By Martin Cleary
The number 21 is a meaningful figure in the history of the Cornell University Big Red men’s lacrosse program.
That number was retired shortly after player George Boiardi died during a 2004 game against Binghamton University, after being struck in the chest by a ball. He was a defenceman, a fourth-year senior, a team captain and the fastest player on his team. He was well respected.
His spirit is kept alive through many Big Red traditions.
The class of 2007 produced a 21-minute video to inspire future players. Before his death, Boiardi started a program called Big Red Readers, which continues today with the support of the annual 21 Run, which has raised more than $21,000. His memory also remains alive through other initiatives – the 21 Dinner, the 21 Run West and the Team 21.
On May 26, the No. 21 was prominent again, when the top-seeded Big Red held off the second-seeded University of Maryland Terrapins 13-10 to win the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse championship in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Cornell’s fourth men’s NCAA lacrosse championship in its ninth career final dating back to 1971 happened during the 21st year anniversary of Boiardi’s passing.
And the final result of that championship game, which was played before 32,511 spectators in Gillette Stadium (home of the NFL’s New England Patriots), also made Ottawa sports history.
Sophomore Willem Firth of Ottawa is believed to be the first Ottawa player to be part of an NCAA Division 1 men’s lacrosse championship team. The communications major was a key contributor to the Big Red’s 19-1 overall season, which saw him score four goals in four playoff games.
A first-line midfielder, Firth played between 15 and 20 minutes in the final, but didn’t register a goal or an assist. He did have two shots on goal and had one shot hit a post.
“I don’t know if anyone else has done it before,” Firth said in a phone interview this week from Toronto, where he is playing his final season of junior A lacrosse with the Beaches team.
“There have been a lot of great lacrosse players from Ottawa. Being the first to win a national (NCAA) championship, that would be cool.”
Championships have been hard to come by for Cornell in the past five decades. After being one of the dominant teams in the early years of the NCAA championship – winning three of the first seven finals in 1971, 1976 and 1977 – it took 48 years to celebrate another national crown.
Cornell had its opportunities, but finished as finalists in 1978, 1987, 1988, 2009 and 2022.
“Winning the NCAA championship was special,” Firth added. “It was absolutely super cool, playing before 32,000 fans. You don’t quite do that every day.
“It was nerve wracking before the game. But once you’re out there on the field, you hear nothing. You’re playing the game. It was great to have the support of all the spectators and alumni.”
The Big Red opened the NCAA men’s lacrosse Final Four with a come-from-behind 11-9 victory over Penn State Nittany Lions in the semifinals in front of 31,524 fans. Penn State handed Cornell its only loss early in the season. Firth counted one goal and added one assist in the semifinal.
Cornell reached the Final Four by defeating the University of Richmond 13-12 in the quarterfinals and the University at Albany 15-6 in the round of 16. Firth had two goals against Albany and one in the Richmond playoff game.
“Overall, we worked super hard,” Firth said, explaining the Big Red success. “We have great offence and our defence is super, super good. We have a lot of depth and high-end players.”
Firth played 19 games this season for Cornell and was the team’s No. 4 point scorer. He notched 32 goals, which was third-best on the team, and 17 assists for 49 points. Firth, the 2024 Ivy League rookie of the year, was named a 2025 Nike Inside Lacrosse first-team All-American and an All-Ivy League first-team selection.
“Cornell is awesome. When I decided on a school, I wanted to compete for a national championship,” Firth said. “Seeing my family after the game was special and having my picture taken with the trophy was super cool.
“There’s a culture on this team. Our coach (Connor Buczek) always talks about not recruiting offensive skill, but what a person is like. I feel it’s a good home for me with similar people, people with the same goals in life.”
Firth has now made the transition to box lacrosse from field lacrosse as he rejoined the Toronto Beaches team at the end of May. The Beaches are 5-5, after losing 8-7 Thursday night to Orangeville Northern, the first-place team in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League.
“We’re off to a rough start, but we’ll turn it around. We have a good team,” said Firth, who has 18 goals and 12 assists for 30 points in five games.
Firth is aiming to return to the Minto Cup and win a national title in his final year of junior eligibility. The Beaches reached the Minto Cup semifinals in 2022.
In the past two Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League seasons, Firth was named the MVP. He has played 91 regular-season games over five seasons with the Beaches and has 210 goals and 219 assists for 429 points.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.
