Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange dominate for 60 minutes in 13-8 win over Cornell

For the majority of the season, the Syracuse Orange have gotten out of the gate slow. But for the most part, they’ve found a way to come back and get a win.

This time against the Cornell Big Red on Senior Night, the entire 60 minutes of the game were dominated by the home Orange who used a strong offense, solid defense, and domination at the faceoff X to defeat their Upstate New York rivals 13-8 on Senior Night. It was the first time Syracuse never trailed in a game.

And they looked good doing it.

Syracuse got up early scoring the game’s first three goals to take a 3-0 lead midway through the first half. The two teams would alternate goals before Jacob Buttermore added onto Nate Solomon’s tally in the second quarter to extend the Orange lead to four goals at 6-2.

Despite the game feeling one-sided, it was a three or four goal margin for most of the match up until the third quarter. That’s when the Orange scored four straight, including two from Bradley Voigt to put a stranglehold on the Big Red with a 12-5 lead. Cornell ended the game with two garbage time goals to wrap up a 13-8 finish for Syracuse.

Voigt and Stephen Rehfuss each scored hat-tricks, while Brendan Curry added a pair of goals plus an assist. Nick Mellen limited Cornell’s Jeff Teat to just two assists while the redshirt-junior also recorded a caused turnover and two ground balls. Drake Porter stopped 10 shots, and the Orange faceoff men went a combined 17-of-25 on draws.

Scoring and Stats

CORNELL

A John Piatelli (3 Gs, 1 CT)
M Connor Fletcher (2 Gs)
M Cooper Telesco (1 G, 1 A)
A Jeff Teat (2 As, 3 GBs)
M Jake McCulloch (2 As)
A Clarke Petterson (2 As)
M Jonathan Donville (1 G, 1 GB)
M Zach Ward (1 G)

D Brandon Salvatore (2 CTs, 4 GBs, 0-of-4 FOs)
SSDM Harrison Bardwell (1 CT, 3 GBs)
SSDM Kason Tarbell (1 CT, 2 GBs)
SSDM Griffin Buczek (1 CT, 1 GB
M Matt Licciardi (1 CT)

FOGO Paul Rasimowicz (7-of-17 FOs, 3 GBs)
FOGO Luca Tria (1-of-3 FOs)
G Chayse Ierlan (17 saves, 1 CT)

SYRACUSE

A Bradley Voigt (3 Gs, 4 GBs)
A Stephen Rehfuss (3 Gs, 1 GB)
M Brendan Curry (2 Gs, 1 A, 1 GB)
A Nate Solomon (2 Gs, 1 GB)
M Jamie Trimboli (1 G, 1 A, 3 GBs)
SSDM Peter Dearth (1 G, 3 GBs, 1 CT)
M Jacob Buttermore (1 G, 1 GB)
M David Lipka (1 A)
M Griffin Cook (1 A)

D Tyson Bomberry (2 CTs, 6 GBs)
LSM Brett Kennedy (1 CT, 5 GBs)
LSM Jared Fernandez (1 CT, 3 GBs)
D Nick Mellen (1 CT, 2 GBs)
D Marcus Cunningham (1 CT)

FOGO Jake Phaup (11-of-18 FOs, 2 GBs)
FOGO Danny Varello (6-of-6 FOs, 3 GBs)
FOGO Nate Garlow (0-of-1 FO)
G Drake Porter (10 saves, 3 GBs)

Notes and Nuggets

• I mentioned this last week in the Hobart recap but I’ll repost it here again. “But with the win, it helps the Orange gain some confidence and a little momentum. They can get a groove going in practice and feel a little comfortable going into another local rivalry game.” I think that 12-goal run in the Hobart game did wonders for the team. It got them to click, and they were clicking really well in this game. That should carry over into their final ACC regular season game on Saturday against UNC.
• The highlight from this game was the dominating defense. Despite returning nearly everyone from a year ago, Cornell looked like a dud on the offensive side of the ball. Mellen shutting off Jeff Teat was huge in the win, but I also thought Tyson Bomberry did a fantastic job stopping Clarke Petterson, Cornell’s go-to guy for goals. Limiting him to only two assists was a huge victory.
• Five of Cornell’s eight goals were scored by midfielders. John Piatelli recorded all three of Cornell’s goals at attack. I’d rather have him have a good game than Teat and Petterson.
• In the first half, the Big Red only have one settled goal. The other two came in unsetted situations.
• Another solid outing by the top six offensive starters, including Rehfuss. Ever since he got rid of the flu and his nagging injury against Virginia, Rehfuss has scored in every game and has had multi-point outings in every game except for Notre Dame (1 goal). Having him back at 100% gives the offense another threat.
• The biggest improvement from a year ago has got to be the faceoffs. Compared to 48.2%, the Orange as a whole are 60.5% with Jake Phaup at 66.1%. Even Danny Varello, despite his role being diminished, is winning 53.6% of his draws and won all six of his faceoffs Tuesday night. The wing play should also be commended, especially with John Desko deciding to double-pole with Brett Kennedy and Jared Fernandez on some draws. Kennedy has 34 GBs, Fernandez has 22, and Peter Dearth has 21.

What’s Next?

The Orange have another short week as they wrap up ACC regular season play Saturday on the road against the North Carolina Tar Heels at 3 PM on ACC Network Extra. It’ll be a big game for ‘Cuse’s ACC standings. A loss could mean the team might have to play in the 4-5 game before taking on top-seeded Virginia if they win.