Tuesday, April 8
Ithaca, NY
7 p.m.
Syracuse University
15
at
8
#5 Cornell
Senior Kyle Guadagnolo and the SU defense held the Big Red to three goals less than its season average Tuesday (photo by Kevin Colton).
CNY Statement: Top-Ranked Orange Bests #5 Cornell, 15-8
4/8/2008 9:20:09 PM | Men's Lacrosse
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Syracuse men’s lacrosse team posted its seventh consecutive victory and second in as many outings as the country’s top-ranked squad following an emphatic 15-8 win against Central New York rival Cornell on Tuesday in front of 4,782 fans at Schoellkopf Field. Junior attackman Kenny Nims (Watertown, N.Y.) fueled the Orange attack with a career-high seven points on two goals and a personal-best five assists.
Senior attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) matched a career high with five goals and added one helper, totaling his fourth six-point performance of the season. He extended his consecutive points streak to 49 games, matching former Orange great and current women’s lacrosse head coach Gary Gait for the fifth longest all-time.
The Syracuse offense boasted seven different scorers and became just the second team this season to eclipse the 10-goal plateau against a Big Red defense, ranked seventh nationally, allowing seven goals per contest, entering Tuesday night. The 15 goals surrendered by the Cornell defense is the most this season.
Senior midfielder Brendan Loftus (Watertown, N.Y.), junior midfielder Dan Hardy (Tully, N.Y.) and freshman midfielder Jovan Miller (Syracuse, N.Y.) added two points on one goal and one assist each. Rookie attackman Stephen Keogh (Toronto, Ontario) contributed two goals.
The Orange defense continued its solid play after stifling a Big Red attack, ranked eighth in the country with 11 goals per game. Sophomore Ryan Hurley, averaging more than three goals a contest, was limited to just one score. It marked the eighth time in 10 games this season that the Syracuse defense has held its opponent under 10 goals.
Syracuse claimed a 5-3 lead after the first quarter behind three unanswered goals and two scores during man-up opportunities. Leveille sparked the Orange’s scoring attack, evening the contest’s tally at one goal apiece, after tickling the twine less than two minutes in. Nims supplied Syracuse with its first advantage of the game after depositing a feed from Leveille on the doorstep at the 9:04 mark.
The Orange grabbed a two-goal edge after senior attackman Greg Niewieroski (Watertown, N.Y.) freed himself from a Cornell defender, took a pass from Nims and beat Big Red netminder Jake Myers with 8:33 remaining. The hosts twice trimmed the SU lead to one goal, but it was Hardy in front off a feed from Nims and a Steven Brooks (Libertyville, Ill.) missile from 12 yards out that resulted in the two-goal cushion.
Syracuse carried a four-goal lead, 7-3, into the intermission with Nims powering the charge and the defense pitching a shutout in the second quarter. Leveille converted a nifty double-fake in front after taking a pass from Nims at the 10:47 mark. Slightly more than five minutes following, and after the Orange defense killed a two-man disadvantage with 7:44 remaining, Nims ripped a rollout from behind the net past Myers. The second quarter marked the fourth time in the last five outings that the SU defense held its opponent without a score in a period.
After Cornell's John Glynn narrowed the Orange advantage to three goals, 7-4, in the opening minutes of the third frame, Syracuse responded with its second three-goal run of the game. Leveille and Loftus tallied two goals separated by 44 seconds before Keogh found the back of the target, pushing the SU lead to 10-4, with 8:14 left in the quarter.
Back-to-back scores from Glynn to begin the final 15 minutes brought the Big Red to within four goals, 11-7. However, goals from Keogh, Miller and senior Spencer Van Schaak (Tuxedo Park, N.Y.), the first of his career, all in a 50 second stretch, ballooned the Orange lead to seven, 14-7, with 4:32 remaining.
The Orange boasted a 4-for-10 clip on extra-man opportunities, just below its season average of 46 percent. Syracuse has scored at least one man-up goal in each of its 10 contests this season.
Rookie goalkeeper John Galloway (Syracuse, N.Y.) totaled four saves in the win. He and junior midfielder Matt Abbott (Syracuse, N.Y.) led the Syracuse charge with five ground balls apiece. Senior faceoff specialist Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) surpassed the 400 career faceoff win plateau with a 9-of-19 performance and corralled three ground balls. He matched Bob Feisee for fourth place all-time with 404 career wins at the X.
The loss snapped the Big Red’s 11-game home win streak dating back to the 2006 season and was just the ninth home defeat under eighth-year head coach Jeff Tambroni. The Orange was the last team to upend Cornell on its home turf, posting a 12-11 victory on April 11, 2006. Syracuse improves its record to 58-33-1 all-time against the Big Red.
Syracuse concludes a brief two-game road trip against Rutgers on Saturday, April 12 at 2:00 p.m.
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