2025 College Lacrosse Season Preview: Cornell

The NCAA season is starting up in less than three months! I’m hoping to publish one college team preview per week leading up to the start of the season in early February.

First team up - the Cornell Big Red, my personal favorite to win it all in 2025.

Yes, Notre Dame is back to back champs and maintains a talented roster plus an excellent freshman class, but I think the losses of Liam Entenmann, Pat Kavanagh and Eric Dobson will hit the Fighting Irish harder than people think.

For this reason, the 2025 season feels as wide open as it ever has. While Notre Dame is (deservingly so) the favorites, the gap doesn't feel as big as in 2024 with teams like Syracuse, Virginia, Princeton, Cornell, Duke, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins positioned nicely for a run at the title. 

If I had to pick my final four right now, I would go with Notre Dame, Syracuse, Princeton, and like I mentioned earlier - Cornell.

Why the Big Red could win it all in 2025

Cornell’s attack line might be the best in the nation. 

It starts with CJ Kirst. He’s a frontrunner to win the Tewaaraton award in 2025, and is just so dynamic and so fun to watch. He’ll likely wind up being the #1 pick in the PLL draft.

Sophomore Ryan Goldstein may have been my favorite freshman to watch last season. In his first ever game, he had 5 points against Princeton, all in pretty impressive fashion.

I can’t get over how confident he was last season as a freshman and how many plays he made in crucial moments. He’ll continue to build upon a strong start to his Cornell career.

Rounding out the unit is Michael Long, who has been a starter since 2020 and has racked 168 points. Long is the perfect complement to Goldstein and Kirst as a balanced feeder and scorer. He’s as consistent as they come (he had multiple points in every game in 2024) and does the little things really well.

It’s kind of crazy to consider he might be the third option on this line, but that’s just a testament to how good Goldstein and Kirst are. And don’t forget about senior Danny Caddigan, who started the season when Goldstein was injured and racked up 13 points (10G, 3A) through the first five games. He’s a terrific right-handed shooter.finisher and will continue to be a threat on Cornell's EMO unit in 2025.

At the midfield, a starting line of Hugh Kelleher, Willem Firth, and AJ Nikolic is just as balanced as the starting attack.

Kelleher, at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, is a bruiser of a right-handed dodger who has one of the prettiest step down shots in the nation.

Firth is a slick lefty Canadian that can create his own shot and feed with equal success. He was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2024. And Nikolic is a prototypical two-handed alley dodger who had success in the pick game with the attackmen last season.

Expect Nikolic and Firth, both freshmen last season, to elevate their games in 2025.

Defensively, I really like Cornell’s SSDM unit when healthy. Christopher Davis only played 5 games last season due to injury, but he’s very underrated. Kyle Smith, Michael Bozzi, Charlie Box, and Luke Gilmartin are proven players at the position that can bring goal scoring pop in transition.

2024 1st Team All-Ivy defender Jayson Singer returns to lead the close defense with Brendan Staub and Matt Dooley likely to join him - a very solid unit.

The return of faceoff man Jack Cascadden is huge. He went 75% and scored a goal in his sole game in 2024 before suffering a season ending injury. He’s one of the top faceoff men in the nation when healthy.

Biggest Question Marks

Who will win Cornell’s goalie battle?

Wyatt Knust and Matthew Tully battled all season long for the starting spot. Now, Cornell adds another top recruit in the mix in Tim Piacentini. I’m not worried about the talent in the cage, but someone needs to step up and become the everyday starter early in the season to stabilize this team.

Can they get production from their second midfield?

The Big Red’s second midfield line last year was Ryan Sheehan, Andrew Dalton, and Alex Holmes. While the three seniors all return in 2025, they all need to step up. They’ve had glimpses, but I want to see some more consistency and production from this unit.

Where will Cornell’s defensive depth come from?

Staub is likely to move down low to join returning starters Singer and Dooley after operating as one of the Big Red’s primary LSM’s.

At LSM, Eddie Rayhill and Walker Wallace return, but I’d like to see another player step up in this spot. Freshman Cooper Simpson or Michael Marshall could provide potential depth at close, allowing Staub to move back to LSM (which I would prefer if I were the Big Red).

Final Thoughts

Cornell’s top offensive threats are some of the best in the country and they are likely to be strong at the faceoff and in between the pipes.

Defensively, I like their top guys as well.

The biggest question on both sides of the ball - can unproven players step up and provide production and consistency? If the answer is yes, then I like Cornell’s chances to go all the way in 2025.

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