We are well past the halfway point of the Division 1 college lacrosse season, and now is the time to start speculating who could potentially win the Tewaaraton this year. There are many players you could make a case for. Sam King at Harvard is averaging 5.2 points per game. Jackson Eicher has been impressive for Army, putting up 5.7 points per game. There’s no denying Joey Spallina has been on a tear for Syracuse, averaging a whopping 6 points per game. However, all of this is irrelevant if CJ Kirst can stay on pace, averaging an unheard-of 7.1 points per game.
CJ Kirst has been a problem for opposing defenses his entire career at Cornell. During his freshman year, the red-headed madman casually threw up 55 goals and 24 assists, totaling 79 points in 19 games—roughly 4.1 points per game. Kirst somehow found a way to improve his game entering his sophomore year, scoring 65 goals on 36% shooting. Pair that with 19 assists, and you get 84 points on the year through just 15 games, averaging 5.6 points per game. His junior year was a down year given what he achieved the year prior, throwing up 45 goals and 22 assists for 67 points across 14 games. That 4.7 points per game average is still elite, but not quite the 5.6 from his sophomore year—which is really just nitpicking.
Now on his senior year farewell tour, Kirst has been operating on a level never seen before. Through just seven games, Kirst has already amassed 37 goals and 13 assists, totaling 50 points on an alarming 57% shooting percentage. Averaging 7.1 points per game is completely bonkers, but pair that with a 57% shooting percentage? Absolutely unheard of. Just to put this into perspective, I wanted to compare CJ Kirst’s current averages to some recent Tewaaraton winners.
Tewaaraton Winner Comparisons
- 2025: CJ Kirst (Cornell) – 7.1 PPG / 57% Shooting
- 2024: Pat Kavanagh (Notre Dame) – 4.7 PPG / 35% Shooting
- 2023: Brennan O’Neill (Duke) – 5.1 PPG / 35% Shooting
- 2022: Logan Wisnauskas (Maryland) – 5.7 PPG / 48% Shooting
- 2021: Jared Bernhardt (Maryland) – 6.1 PPG / 49% Shooting
- 2019: Pat Spencer (Loyola) – 6.7 PPG / 35% Shooting
- 2018: Ben Reeves (Yale) – 5.7 PPG / 35% Shooting
- 2017: Matt Rambo (Maryland) – 4.5 PPG / 33% Shooting
- 2016: Dylan Molloy (Brown) – 6.4 PPG / 38% Shooting
- 2015: Lyle Thompson (Albany) – 6.3 PPG / 44% Shooting
Looking at these numbers before the end of the season might be misleading, but Kirst has been consistent in his level of play through seven games, even against ranked opponents. He dropped 8 points against Denver, 3 against Penn State, and 7 against Princeton. There is no denying that what CJ Kirst is doing right now is unfathomable, and I would expect that consistency to carry through the rest of the season. At this rate, Kirst could potentially hit 100 points before the start of conference tournament play. With Cornell currently ranked as the number one team in the country, the expectation is that they make a run at Championship Weekend. Anything less would be disappointing. You give CJ Kirst more games to play at the rate he’s been going, and we’re talking about all-time numbers in terms of totals and averages.
At the end of the day, there is still a lot of season left to be played and things could potentially go south. But with how Kirst is currently playing, he looks like the clear front-runner to win the Tewaaraton—and maybe break some records along the way.
