ITHACA, N.Y. — No. 7 Syracuse (6-4, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) lost 13-8 to No. 9 Cornell (7-3, 3-1 Ivy) at Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday night. Cornell, which entered the game riding a four-game winning streak in which it averaged more than 20 goals, outpaced SU with its offense. The Big Red tallied six goals in the first 17 minutes of the game, sporting a healthy lead for the majority of the game.

Too much sauce

Syracuse’s defense held on as long as it could. The Orange let up six goals in the first 17 minutes of play before tightening up. Over the next two quarters, it held Cornell, which ranks first in the country in goals per game (15.30), assists per game (10.50), points per game (25.80) and shooting percentage (.418) to just four goals.

Nick Mellen slowly figured out his matchup with Jeff Teat. He caused turnovers twice in the third quarter in one-on-one situations. One came from the right hash marks, around where Mellen was beaten in the first quarter. This time, the Orange defender kept his stick in tight on Teat and eventually whacked the ball loose. Later in the quarter, a simple Mellen poke dislodged the ball out of Teat’s stick.

Still, Cornell suffocated the Orange. Dom Madonna made eight saves through three quarters, but several resulted in continued Cornell possession. After Tucker Dordevic was flagged for a cross-check, Madonna made the ensuing save, sending the ball out into the corner. From there, Cornell scooped it, play continued further and Syracuse batted down pass but still couldn’t end the possession. Mellen bobbled the ground ball, and Cornell scooped it and scored.

Teat brings the heat

It took Jeff Teat less than three minutes to find the back of the net. The nation’s points leader stutter-stepped on Mellen around the numbers at the 20-yard-line. With a rare step on Mellen, Teat darted toward the cage and finished left-handed before the rest of the SU defense could collapse on him.

The goal set a precedent for how SU’s defense would collapse on the sophomore attack. But as the game wore on, Teat wasn’t doing the scoring anymore. On one play in the second, it looked like Teat had finally faltered. His behind the back pass dribbled to its target, John Piatelli. But it made it, and Piatelli scored.

After dishing out a career-high eight assists last Saturday against Harvard, Teat finished with four helpers. With just more than 10 minutes left, SU left Teat time and space. After two straight SU goals, Teat ripped a goal in transition to end the SU run.

Man Down

With a little under four minutes to play in the game, two Syracuse defenders collided. When the ball carried down the field, Marcus Cunningham never caught up. After lying on the turf for several minutes, he was helped off the field by the SU Athletics training staff.

Cunningham, a redshirt junior, had started every game this season for the Orange, serving as its third defender. In nine games, he forced four turnovers while scooping 12 ground balls.

Sophomore defender Nick DiPietro filled Cunningham’s place.

Published on April 10, 2018 at 9:02 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44