CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the first time in program history, the Harvard Crimson men's lacrosse team will compete in its second consecutive Ivy League Tournament. The No. 13 Crimson (9-4, 3-3 Ivy) secured the four-seed in the annual tournament and will take on the conference's top seed, No. 4 Cornell (10-3, 5-1 Ivy), in the first semifinal game on Friday afternoon. First faceoff is set for 4:00 PM at Schoellkopf Field with all the action airing live nationally on ESPNU.
 
A unique matchup will see the Crimson and Big Red compete for the second time in a six-day span after Cornell narrowly defeated Harvard in the regular season finale last Saturday (Apr. 25). The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse, Gerry Byrne, and his Crimson squad will look to exact revenge on its Ivy foe and secure its first postseason win in a decade on Friday in Ithaca.
 

What to Know

Who: [4] No. 13 Harvard vs. [1] No. 4 Cornell
When: 4:00 PM EST, Friday May 1
What: 2026 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Championship
Where: Schoellkopf Field / Ithaca, NY
Camps: Learn more about the Crimson Lacrosse Academy hosted at the Harvard Athletics Campus by the Harvard Men's Lacrosse Coaches for rising 4th-8th grade boys at Byrne-Method.com
 

Quick Hits

• Harvard will compete in its second consecutive Ivy League Championship, the first time in program history the program has qualified for back-to-back tournaments.
• The Crimson secured the four-seed in the tournament and will play Cornell for the second straight weekend.
• The Big Red used a late rally to narrowly defeat the Crimson last weekend, 11-9.
• This matchup between Harvard and Cornell will be the 99^th in the series history.
• Harvard last defeated Cornell in 2023 when the Big Red was ranked No. 4 nationally.
• The Crimson's last win at Scoellkopf Field came in 2016.
• Teddy Malone finished the regular season as the team's leading point and goal scorer, posting 46 and 34, respectively.
• Harvard has had five players reach the 30-point mark this season, the most since the 1996-97 season.
• Graham Stevens has made 34 saves and allowed just 22 goals in two games played at Schoellkopf Field.
• Harvard's offense is the second most efficient group in the country, scoring on 35.8-percent of its possessions.
• The Crimson has posted a shooting percentage of 33.1-percent this season, the ninth-best clip in the nation.
• A do-it-all attackman, Jack Speidell is the only player in the country to record 25 goals, 10 assists, 35 points, 35 ground balls and five caused turnovers this season.

 

By the Numbers

2 – Goals per game for John Aurandt IV this season, tied for the 11^th most nationally by a midfielder.
4 – Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-Americans for Harvard.
5 – Man-up goals for Andrew Perry in 2026, the most in the Ivy League.
5 – Or more opponent scoring droughts of 15 or more minutes for Harvard this season.
6 – Times Harvard has reached nine wins in the past 30 years.
6 - Games Teddy Malone has recorded a hat-trick this season
8 – Ivy League weekly awards for Harvard this season.
10 - Games the Crimson have scored 10 or more goals this season.
10 – Caused turnovers for SSDM Owen Guest this season, the 14th most in the nation by a short-stick.
11 – NCAA RPI Ranking for Harvard men's lacrosse.
31 – Ground balls for Nathan Cobery this season, the fifth-most for an attack nationally.
34 – Goals for Teddy Malone, the third most in the Ivy League.
35 – Ground balls for Jack Speidell this season, the most on the team and third most by an attack in the country.
49 - Shots against Princeton (Apr. 18), the second most in a game this season.
49 – Shooting percentage for Nathan Cobery, the fifth best clip in the NCAA.
50 – Career caused turnovers for Charlie Muller, three shy of the program record.
65 – Years since Harvard last posted at least nine wins in its first 10 games.
158 – Career points for Teddy Malone, the 12th most in program history.
206 – Turnovers forced by the Harvard defense this season.
 

In the National Rankings

NCAA RPI – 11
USILA Coaches Poll – 13
Inside Lacrosse Media Poll – 13
USA Lacrosse Magazine Rankings – 10
Lacrosse Reference LaxELO – 16
NEILA Coaches Poll – 2
 

Scouting Cornell

• Cornell comes into the matchup ranked fourth nationally after posting a 10-3 record in 2026. The Big Red went 5-1 in Ivy League play to earn a share of the regular season title.
• This will be the eighth ranked matchup for Cornell this season. The team is 5-2 against ranked opponents this season.
• The only losses Cornell has taken this year have been to No. 3 Richmond (Feb. 28), No. 14 Penn St. (Mar. 7) and Yale (Mar. 28).
• Willem Firth leads the team in points with 68 and has posted 43 goals and 25 assists.
• Jack Cascadden owns a .629 faceoff percentage and has grabbed 66 ground balls on the year.
• Luke Gilmartin is the Big Red's top pole, logging 10 caused turnovers on the year.
• The Big Red offense has poured in 12,92 goals per game this season, the 18th best mark in the NCAA.
• Cornell's man-up unit is hitting at the best clip in the NCAA with a 61.5-percent success rate.

 

Crimson vs. Big Red – Series History

• Harvard and Cornell have met 98 times in series history.
• The Crimson trails in the all-time series, 27-71.
• Harvard and Cornell battled last weekend in the regular season finale. The Big Red used a late really to secure a 11-9 win over Harvard and clinch home field advantage in the Ivy League tournament.
• Harvard last defeated the then No. 4 Big Red in 2023 in a 10-8 showdown at Jordan Field.
• Last season the Crimson faced the then No. 1 Big Red team, the eventual Ivy League and National Champions. A record 4,000 fans came to Jordan Field for the game. Harvard trailed just 12-11 in the third quarter before a Cornell run led to a 20-12 win. 

 

Active Stat Leaders vs. Cornell

• Goals: Perry (8), Aurandt (5)
• Assists: Ip (5), Petersen (2)
• Points: Perry (9), Speidell (9)
• Ground Balls: Jordan (9), Muller (6)
• Caused Turnovers: Muller (6)
• Faceoffs: Barraco (8), Henehan (5)
• Saves: Stevens (26)
• Goals Allowed: Stevens (31)

 

At the Helm

The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse, Gerry Byrne, is in his seventh season at the helm of the program in 2025-26. The team has experienced success under Coach Byrne, posting a 41-28 record and a 14 wins Ivy League action. Byrne has guided the Crimson to two NCAA Tournaments and has led the program to back-to-back Ivy League Tournaments in 2025 and 2026, the first time in program history the team will appear in consecutive conference championships. Most recently, Coach Byrne made history, becoming the first head coach to lead his team to a win over a No. 1 ranked team in program history.
 

Back to the Ivy League Tournament

For the second consecutive season, the Crimson will battle for the Ivy League Tournament Championship in Ithaca. The four-seed in this year's tournament, Harvard will take on the league's top seed, Cornell, in the semifinal round. The fifth overall appearance in the tournament, Harvard owns a 3-4 record and has advanced to three Championship games in 2011, 2014 and 2016. The 2026 squads aims to become the first tournament champion in program history.
 
Last year, the Crimson – the tournament's three-seed – faced off with the Princeton Tigers at Schoellkopf in what became a tightly contested battle. Graham Stevens made 18 saves and Jack Speidell scored three goals but it was not enough to overtake the Tigers, who advanced with an 11-8 win over Harvard. Stevens' save total was the most in an Ivy League Tournament game by a Harvard goalkeeper.
 
Harvard and Cornell have met just once in the Ivy League Tournament back in 2011, an eventual 15-6 win for the Big Red.
 

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Junior captain Jack Speidell has done it all for the Crimson this season from his attack position. One of the best all-around players in the country, Speidell is the only attack in the nation with at least 25 goals, 10 assists, 35 points, 35 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
 

5x30

Harvard men's lacrosse leads the Ivy League with five 30-point scorers this season. That total is the most in a single season for Harvard men's lacrosse since the 1996-97 campaign. Teddy Malone, Jack Speidell, Logan Ip, Nathan Cobery and John Aurandt IV make up the group above 30 points for Harvard this season.
 

Staying Home

Senior midfielder Logan Ip recently became just the second Harvard player ever drafted into the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) after being selected in the third round of the 2026 draft by the Boston Cannons. One of the best midfielders in the nation, Ip was named an Inside Lacrosse First Team Midseason All-American earlier this year. The dual threat middy owns 17 goals and 15 assists this season and is 17^th in the Ivy League in points per game.
 

The Teddy Malone Show

Senior attackman, Teddy Malone, has been on fire in his senior season and currently leads the team with 46 points and 34 goals. The Delaware native had one of his best games of the season in the battle with Princeton (Apr. 18), scoring three goals and dishing out two assists to notch a game-high five points. Now with 158 career points, Malone is tied for the 12th most in program history.
 
Malone passed the 100 career goals milestone in the matchup against Dartmouth (Mar. 20) to become just the 12th player in program history to score 100 goals. Now with 111 career tallies, Malone is in seventh place on the all-time scoring list.
 

Johnny on the Spot

Senior midfielder, John Aurandt IV, finished the 2026 regular season with 36 points, 26 goals and 10 assists, all of which are new career highs. The timely scoring of Aurandt has been key to Harvard's success this season. In the upset win against No. 1 Syracuse (Feb. 21), Aurandt began the fourth quarter comeback with a clutch goal with just over five minutes left. Against No. 16 Penn (Mar. 14), the Michigan native scored both of Harvard's fourth-quarter goals to hold off a late Quaker rally. Aurandt added fourth quarter strikes in the wins over Dartmouth (Mar. 20) and Boston U. (Mar. 24) to help finish off the opponents late in the game.
 
Currently on an 11-game goal scoring streak, the team is 6-0 in games that Aurandt scores three or more goals.
 

Offensive Firepower

Picking up where it left off in 2025, Harvard's offense – led by the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator Neil Hutchinson – has continued to turn in impressive performances in 2026. The offense ranks inside the top 25 in the NCAA with a 33.1-percent shooting clip (5th) and 13.08 goals per game (10th).
 

Stevens the Stopper

Sophomore goalie, Graham Stevens, has emerged as one of the conference's top stoppers during the 2026 season. The New Jersey native ranks among the top five Ivy League goalies in all three major categories including save percentage (.536 – 4^th), saves per game (12.7 – 2^nd) and goals against average (11.1 – 4^th). Stevens posted a career best 22 saves in the Crimson's Charles River Rivalry game win over Boston University (Mar. 24) and has made over 12 saves in seven different games.
 
Last weekend against Cornell, Stevens made 16 stops to keep Harvard in the game until the final whistle. In his two career starts at Schoellkopf Field, Stevens has made 34 saves and allowed just 22 goals.
 

A Game of Runs

Harvard has shown its ability to pull away from its opponents this season by going on impressive scoring runs. Most notably in the game against Michigan (Mar. 7), Harvard used a 13-2 run in the final 40 minutes of the game to pull away and post a 17-7 victory. The streak featured two scoring runs of six goals. Harvard has posted 12 scoring runs of four or more goals this season.
 
Recently, in the contest against No. 20 BU (Mar. 24), Harvard used a five-goal run in the third quarter to take back the lead and fuel an eventual win. This past weekend against Brown, Harvard posted four straight fourth-quarter goals to comeback and defeat the Bears, 12-10. The Crimson allowed just one goal early in the final frame before standing tall defensively for the final 14-plus minutes.
 

Bullseye!

The ninth most accurate team in the nation, Harvard owns a shooting percentage of 33.1-percent on the season. Led by one of the most consistent shooters in the NCAA, Nathan Cobery (5th, 49-percent), Harvard has worn down opposing goaltenders with its ability to get shots on target. 60.8-percent of Harvard's shots have been on cage this season, one of the best marks in the country.
 
Harvard posted a 50-percent shooting percentage against Marquette (Feb. 28) with 19 goals on 38 shots. The clip was the highest in a game since the 2023 season when Harvard scored 23 goals on 43 shots against Providence. It was just the fourth time the team has eclipsed the 50-percent shooting clip in a game since 2010.
 

Spidey and His Amazing Friends

One of the most talented attackmen in the Ivy League, Jack Speidell is picking up where he left off in 2025. A dynamic playmaker, Speidell has shown off his ability as a distributor this season and is tied for second on the team with 12 assists. A Team 91 LI alum, Speidell now owns 39 points on the year and recently eclipsed the 100 career points milestone. The St. Anthony's product produced a nine-point outburst against Marquette (Feb. 28) the highest total for a Crimson player since Sam King '25 reached the same total in the 2025 matchup against Marquette.