The Orange entered their matchup with Cornell with a 9-0 record and a No. 1 national ranking while Cornell brought an 8-2 record and No. 5 national ranking to the Carrier Dome. And these two central New York powers are no strangers to each other. Their last two matchups have been memorable ones. In the 2009 National Championship game the Orange rallied from a 9-6 deficit in the fourth quarter and won in overtime 10-9. Last season, the Orange won scored as time expired to beat the Big Red 8-7.
The Big Red sealed this big win with a goal by Junior Rob Pannell, his third of the game, which gave the Big Red an 11-6 lead with 2:26 minutes remaining. Chants of “Overrated” begin to resonate from the Cornell fans that made the 45 minute trip from Ithaca. The 11-6 defeat was the Orange’s worst lost since 2007.
Senior Goalie John Galloway doesn’t believe the loss will a negative effect on this veteran led team.
“It’s mid April, the season is not over for any of us yet,” he said. “The guys in the locker room know that. Us captains are going to be able to confirm that idea in the locker room and we’re going to get back to work.”
The Big Red got on the board first with a goal by senior attack David Lau, assisted by Pannell.
With 8:28 to go in the first, Pummel, the Big Red’s main playmaker, found a cutting Alex Giocondi, who found the back of the net to give Cornell a 2-0 lead. Just under a minute later, sophomore midfielder Joe Moore kept the ball himself and was able to wrap around the net for the goal making it a 3-0 game.
The Orange would get on the board on the next possession with a goal by senior midfielder Jeremy Thompson. Later in the quarter, junior midfielder Roy Lang found an unusual soft spot in the SU defense and was able to weave his way through the all the way to the net for an easy goal to give Cornell the 4-1 lead. With 15 seconds to go in the first quarter Moore was able to get behind several Orange defenders again for his second goal of the quarter. The quarter ended 5-1, Cornell, with the Orange facing its largest deficit of year.
13 seconds into the second quarter, Pannell added to the Big Red lead with another easy goal, making it 6-1 Cornell. The Orange would answer three minutes later when Sophomore Midfielder JoJo Morasco found a cutting Tommy Palesek for the goal closing the gap back to 4. Later in the quarter Pannell continued to pick apart the SU defense when he ripped a shot from the perimeter to give Cornell a 7-2 lead. The Big Red would hold a 7-2 halftime lead.
After trading possessions for the opening minutes of the second half the Orange got on the board first. Senior midfielder Jovan Miller found fellow Senior midfielder Josh Amidon for the goal to bring the Orange back to within 4.
On the very next possession, Amidon showed off his shot with a laser that found the back of the net, making it 7-4 Cornell with 10:32 to go in the third quarter. A little over a minute later, Lang scored his second goal of the game to give Cornell an 8-4 lead.
With 5:19 remaining in the quarter freshman midfielder Mike O’Neil ripped a shot from the perimeter to make the score 9-4 Cornell. On the next possession, junior attack Scott Austin added to Cornell’s lead with a quick wrap around goal. Cornell ended the quarter with a 10-4 lead.
The Orange got on the board first in the fourth quarter Amidon found a wide open Palesek for an easy goal to make it a 10-5 game. With 8 minutes left in the game, Amidon scored his third goal of the game on a Jovan Miller assist to once again bring the Orange within four. But it would not be enough.
After the game, Rob Pannell shared his thoughts on what the victory over the Orange meant to the Big Red’s Seniors.
“It’s great that we could get this win for our seniors, they were 0-4 against Syracuse up to this point,” he said. “You got to leave Cornell in your career with a win against Syracuse. It’s a great upstate rivalry.”
The Orange look to get back on track this Saturday when the take on the Providence Friars at New England Lacrosse Classic in Foxboro, Mass.
