The Lehigh alum has chosen to spend his final year of eligibility on the Hill.
The offseason game of musical chairs known as the transfer portal is keeping the music going, and this time it’s more good news for the Syracuse Orange.
Last Friday afternoon, it was reported that former Lehigh attackman Cole Kirst will be joining the Orange men’s lacrosse team next year as a grad transfer, per former TNIAAM contributor Chris Jastrzembski:
Been told that former Lehigh attackman Cole Kirst is heading to @CuseMLAX as a grad transfer. He’ll also be enrolling at Newhouse.
Joins Alex Simmons who came over from Denver as transfers into Syracuse.
— Chris Jastrzembski (@Chris_Jast) May 20, 2022
According to the Lehigh athletics website, Cole was a journalism major as an undergrad, so we can all be thankful that his future career aspirations have helped lead him to Newhouse and SU.
Kirst had a really solid four years for the Mountain Hawks, scoring 81 points (55G, 26A) in 47 career games. He was especially productive in his junior and senior seasons, producing 64 points in 24 games for 2.7 points per game. This past season, he finished fourth on the team with 30 points while only playing in 12 of the team’s 15 games.
He becomes the second grad transfer to join SU this offseason following former Denver attack/middie Alex Simmons, who committed to ‘Cuse less than two weeks ago. The two should play a very important role for the team next season as the splash of veteran experience in the mural of youth for the Syracuse offense.
Cole brings a physically imposing frame to SU, something that is currently lacking on the Orange offense. Standing at 6’3”, 210 pounds, his size provides a different look for a defense facing the Orange than many of their smaller players in the lineup like Owen Hiltz, Joey Spallina and Alex Simmons, among others.
Kirst doesn’t project as having the positional versatility that Simmons does, having played attack at Lehigh while Simmons switched back and forth with midfield. With so many new pieces for the Orange offense next season, it’s going to be fascinating to see how the coaching staff maneuvers them all to fit together, especially because it’s likely there are already two names penciled in at attack in Hiltz and Spallina.
Where does Kirst fit into the mix? We don’t exactly know yet, but we do know that ‘Cuse just added a very good, veteran lacrosse player to next year’s team. And that is definitely good news. Welcome to Syracuse, Cole!