PRINCETON, N.J. – Following another thrilling season that consistently featured several teams in the national polls, the Ivy League has announced the 2023 major award winners and All-Ivy men’s lacrosse teams that were voted on by League’s head coaches.
 
Cornell junior attackman CJ Kirst was named the Ivy League Player of the Year after leading the conference with 58 total goals this season including 30 in League play alone (5.00/game). His conference goal total of 30 goals currently matches an Ivy League single season League game only record while his 58 goals this season are tied for 10th in a season in Ivy history. Kirst also leads the conference in points (76) and points per game (5.85), while totaling 6.33 points per game over the six-game conference slate. Heading into the 2023 Ivy League men’s lacrosse tournament where Cornell will be the No. 1 seed, Kirst leads the nation in both goals and points per game.
 
Dartmouth freshman midfielder Emmett Paradine collected Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors after posting 27 points on 18 goals and nine assists for the Big Green. In addition, Paradine collected 12 ground balls and caused four turnovers on the season. Paradine is fifth major award winner for Dartmouth in program history and the first for Dartmouth since 2007 when Ari Sussman was named the Rookie of the Year in 2007. With Paradine on the roster, the Big Green achieved their most wins since 2008.
 
In his second season at the helm, Cornell’s Connor Buczek earns back-to-back Ivy League Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Big Red to an 11-2 overall record (5-1 Ivy) and Cornell’s second-straight Ivy League championship. Cornell has been a mainstay in the national polls this season and will head into the Ivy League tournament with an NCAA RPI ranking of No. 7. This season, Cornell captured three top-10 wins including No. 8 Ohio State, No. 8 Yale and No, 6 Army.
 
Cornell and Penn led the way on the All-Ivy first team with four selections each while Yale had three, Princeton had two and Brown had one. The All-Ivy first team featured six unanimous selections including Kirst, Princeton attackman Coulter Mackesy, Penn midfielder Sam Handley, Cornell defenseman Gavin Adler, Penn defenseman Brendan Lavelle, Cornell goalie Chayse Ierlan and Brown face-off specialist Matt Gunty. Mackesy had a breakout first year for the Tigers as he led the Tigers with 45 goals and 65 points, finishing second in the conference with 5.42 points per game. The lone unanimous First Team All-Ivy midfielder was Penn’s Handley who recorded 28 goals and 23 assists this season, ranking top-10 in the conference in both categories.
 
Cornell’s Adler and Penn’s Lavelle were the two unanimous First Team All-Ivy defenseman. Adler finished the regular season with 1.54 caused turnovers per game and 4.31 ground balls per game while Lavelle had 25 ground balls and eight caused turnovers. 
 
Big Red goalie Chayse Ierlan was another unanimous first team selection after leading the conference with a 9.99 goals against average this season. Ierlan totaled 12.38 saves per game and was third in the league with a .559 save percentage.
 
The final unanimous first team honoree was Brown face-off specialist Matt Gunty who won over 200 faceoffs this season for a .631 winning percentage. Gunty averaged 6.77 ground balls per game which ranked third in the League.
 
Attackman Matt Brandau, defenseman Michael Alexander and LSM Jack Stuzin were Yale’s representatives on the first team, while Cornell was also represented by midfielder Hugh Kelleher. Princeton midfielder Alex Vardaro was on the first team while Penn defenseman Brendan Lavelle, LSM BJ Farrare and SSM Piper Bond rounded out the first team.
 
The All-Ivy second team was comprised of six of the seven teams. Brown had three additional players recognized while Princeton had five players on the second team. Harvard had two players on the squad, Dartmouth and Yale had two, and Cornell had one to round out the 15-player expanded second team squad.
 
In addition, the Ivy League named seven players to the Academic All-Ivy squad. Brown’s Matthew Gunty, Cornell’s Billy Chabot, Dartmouth’s Peter Lapina, Harvard’s Chase Yager, Penn’s Piper Bond, Princeton’s Ben Finlay and Yale’s Bryce De Muth were all honored for their efforts both on the field and in the classroom.
 
Player of the Year:
CJ Kirst, Cornell (Jr., A – Bernardsville, N.J.)
 
Rookie of the Year:
Emmett Paradine, Dartmouth (Fr., M – Hickory, N.C.)
 
Coach of the Year:
Connor Buczek, Cornell
 
FIRST TEAM^
CJ Kirst, Cornell (Jr., A – Bernardsville, N.J.)*
Coulter Mackesy, Princeton (So., A – Bronxville, N.Y.)*
Matt Brandau, Yale (Sr., A – Timonium, Md.)
Hugh Kelleher, Cornell (Jr., M – Wantagh, N.Y.)
Sam Handley, Penn (Sr., M – Portland, Ore.)*
Alex Vardaro, Princeton (Sr. M – Woodmere, N.Y.)
Gavin Adler, Cornell (Sr., D – Hewlett, N.Y.)*
Brendan Lavelle, Penn (Jr., D – Rye, N.Y.)*
Michael Alexander, Yale (Jr., D – West Islip, N.Y.)
Chayse Ierlan, Cornell (Sr., G – Victor, N.Y.)*
Matt Gunty, Brown (Sr., FO – Bethesda, Md.)*
BJ Farrare, Penn (Sr., LSM – Owings Mills, Md.)
Jack Stuzin, Yale (Jr., LSM – Baltimore, Md.)
Piper Bond, Penn (Sr., SSM – Baltimore, Md.)
 
SECOND TEAM^
Devon McLane, Brown (Sr., A – Westfield, N.J.)
Sam King, Harvard (So., A – Baltimore, Md.)
Chris Lyons, Yale (Jr., A – Medford, N.J.)
Aidan McLane, Brown (So., M – Westfield, N.J.)
Matteo Corsi, Brown (So., M – Plymouth, Mich.)
Nate Davis, Dartmouth (Jr., M – Bronxville, N.Y.)
Owen Gaffney, Harvard (So., M – Los Angeles, Calif.)
Brad Sharp, Yale (Jr., M – Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.)
Jack Follows, Cornell (Jr., D – Oakville, Ontario)
Ben Finlay, Princeton (Sr., D – Oakton, Va.)
Pace Billings, Princeton (Jr., D – Denver, Colo.)
Michael Gianforcaro, Princeton (Jr., G – Lincoln University, Pa.)
Mitchell Myers, Dartmouth (Jr., FO – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Cathal Roberts, Princeton (Sr., LSM – Dublin, Ireland)
Beau Pederson, Princeton (Jr., SSM – Park City, Utah)
 
HONORABLE MENTION
Billy Coyle, Cornell (Jr., A – Malvern, Pa.)
Leo Johnson, Yale (So., A – Greenwich, Conn.)
Andrew Perry, Harvard (So., M – Franklin, Mass.)
James Shipley, Penn (Sr., M – Weddington, N.C.)
Christian Ronda, Princeton (Sr., M – Greenwich, Conn.)
Thomas Bragg, Yale (Sr., M – Cazenovia, N.Y.)
Mark Witt, Brown (Jr., D – Andover, Mass.)
Collin Bergstrom, Harvard (So., D – Winchester, Mass.)
Peter Blake, Penn (Sr., D – Needham, Mass.)
Emmet Carroll, Penn (Jr., G – Rye, N.Y.)
Jack Cascadden, Cornell  (Jr., FO – Garden City, N.Y.)
Chase Yager, Harvard (Sr., SSM – Virginia Beach, Va.)
 
*unanimous selection
*expanded team due to tie in voting