Balanced Offense Leads Orange Past Cornell

Recap, photo courtesy of Syracuse University

ITHACA, N.Y. – No. 4/5 Syracuse downed No. 20/18 Cornell by a score of 9-7 at Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday night. The win improves the Orange's record to 13-4, while the Big Red goes to 10-3.

Senior Kayla Treanor led Syracuse with three points on two goals and an assist. She now has 249 career goals and trails Christina Dove '10 by just one goal for the top spot on the Orange's all-time goals scored list. Dove recorded 250 goals from 2007-10.

Syracuse never trailed as it opened the game with four straight goals. Treanor converted a free-position attempt before senior Kelly Cross (Oreland, Pa.) scored on an assist from senior Halle Majorana. A fast break led to sophomore Riley Donahue's goal,and redshirt sophomore Taylor Gait found the back of the net at the 12:06 mark.

The Big Red ended its scoring drought of 20:33 on Kristy Gilbert's unassisted goal at the 9:27 mark.
The Orange answered when Gabby Jaquith was awarded a free position, but instead passed it to Treanor, who put her shot in the back of the net to put Syracuse back up by four, 5-1. Christie Raymond tallied the final goal of the half with 1:45 on the clock, cutting the Orange's lead to 5-2 at halftime.

Joey Coffy opened the scoring in the second half, finding the back of the net 1:03 after intermission, but the Big Red wouldn't score again for 20:25 as Syracuse built its largest lead of the game. Gait started Syracuse's scoring run with an unassisted goal. Senior Erica Bodt followed with her first goal of the night, and freshman Nicole Levy converted a free-position attempt to extend Syracuse's lead to 8-3 with 9:42 on the clock.

The squads traded tallies before Cornell ended the game with three straight goals, the final one coming with five seconds on the clock for the 9-7 final.

"We played pretty well, despite not shooting well in the first half," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "In the second half we focused on our shots and we were able to put them away. Our defense played very well. Allie Murray did a good job keeping the ball out of the net and I thought Coach (Regy) Thorpe had a good defensive game plan."

Syracuse outshot Cornell, 26-17, while the Big Red picked up 16 ground balls to 14 for the Orange. Cornell also won 10-of-18 draw controls. Murray finished with five saves, four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Renee Poullott had 10 saves in goal for Cornell.

The Orange close out the regular season on Saturday against No. 8/7 Louisville at noon in the Carrier Dome.  Admission is free of charge.