornell scored two more goals before Reese Burek and Nichtern increased Army's lead to 17-7 with 11:31 left in the fourth quarter.

Strong move from Nichtern ?? TOUGH to stop. #GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/juCFwiaHlH
— Army M.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 16, 2022

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Black Knights picked up a top-5 road win for the second straight season. Army defeated No. 4 Syracuse on February 21, 2021. This is Army's fifth win over a top-6 team since the 2017 with four of those wins on the road.
Army improved to 25-15 all-time against Cornell and 9-9 in Ithaca. The teams met for the first time since the 2012 season.
Army has shut out a team in a quarter for the third time this season (NJIT and Syracuse)
10 different Cadets scored.
Army extended its current win streak to four games.
Army now has two wins over nationally-ranked opponents (No. 14 Syracuse on March 2)
Army has won 10 games in a season for the fifth time in the last eight seasons.

CADET CAPSULES

Brendan Nichtern, the nation's leader in points and assists per game, shared game-high honors with four points on two goals and a game-high two assists. His 72 points on the season are the fourth-most in program history.
Paul Johnson finished with four points which are tied for his second-most on the season with two goals and two assists.
Ryan Sposito netted a career-high in goals with his first career hat-trick.
Will Coletti went 19-for-28 at the faceoff X. He set a single-game program record with 17 ground balls. He also scored one goal.
Wyatt Schupler made 12 saves and had a .600 save percentage in 56 minutes of action. The eight goals allowed are tied for his second-fewest on the season.
Bobby Abshire scored twice on a team-high six shots and added an assist.
Gunner Philipp tied a season-high with two goals.
Bo Waters added two goals.
Danny Kielbasa had another two-point game.

COACH'S CORNER
"It was a tremendous and complete effort on the road against one of the nation's elites. I am very proud and happy for the Army Lacrosse family. The team prepared well throughout the week and executed from start to finish. Will Coletti was exceptional at the faceoff X and our wing play was tough. Wyatt Schupler was terrific in the goal and Jack Weigand did a terrific job against a great player in John Piatelli, the nation's leading goal scorer. Offensively, we had great balance with 10 players scoring. We were able to keep pressure on them all game." – Joe Alberici

CADET'S CORNER
"Today's win was an exciting one. We shared the ball offensively and just had a lot of fun out there. We knew Cornell was going to defend well against the first or second dodges and that we had to grind out possessions. We just stuck to our identity of being unselfish and a lot of guys stepped up huge today. Really excited to hopefully carry today's momentum into next week." – Bobby Abshire

"We knew going into the game that it was going to require our best effort. Our confidence was right where it needed to be after having a great week of practice. For me, it was very special being home and playing on Schoellkopf, a field I grew up watching games and shooting on." - Ryan Sposito

UP NEXT

The No. 12 Black Knights host rival Navy in the annual Star Game on Saturday, April 23 at Noon.
The program will honor its 2022 senior class before the game.
Help us make Operation Max Out Michie a success!
For game ticket information, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or visit www.goarmywestpoint.com/tickets.

For complete coverage of Army West Point men's lacrosse follow the Black Knights on Twitter, Instagram, and at www.goarmywestpoint.com.