With six and a half minutes remaining on the clock, the Red was down 12-11. The stakes were infinitely high, as the winner of this game would go on to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Semifinals.

Junior faceoff Jack Cascadden picked up the faceoff, and the ball funneled to senior attackman Michael Long, then to sophomore attackman Ryan Goldstein. Goldstein passed from behind the net to senior attackman CJ Kirst, who scored the equalizer.

Everything came down to the next possession. Another faceoff win, another drive to the net. Unlike the goal 30 seconds prior, this came from outside the team’s typical attack trio: senior midfielder Andrew Dalton. Dalton finished a hat trick to thunderous cheers, and his goal would be the last of the game.

After a season defined by lengthy, momentum-driven runs and quick strikes, No.1 Cornell (16-1, 6-0 Ivy) seemed to find its kryptonite in Richmond (14-4, 5-0 Atlantic 10), whose defense consistently outmatched the Red’s scoring attempts. Though Cornell was behind by one goal at the end of every quarter, ultimately, a last-minute lead and defensive lockdown gave the Red a 13-12 NCAA Quarterfinal victory.

“We’re going for a title,” Cascadden said after the team’s first-round victory over Albany. “We’re not going for quarterfinal wins. We’re not going for first round wins. We’re going for it all.”

Receiving a pass that placed him alone in front of Richmond goalkeeper Zach Vigue, Goldstein put the Red on the board first, for a lead it immediately relinquished. Richmond answered on its first offensive possession, beating senior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust.

The Red got even in transition, with sophomore midfielder TJ Lamb finding his second career goal. A penalty on Kirst gave the Spiders their first man up opportunity of the game, and they capitalized just after the clock ran out.

Cornell then earned its own man up chance but could not convert. Richmond deflected a shot off of senior midfielder Walker Wallace to take its first lead of the game.

The Red took 17 shots over the first 15 minutes, despite only finishing on two attempts. Richmond, in contrast, took a modest six shots and scored three goals.

Sophomore midfielder Luke Gilmartin forced a turnover to start the second quarter, leading to Goldstein being wide open on the doorstep for a goal. Dalton followed shortly after to put the Red back on top, but Richmond answered with a three-goal run.

Kirst was finally able to reinvigorate the Cornell offense on a dive from behind the net.

The second quarter followed in the pattern of the first, with the Red finishing five of 24 shots and the Spiders scoring six of 14. The quarterfinal went into halftime with Richmond up 6-5.

Richmond fired off two quick goals to start the second half, and Goldstein came up with a much-needed response for the Red. He was followed by junior defenseman Brenden Staub, dotting the corner on a shot from deep.

Richmond netted one more before sophomore midfielder Walker Schwartz brought Cornell back into a one-point deficit. Cornell failed to score on a three-and-a-half-minute possession, and Richmond scored a devastating goal after.

Goldstein picked up a rebounding shot and scored a behind-the-back goal, but senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher fell into the goal mouth away from the play, disqualifying the score.

Cornell forced a turnover on the ride, but Goldstein missed his second open net of the game. He quickly redeemed himself by wrapping around to bring the score to 9-10 before the end of the quarter.

Cornell got over the hump to finally tie it up right away in the fourth quarter, with Dalton scoring on a doorstep feed from sophomore midfielder Willem Firth. Firth then scored his own to put the Red back on top, 11-10, for the first time since the first quarter.

After a tense five-minute scoreless run, Richmond tied the game back up. Cornell coughed the ball up shortly after winning the ensuing faceoff and Richmond jumped back ahead.

It was Kirst who found the much-needed tying goal for Cornell, as he cut to the net and converted on a pass from Goldstein. Dalton immediately followed to complete his first hat trick of the season, and Cornell regained the lead.

The Red ran out the shot clock on its final possession, relenting the ball to the Spiders with 30 seconds left in play. Cornell fended off Richmond’s attack to take a close 13-12 win and advance to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time since 2022.

“A lot of [preparing for the quarterfinal] is learning from our past couple games and focusing on us,” Kirst said prior to the match. “Playing these NCAA Tournament games, everyone’s got a good scout, everyone’s got a good game plan, but you’ve got to rely on the guys who are out there and trust each other.”

Goldstein led the way with six points on four goals. Kirst put up what is, by his standards, a meager two goals and four points, but caused three turnovers and picked up an astounding 10 ground balls, a heavy contributor to Cornell’s well-utilized ride.

Richmond played the team game that it is known for, with nine different goalscorers for its 12 on the game and suffocating defense complete with dominating physicality and well-timed slides.

Knust struggled with just five saves on 17 shots, most from the outside. This gave him a 29 percent save percentage. Vigue was outstanding for Richmond, facing many high-quality shots from the Red. He finished with 14 saves on 27 shots, good for a 52 percent save percentage.

Cascadden dominated on faceoffs, giving Cornell the extra possessions that they needed. He won 17 of 25 faceoffs for a 68 percent win percentage.

Cornell will now have the honor of playing on Memorial Day Weekend in Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The Red will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Penn State and Notre Dame on Saturday, May 24.

Penn State handed Cornell its only loss so far of 2025, and playing the Nittany Lions would make it three rematches in three NCAA tournament games for Cornell. Notre Dame is a two-time defending national champion and would be a new challenge for the Red, as Cornell hasn’t taken on the Fighting Irish since being dealt an 18-17 defeat on Long Island last season.

The NCAA Semifinals and Championship match will be available on ESPN.