Wantagh's Hugh Kelleher records third hat trick in four games to send Cornell to men's lacrosse final

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Most teams would buckle if the leading scorer in the sport’s history was held without a point.

Most teams aren’t Cornell.

So even though senior All-American and presumed Tewaaraton Award winner CJ Kirst was blanked by the Penn State defense, the Big Red used what coach Connor Buczek calls “depth of leadership” to rally for an 11-9 victory in Saturday’s Division I men’s lacrosse semifinal at Gillette Stadium.

“You don’t see it often from CJ, but it’s something we have to be prepared for at all times,” senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher (MacArthur) said. “We know other guys can step up when the time comes. We have the skill to do that. When CJ is having an off day, as we proved today, we can still do it.”

Kelleher, a Wantagh native, was a big reason why. His three goals and an assist led top-seeded Cornell (17-1). The 6-3, 220-pounder rumbled down the field like a semi on I-95 and fired off supersonic shots that buzzed past Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon.

Kelleher’s second goal with 8:48 left in the third quarter sparked a 5-0 run for Cornell, and his third with 5:49 left in the fourth ended a 3-0 Penn State run that had cut the lead to 10-9.

Kelleher has had three hat tricks this season, all of them in the past four games.

“He’s a superstar,” Buczek said. “He’s grown into an awesome, awesome lacrosse player and now in the biggest moments, it is showing through. When we’ve needed him to step up, he’s done just that, and it’s been huge for us.”

Kelleher wasn’t the only one of those supporting players usually overshadowed by Kirst who found the spotlight on Saturday. Most of them, like Kelleher, had Long Island accents.

Long-stick midfielder Brendan Staub (Garden City) had a goal and an assist in the third quarter to ignite Cornell’s spirits after it trailed 5-4 at halftime. Staub punctuated his goal, which tied the score at 5, with a flourish, holstering his long shaft like a sword.

“Whenever Brendan is winding up, it’s definitely going to be a juice goal,” Kelleher said.

Jack Cascadden (Garden City) lost the first four faceoffs of the game but won 15 of the next 19, collected nine ground balls and turned one of his faceoff wins into a goal.

Kirst, who has 76 goals this season and 241 in his career, wasn’t the only top scorer held in check. Penn State’s Matt Traynor, who scored the winning goal against defending national champion Notre Dame in the quarterfinals last week, was held to two goals. Much of his frustration was due to senior defender Jayson Singer (Syosset), who locked him off from the action.

“He’s their linchpin,” Buczek said of Traynor, who finished the season with 44 goals. “When he gets going, it’s hard to beat that team. He’s going to get his, but as long as it’s not too much, it gives you an opportunity to won. Jay did an awesome job on that matchup.”

Even when Traynor did score, he paid for it. He was crushed by Singer on the dodge in the second quarter. It was such a violent hit that Singer needed stitches to the left side of his face during halftime . . . but never missed a second of play.

The win avenged the only loss of the season for Cornell, which fell to Penn State, 13-12, in overtime on March 8. The fifth-seeded Nittany Lions finished with a 12-5 record.

Top-seeded Cornell will attempt to win its first title since 1977 when it faces Maryland in Monday afternoon’s championship game. Cornell has lost its last five final appearances, most recently in 2022, when the seniors on this team were freshmen.

Singer was a second-string long-stick midfielder on that squad and said the experience has stuck with him.

“I think back to that pretty much every day,” he said. “Just not finishing the job . . . Hopefully Monday we finish it and cap it off with a win.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.