2025 Quarterfinal Review; Memorial Day Weekend Preview

This may have been one of the greatest quarterfinal weekends I have ever seen. Favorite on the ropes, high scoring action, massive comeback, defensive battle, this weekend had it all. Four teams have punched their ticket to the Final Four in Foxboro, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium and will compete for the National Championship. Both games are regular season rematches as Cornell opens as 2 goal favorites over Penn State and Maryland are 1.5 goal favorites over Syracuse. Let’s see how all four got to Boston.

Cornell 13, Richmond 12

The Big Red got all they could handle from a Richmond team who has now lost twice to Cornell by a combined two goals. Richmond took the #1 seed to the wire once again, they held heavy Tewaaraton favorite to 2 goals on 13 shots, and they had the ball with a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter but were unable to get a shot on goal. The Cornell zone on the final possession caught Richmond off guard and a ground ball muck was still ongoing as the clock expired.

The Cornell comeback was inevitable. A team who led the country in scoring was held to five first half goals. They score in bunches. They have multiple guys who can score. With CJ Kirst contributing 2 goals, it was others who stepped up like Ryan Goldstein (4g, 2a) and Andrew Dalton (3g). Cornell was able to overcome a bad day in net from Wyatt Knust by winning the possession battle. Jack Cascadden was phenomenal at the faceoff x (68%) and Cornell won the battle in the middle of the field, riding the ball back multiple times to gain extra possessions.

Richmond is so close. They will lose some solid contributors this offseason but I fully expect them to bring in some high level recruits to continue to elevate. As for Cornell, they did the little things right and threw a wrench in at the perfect time. They get a chance to avenge their only loss of the season in the Final Four.

Syracuse 17, Princeton 16

If the first game of the day wasn’t exciting enough for you, I invite you to check out what happened in the second one. This game was the pinnacle of lacrosse. Syracuse and Princeton went back and forth for the full 60 minutes. It was an impressive performance from both offenses who looked like they couldn’t miss.

The Orange are simply riding a magical run right now and make their first Final Four since 2013. Highlighted by Joey Spallina’s 4 goals and 4 assists the Cuse offense seemed to break out once again. Spallina dominated his matchup against Colin Mulshine for the first 20 minutes before Princeton had enough and began to shut him off. After his first half hat trick and the shut off the game continued to go back and forth.

Syracuse took a 16-11 lead late in the third quarter before Chad Palumbo scored with three seconds left in the third to make it a four goal game. Princeton came out of that huddle as energized as ever, going on their five goal run to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. The final nine or so minutes felt like nobody could miss. It was goal after goal. Possession mattered the most and there came John Mullen who only won 16-33 on the day but a majority coming down the stretch as he struggled early. Cuse was able to hang on in the end by the slimmest of margins to make their 27th Final Four.

Penn State 14, Notre Dame 12

My perfect bracket is no more. The three peat is over and Penn State is heading to Championship Weekend. The first quarter was dominated by the goalies, both with five saves to keep this one close. Both offenses getting quality looks in a methodical back and forth game. But the Irish didn’t want it to be methodical or back and forth so they went on a 4-0 run in the second quarter which was a part of a larger 7-1 run to open up the game. They killed off penalties, got Fracyon off his game and continued to possess the ball with the help of Will Lynch.

Penn State came out firing in the third quarter with six goals to cut the deficit to three but so did the Irish who kept getting theirs at the right time. Felt like Penn State was able to hang around throughout the third quarter to put them in a spot to make a late run. And that they did, coming right out the gates in the fourth quarter with five straight to take a 14-12 lead. Penn State scored the last eight goals of the game. Jack Traynor was un-guardable in this one with 6 goals and 2 assists making many wonder why Notre Dame didn’t switch First Team All American Shawn Lyght onto him. Lyght for the most part shut down Kyle Lehman but I think Notre Dame needed to switch something up late. The Penn State defense switched into zone and asked Notre Dame to beat them with their shooters which they couldn’t. The Irish kept forcing balls into the crease and ended the game with 20 minutes scoreless. They didn’t record a shot on goal in the fourth quarter.

Penn State is back to the final four for the third time in six years (excluding 2020). Seems like Jeff Tambroni always puts his team in successful situations. They’ll have to go through #1 seed Cornell to make their first championship appearance. They beat Cornell earlier this season off a massive fourth quarter comeback. Should be an awesome game.

Maryland 9, Georgetown 6

Game started out very very slow with both teams locking in on defense as expected. Maryland got a quick goal in transition and nothing more until the end of the first quarter to go up 2-0. Georgetown began the game with 17 straight scoreless minutes before Fulton Bayman got them on the board. I think the Hoyas would have been completely fine with being down only 1 midway through the second quarter. All-American Aidan Carroll arrived at that point and put two goals away to tie it. After that point Maryland was able to dominate the game with their defense.

Will Schaller was outstanding guarding one of the hottest offensive players in the country the past two months. Aidan Carroll had nowhere to go when dodging which really put pressure on others to win their matchups. Lucas Dudemaine was able to get free for two goals but the Hoyas were locked down besides that. In a low scoring game against one of the nation’s best defenses they turned the ball over too many times. Anderson Moore’s 12 saves came at crucial times to keep Georgetown hanging around but Logan McNaney answered at the other end. It felt like a slow and painful death for Georgetown who slowly lost control of the game.

But Maryland was lights out. You can always count on the Terps to deliver in May. John Tillman has been to the Final Four in 11 of 14 years at the helm. Maryland is in their 30th Final Four, a NCAA record.

FINAL FOUR PREVIEW

We made it to the final weekend of the lacrosse season. Boston is home to the Final Four this Memorial Day weekend before the show goes back on the road the next few years. The NCAA is still TBD on the location for 2026 before heading to Philadelphia in 2027 and back to Boston in 2028. Hoping we hear about 2026 soon and fingers are crossed the Final Four makes its return to Baltimore for the first time since 2014. This weekend we will be treated to Cornell, Penn State, Syracuse and Maryland hoping to take home some hardware.

Cornell vs Penn State, Saturday, 12pm

Both games this coming weekend are rematches of regular season games. Penn State used a non-releasable penalty on March 8th to come back from a four goal fourth quarter deficit and beat Cornell in Ithaca. It is the Big Red’s only loss all season and I would assume one they have wanted back all season. I will admit I turned the game off with Penn St trailing 12-8 with 2:30 to play.

Luckily for Cornell that game doesn’t matter this week. What matters is the preparation for a Penn State team who just came back from 6 down to eliminate the two-time defending champions. A Penn State team that is in their third Final Four in six seasons. Jeff Tambroni will be hungry to beat his former team in the Final Four. It is a winnable game for Penn State but they must have a lot of things go right to advance.

Like the Richmond game in the regular season, CJ Kirst had 2g, 1a against Penn State in March. He found ways to make an impact last weekend OTHER than scoring goals. At a minimum he will have a similar statline but Penn State cannot let him break out for much more. But the same thing I said last week is also limiting the other weapons that the Cornell offense can bring out.

This Cornell team will not be held scoreless in the final 20+ minutes like Notre Dame did in Annapolis. They have the guys to beat a zone with ball movement and outside shooting. Notre Dame did not. What I will have my eye on is the score in the middle of the third quarter. I think Penn State needs to be within two goals to have a legit shot.

I’m curious to see how Cornell opts to guard Matt Traynor and Kyle Lehman. I assume both will receive the pole matchup, putting the ball in the hands of others like Ethan Long and Hunter Aquino to win matchups against the Cornell SSDMs, who aren’t as high profile as they saw last week in Notre Dame.

Wyatt Knust was not at his best in the quarterfinals. One thing is certain, either he will have to play better or the offense will have to score more to move on. Jack Fracyon as well struggled in the first half of the quarterfinal before holding strong in the third quarter and not seeing a shot on cage in the fourth. Lastly, the faceoffs favored Colby Baldwin in the first matchup. Reid Gillis has come on throughout the season and it will be interesting to see how Jack Cascadden handles the 1-2 punch. Having fresh faceoff men is huge this time of year.

I did not expect Penn State to get here. The comeback last weekend was the best I have seen in a very long time. They are riding high into the Final Four but I think this Cornell team is all that. The offense led by CJ Kirst is going to test Jack Fracyon early and often and I think Cornell gets out to a comfortable lead and holds on. Cornell 15, Penn State 11.

Syracuse vs Maryland, Saturday, 2:30pm

The Maryland defense suffocated Georgetown’s offense in the quarterfinals. The Syracuse offense is much different than Georgetown’s and much different than the one Maryland saw back during their 11-7 win on February 15th. Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz are the 1-2 punch you want going up against the Terps. The midfield dodging of Leo, English and Rhoa are bound to get to their spots. They can score from all over the field and will try to push the pace on a Maryland team who historically likes to kill you softly.

John Tillman mentioned in his press conference this week that Maryland “WILL” try to go toe to toe with Syracuse and their high scoring offense. Maryland pushing the tempo and trying to run and gun hasn’t been seen since the Jared Bernhardt days of 2021. I’m not sure if this means first to 11 wins or first to 15 wins.

The specialty positions are going to play a HUGE role in this game. Faceoff, goalie, LSM/SSDMs will be the keys of the game for multiple reasons. Let’s start with John Mullen who has been a bright spot for the Orange, giving them possession on 64% of his draws this season. If he is close to that number on Saturday the Orange will have enough possessions to beat Logan McNaney in cage, who has been awesome for the Terps. McNaney getting clean saves is not ideal for Syracuse because of how well the Terps are able to get out in transition. I think that is one of the key focuses for Tillman and staff this week.

On the offensive end, the Cuse offense gets humming when their guys win their matchups. Nobody in the country is as good with their on ball defense than the Terps. Not only that but Maryland essentially took Aidan Carroll out of the game last week with lightning quick slides all game. I think the Syracuse offense will pose more challenges and more problems to the Maryland defense, especially if John Mullen can deliver possession after possession.

Over on the Maryland end, offensively all six guys are pieces of their puzzle. Individually work together to get the best outcome each possession. Maryland has had some stud playmakers in the past. Don’t get me wrong, their offensive talent is good enough to get to the Final Four and it’s good enough to win the National Championship. But they don’t have a game breaking superstar talent on offense like a CJ Kirst or Brennan O’Neill. What Maryland’s offense does best is find the best look. Not the first look, the best look. For a Syracuse defense that was struggling to fill and recover against Princeton, Maryland will provide a similar challenge. They’ll make that defense move all day long, even if it takes 79 seconds to find the best look. Jimmy McCool will be asked to make big saves all day because this game will come down to the wire.

Maryland is too disciplined to get blown away on a big stage like this. Even if they say they want to run, they aren’t going to make this into a track meet with one of the fastest teams in the country. I don’t think the pace is going to work in Maryland’s favor though because of the Syracuse advantage at the faceoff x and the execution that will consistently be needed on the offensive end to keep up with Syracuse. I love the depth Syracuse has offensively. I think it will be enough to push them through to Monday. Syracuse 13, Maryland 11.

Talent wise I think the top two teams will meet on Memorial Day, which will be ANOTHER rematch of a regular season game in Cornell’s 17-11 win over Syracuse. Very excited to see how the Final Four does play out on Saturday and what adjustments each coach makes based on their early season results and what they have seen lately. We made it to another Memorial Day college lacrosse championship weekend. Cornell, Maryland, Penn State and Syracuse will battle to cut down the nets in Boston. Enjoy!