Syracuse lacrosse: Cornell hosting Orange in another Tuesday night game

The Syracuse Orange move one spot up to seventh in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll and also gain a position to sit sixth in the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20. The latter is a little odd because it features SU one ahead of Rutgers, a team that smashed ‘Cuse a few weeks back and holds a 4-1 record over the last five games with the only loss coming in a one goal game versus Johns Hopkins two weeks ago. Weird.

In the numero uno position, one poll has the Albany Great Danes holding the top spot after a loss to another set of dags, the UMBC Retrievers, and another poll has Maryland overtaking the Great Danes following a Sunday win at Penn State. Either way, I’m fine with it. Albany has done enough, including beating Maryland, to take a loss and stay atop the poll. By the way though, Sunday evening lacrosse on the Big Ten Network is the greatest. I’ve got nothing to do and it’s a good product. Huge win for the B10. Adding to my poor mood tonight, I also just saw that the ACC Tournament semifinal games will be on a Friday at 1 PM and 3:30 PM. Don’t worry though, you can take a day off from work Friday and catch those two games and then hang around Charlottesville for two days until the Championship on Sunday at noon. I mean is that better than spreading it over two weekends? Yea, that’s happening next year. What a fumble.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Notre Dame continues to spiral with a second straight loss, this time at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils. Of course we can’t forget Virginia which finally won a conference game, took long enough but better real damn late than never. North Carolina is still receiving consideration and votes in the polls and for the life of me I don’t know why or how. Six straight losses and someone gives them a vote? The “but they’re a quality team” argument only goes so far. Ugh, gross. I guess the question then becomes how many losses would it take for (anonymous voter) to stop voting for UNC to be in his or her poll? I’d be willing to bet its a laughable number. I mean if you’re willing to vote for them after six straight losses, what’s eight or ten? Hell, 15? Tobacco Road baby!

Anyway, if you were looking for something to fill up your Tuesday then so long as you are willing to pay for it you can watch the Syracuse Orange take on another in-state rival tonight when SU heads to Ithaca, NY to faceoff with the Cornell Big Red. Just like the ridiculousness of the Big Ten Network putting Rutgers-Syracuse behind a paywall to play a replay of a Purdue-Butler (it might have been Northwestern-Purdue, but I don’t really think it matters) basketball game from December, the Ivy League requires a subscription to watch its games. Keep in mind, it’s around ten dollars for a monthly access to one school but a portion of the price is also bearing the burden that you’ve just donated to the Harvard endowment. How dya like them apples?

These two programs have taken the field 102 times since first meeting in 1920 with the Orange holding a decisive 65-36-1 record. Cornell got off to a rather slow start losing two of its first three games but has now put together four straight wins entering Tuesday with a 7-3 record.

As of right now I think Syracuse has done enough to get into the NCAAs while I have Cornell just slightly on the inside of the bubble. A win over SU would give the Big Red a huge advantage when Selection Sunday comes.

Jeff Teat is the name to listen for on Tuesday night. The sophomore is putting together a very impressive season, highlighted by a 12 point night on Saturday against Harvard. His 65 points this season are just seven away from his 2017 total of 72 and he is ranked in the top ten in the nation in points per game and assists per game. Teat has 35 assists in 2018 and is the only guy on his team with more than 11 assists, crazy. The first attack line will also feature Clarke Petterson, a junior out of Canada who has 25 goals and 11 assists this year while the midfield is led by senior Jordan Dowiak who’s picked up 24 goals through ten games.

This is a potent offense that could really do some damage against Syracuse. Cornell as a team has the most assists per game in the nation with 69% of all goals being assisted. The Big Red also have the best shooting percentage in division one, scoring on .418 of all shots. This a group scoring over 15 goals per game, which is pretty absurd, against opponents’ 9.5 goals per game.

One of the Achilles heels of this Big Red team has been, at times, the faceoff game. Cornell actually came close to beating the Albany Great Danes (what up UMBC), but they got into that position to win in spite of an 0-24 faceoff situation (i’d laugh but SU went 5-22). All together Cornell is a .491 faceoff team although Paul Rasimowicz has won .552 percent of his faceoffs and has taken 77% of his squad’s faceoffs. In his last five games the sophomore has won 61% of his attempts and is definitely trending upwards.

Defensively, the Big Red is led by senior and two time captain Jake Pulver. A native of Manlius, NY, Pulver played for Ric Beardsley’s club team in high school. According to an article in the Cornell Chronicle, the senior actually continues to keep a voicemail from the Orange legend in which he tells the high school aged Pulver that Cornell and the Ivies don’t want him, a message that he used as motivation.

In net Syracuse fans will once again see Christian Knight, a senior and four-year starter at Cornell. He has had two 19-save games this year including one against Albany. If we are lucky, we could be treated to a goalie battle with Dom Madonna. The senior is coming into this game with subpar numbers heavily disguising a heck of a year.

The Syracuse Orange will travel to Ithaca, NY to faceoff with the Cornell Big Red at 7 PM on Tuesday. You can catch the game on the Ivy League Network or listen on TK99/105.