Cole McCormack was admittedly upset watching Cornell suffer a painful 10-9 overtime loss to Syracuse in the NCAA title game back in May.
“I was cringing,” he said. “Especially the last minute.”
And there’s a good reason.
The standout midfielder at Rye was already starting to lean that way. He was already getting interest from a number of noteworthy programs for months, but McCormack apparently liked what he saw and officially committed to the Big Red this week.
“I’m so excited,” he said. “They have unbelievable lacrosse, the coaches are great and the academics happen to be world class.”
McCormack spent a lot of time visiting colleges up and down the East Coast and was also considering the likes of Princeton, Duke, Georgetown, Colgate, Brown, and Dartmouth.
“There really wasn’t a short list,” he conceded.
McCormack was a first-team Journal News All-Star, winning 73 percent of the faceoffs he took for the Garnets last season. He’s also pretty efficient in transition.
“I just hope that helps me get on the field and helps me develop into a two-way midfielder,” he said. “You always need the ball to score.”
McCormack played for the Long Island Sting this summer at the Brine Shootout and the Tri-State Lacrosse Festival. He also participated in the Jake Reed Blue Chip Lacrosse Camp and the Nike Shootout. He also got a chance to run with a few current and former Cornell team members during a tournament in Lake Placid.
His uncle, who played for the Big Red in the late 1980s got made that introduction.
“It was a lot of fun,” McCormack said. “All of those guys were psyched about next season.”
Next on the agenda is football practice.
“We start two-a-days next Friday,” said the 5-9, 190-pound running back and linebacker. “We open the season Sept. 11 at 7 o’clock against Ossining. I can’t wait.”
(Photo: Submitted by the McCormack family)
