Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange host Cornell on Senior Night

After a short two-game road trip and a one week break that somehow feels much longer, the Syracuse Orange return to the Carrier Dome tonight as they face off against the Cornell Big Red on Senior Night. Opening faceoff is set for 6 PM on ESPNU with Syracuse alums Jay Alter and Paul Carcaterra on the call (Live Stats are here).

The Orange lead the all-time series 65-38-1, but have lost the last two meetings which came last year. Syracuse head coach John Desko is 13-9 all-time against Cornell.

For tonight’s game, the Orange will be wearing throwback (fauxback?) uniforms. The helmets are already released.

As for the jerseys, you’ll see them tonight. But they look spectacular with a ton of royal blue involved.

The Last Game

Last week against Hobart, the Statesmen made it a game early and were neck-and-neck with the Orange at five all midway through the second quarter. But ‘Cuse scored the game’s final 12 goals en route to a 17-5 win and the Kraus-Simmons Trophy.

Stephen Rehfuss led the way for the Orange with a pair of goals and three assists while Bradley Voigt and Jacob Buttermore each potted hat-tricks. Drake Porter made 16 saves in a strong effort in goal.

Last Time They Met

The two teams met in the first round in the NCAA Tournament. Despite losing to the Big Red in the regular season, the Orange were the host as the eighth and final seed.

Syracuse held a 7-5 lead at halftime, but Cornell outscored the Orange 5-2 in the second half and took their first lead in the fourth quarter. Colton Rupp scored the game-winner with 5:35 left in the game and the Big Red defense held a late push from the Orange offense to preserve the win. With Jeff Teat being face-guarded and shut off by Nick Mellen (he finished with an assist), Clarke Petterson finished with five goals. Jamie Trimboli and Brendan Bomberry each had a pair of goals and one assist. Dom Madonna made 12 saves.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY: CORNELL

Cornell is much known for their offense, especially in recent years. Sure Rob Pannell graduated in 2013, but a new wave of Big Red attackmen have begun to shine in the past two seasons.

And it all starts with Jeff Teat. After being face-guarded for most of the Ivy League and the NCAA Tournament, defenses have defended him like a normal attackman. He’s still dominant with 25 goals and 29 assists, but his other two counterparts have benefitted. Senior Clarke Petterson is known as a finisher and leads the team with 35 goals to go along with 11 assists. But the guy that’s flown under the radar is John Piatelli. He’s right behind Petterson with 33 goals and has 15 assists on the year. My guess is Mellen will be on Teat again, Tyson Bomberry will defend his fellow Canadian in Petterson, and Marcus Cunningham will be assigned to Piatelli.

Sophomore Jonathan Donville leads the first midfield unit with 16 goals and 10 assists. Look for the LSM to guard him. The two short stick defensive midfielders for the Orange will get Jake McCulloch and Connor Fletcher. Reserve midfielders include Zach Ward, Colton Rupp, Matt Licciardi, and Cooper Telesco.

The close defense has some tough cookies. Fleet Wallace and Dom Doria are the two stalwarts at that position, but Brandon Salvatore has been converted from a long stick midfielder to a close defenseman. He has a team-high 25 caused turnovers. Max Fields and Patrick Karey got some starts earlier in the season prior to Salvatore.

With Salvatore up to close, Joseph Bartolotto III will be the top primary guy with Karey and Gavin Adler getting some LSM runs as well. The SSDMs are Kason Tarbell, Ryan Bray, Griffin Buczek, and Harrison Bardwell. After starting with Caelahn Bullen for the early portion of the season, freshman Chayse Ierlan, the younger brother of Yale FOGO TD Ierlan, has been the top netminder with a 51.9% save percentage and an 11.86 goals against average.

One area that needs some help is at the faceoff X. Paul Rasimowicz is 61-of-152 on the year (40.1%), while Luca Tria (30-of-62, 48.4%) and Australian Tim Graham (18-of-49, 36.7%) are other options but don’t pose a threat. Jake Phaup and Dan Varello shouldn’t have a problem with either, but Salvatore is able to take some draws and cause a 50-50 ground ball.

Overall, this game will be really big for both teams in terms of chances for the NCAA Tournament, mainly for Cornell. After this, they travel to take on Notre Dame in what could be a must-win for the Fighting Irish as well.

Things To Know

Here’s John Desko’s weekly press conference.

Mellen and Voigt also discussed the game.

Enjoy the day of college lacrosse! There’s a few other games today and more this weekend (including Cuse-UNC on Saturday), so make sure you enjoy what the sport has to offer! And if you want to chat during the game, this will be the place to do it!