Syracuse traveled to Ithaca, NY to take on Cornell in a game that was supposed to be close, and an instant classic. Despite the hype, the Orange came away with another big loss, and yet another game that wasn’t close as Cornell handled the Orange 13-8. Obviously Syracuse has played some amazing lacrosse with wins over Army, Virginia, Duke, Notre Dame, but in the games they’ve lost, they’ve looked rough.
The matchup of the day was Jeff Teat against Nick Mellen. Teat put up a great day number-wise going for 2 goals and 4 assists, but Mellen proved up to the task, forcing two turnovers against Teat in one-v-one matchups and the bulk of Teat’s points coming in transition or due to Mellen’s teammates complete inability to guard men off ball. Off ball defense has been a problem for Syracuse all year.
The game ball in my opinion goes to Caelahn Bullen, the Cornell goalkeeper. he was good for 14 saves on the day against 22 shots faced and made a few huge saves at key points in the game to keep Cuse at bay. It seems a Big Red keeper is always standing on his head against the Orange. Tonight Bullen got to be that guy.
Jonathan Donville went for 2 goals and 3 assists, and Clarke Petterson and Jake Mcculloch each went 2 and 1 for Cornell. Their offense made it look easy at times.
Stephen Rehfuss paced the Orange with a goal and 3 assists, and David Lipka put up 2 goals. The only two bright spots on the offensive side of the ball for Syracuse tonight.
