No. 17 Orange Victorious Against No. 13 Cornell, 9-8

Tuesday, April 5

Syracuse, NY

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Cornell

Junior Meghan O'Connell scored a team-high three goals and added two ground balls, two draw controls and two forced turnovers for the Orange against Cornell.

No. 17 Orange Victorious Against No. 13 Cornell, 9-8

4/5/2005 10:44:09 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Syracuse 9, Cornell 8

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - No. 17 Syracuse won its fifth-straight game as the Orange upended No. 13 Cornell, 9-8, on Tuesday evening in the Carrier Dome. It was the first win against a ranked foe for the Orange this season. The Orange improved to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in BIG EAST action, while the Big Red slipped to 4-4. The Orange continued to dominate Cornell in the Carrier Dome, improving to 4-0 all-time with the win.

The Orange scored two quick goals in a five-minute span during the second half after Cornell lost one of its top defenders, Annie Berkery, due to her second yellow card at the 39:56 mark. The Orange went from a one-goal deficit to a one-goal lead. The first goal came off the stick of sophomore Jill DePetris and the second came from junior Meghan O’Connell. Junior Melody Agnew had the assist on both goals, giving her 18 career assists for 10th on the SU all-time ledger. SU would ultimately score four consecutive goals during the run, an Agnew goal at 50:14 and another O’Connell score at 51:03, to go up by three goals before Cornell made a furious rally that fell just short.

Courtney Farrell had four goals and an assist in the loss to lead the Big Red offense, while junior Maggie Fava in goal for Cornell, stopped 11 Syracuse shots. She was outdone, however, by SU’s junior Jen Kasel's 12 stops for the Orange.

All-America candidate senior Monica Joines was held to one goal, but O'Connell picked up the slack with three goals, while Agnew finished with a goal and three assists.

In a game that featured a combined four red cards, 12 yellow cards and 34 fouls, Syracuse won the game by being able to control the draw circle with a healthy, 12-7, advantage to give the Orange extra possessions all evening.

The goalkeepers controlled play early with Fava stopping two point-blank shots and Kasel stopping three early Big Red free position attempts. Syracuse was finally able to strike first at 6:53 off a goal by O'Connell, who beat Fava high after a great feed by senior Caitlyn Dragon. After having its first five shots of the game saved, Farrell tallied at the 10:51 mark to even the contest at 1-1.

The Orange got the goal back after Fava made a save and the Big Red recovered the ground ball. Cornell then turned the ball over in front of the net and Dragon was there to pick it up and put it into the back of the net. Cornell answered right back as Allison Schindler caused a turnover at midfield and fired ahead to Farrell who juked her defender and beat Kasel low to even the score, 2-2, 14:52 into the contest. Syracuse was forced to play from behind for the first time all night less than two minutes later when Amanda Linnertz scored on a free position goal to make it 3-2.

Freshman Allison Furstenberg tied the game up for the third time when she beat the defender around the crease and fired high over Fava's shoulder to make it 3-3. After several minutes of back and forth play, Farrell completed her hat trick with 3:56 remaining in the half to make it 4-3, but the Orange answered back 1:24 later on a score by Dragon and then took the lead on a score by Joines 41 seconds after that. Syracuse escaped a Kristen Smith free-position attempt with 16 seconds remaining to go into the half with a 5-4 edge.

The Orange held a 17-13 edge in the first half on shots, but that was mainly due to a 7-3 edge in draw controls in the first 30 minutes. Both goalkeepers posted seven saves in the first half.

Cornell won the second half draw and despite two early saves by Kasel, the Big Red evened the score on Smith’s first goal of the game. SU was called for a foul after the goal, giving the Red a free draw and Cornell took advantage with a quick goal off the restart.

Syracuse tied the game shortly after Berkery picked up her second yellow card, disqualifying her with just over 20 minutes remaining. Joines then scored with 18:54 remaining to regain the lead for Syracuse at 7-6, but the goal was wiped off the board after a stick check showed Joines was using an illegal stick.

After the goal was disallowed, Syracuse took the lead anyway on a score by O'Connell midway through the half to make it 7-6. Cornell had a chance for a score three minutes later, but Schindler’s shot was low and saved by Kasel. SU took the first two-goal advantage of the contest at 8-6 with 9:46 left on a wraparound by Agnew, forcing a Cornell timeout. The stoppage did not stop the Orange's momentum, as less than a minute later O'Connell scored again to make it 9-6.

Charlotte Schmidlapp got the Big Red back within two at 9-7 with 5:18 left with her first collegiate goal on a spinning feed from Farrell. The Big Red had another chance a minute later, but Lyndsay Robinson’s shot was saved by Kasel, but Cornell finally climbed back within one on a free-position score by Margaux Viola with 2:07 to play, making it 9-8. Cornell forced a turnover with under a minute left, but gave it right back on the restart and Syracuse played keepaway in the final 45 seconds to earn the win.

The Orange will have another test when it meets future BIG EAST rival Loyola on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.