The top two teams in the nation will square off with No. 1 Cornell facing No. 2 Maryland to determine the champion of the 2025 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. The Big Red defeated Penn State 11-9 in Saturday's first semifinal, while the Terrapins advanced past Syracuse with a 14-8 win in the second semi.

Cornell lacrosse wanted to even the season series with Penn State at the NCAA Final Four. But all-time leading scorer CJ Kirst didn't have a goal. So how did the Big Red advance to Monday's title game?

Penn State certainly was not a huge favorite to make it to this point, having lost in the Big Ten Semifinals to the Maryland Terrapins. However, the Nittany Lions picked things up in the national tournament, beating Colgate and Notre Dame to get to the semifinals for the third time in program history, and the second time in three seasons.