No. 9 Syracuse (6-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) meets No. 8 Cornell (7-3, 2-2 Ivy) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Orange are coming off a blowout 17-5 win over longtime rival then-No. 20 Hobart and look to start another winning streak to end the season against the Big Red.

Here’s what you should know about Cornell.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 65-38-1

Last time they played: The Orange matched up with the Big Red in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season and dropped the matchup, 10-9. Syracuse held Jeff Teat to just one point in the game and outshot Cornell 37-35, but Cornell pushed ahead with a goal to break a 9-9 tie with 5:35 remaining in the game.

The Cornell report: Cornell is all about its offense. The Big Red is ranked second in the country in scoring offense behind No. 1 Penn State. Cornell scores 15.9 goals per contest and have set its season-high mark of 19 goals on two different occasions so far this season.

The offense runs mainly through the stick of star attack Jeff Teat, who is tied for the sixth-best points per game mark in the country with 5.4 points a contest. Even with Teat’s dominance, sophomore attack John Piatelli still scores 4.8 points per game and senior attack Clarke Petterson scores 4.6 points per game. That makes up a majority of the Big Red’s offense, but Cornell can score from all over the field.

But Cornell doesn’t have nearly the defense that Syracuse does. The Big Red give up 12.2 goals per game, a mark that is favorable for SU’s largely by-committee offense.

How Syracuse beats Cornell: While Cornell boasts three players in the top-20 of points per game, Syracuse doesn’t even have a player in the top-100. Bradley Voigt is the Orange’s points per game leader with 2.89 — 106th in the country. But Syracuse has proved that star power isn’t the way its offense operates, and SU has gotten its scoring from a variety of players in its best offensive games. SU shouldn’t worry about how it gets its offense, though, because Cornell ranks favorably for Syracuse in that category. What Syracuse should focus on is how it will stop the Big Red’s big three contributors, while limiting the offense as a whole. In order to make this a game, the Orange need to hold Cornell to below its season average. Then, SU might have a chance to get another marquee win.

Stat to know: 21 — The percentage of Cornell’s offense that Teat accounts for, scoring 54 of the Big Red’s 259 points

Player to watch: Jeff Teat, No. 51, junior attack

Cornell is well-equipped to play efficient offense without Teat in the fold, but Teat is the reason why the Big Red rank in the top-10 this season. One of the top players in the country last year is having a similar season this year and will likely continue to play well against the Orange.

Published on April 8, 2019 at 10:38 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary