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For the better part of a minute during sudden-death overtime, it looked like Syracuse was covering the spaces on defense. It looked like the Orange were closing down the ball-carrier, something they did very well for spells of Monday night’s game but struggled with during other parts.

But Cornell’s game plan was to be patient and move the ball around until an opportunity presented itself, its head coach Connor Buczek said postgame. And late in the possession clock, that’s exactly what happened in the biggest moment of the game. Nick Caccamo couldn’t slide in time to Hugh Kelleher, just like on the equalizing goal that forced overtime where the SU defender was fractions of a second late to the slide. This time, Kelleher hit the net, and SU lost 16-15 in heartbreaking fashion, before its offense could even touch the ball in overtime.

“We were just a little, half second slow and that’s going to cost you,” Brett Kennedy said.

Syracuse started strong but watched its sizable lead disintegrate in the third quarter when Cornell used a 5-1 run out of halftime. Then Syracuse fought back, taking a 15-14 lead in the final moments via Tucker Dordevic’s goal before No. 5 Cornell (10-1, 3-1 Ivy League) scored in the last 25 seconds to force overtime. But after Kelleher’s goal, none of it mattered. The Orange (4-7, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) dropped their third straight game in what could’ve been the biggest upset of the year, spiraling even further below. 500.

“All the credit to them — they made the shot,” head coach Gary Gait said. “We certainly had lots of shots in the fourth and made some, missed some. But when they needed it, they made them.”

Syracuse looked like an entirely different team than it did during its loss to UAlbany on Thursday — during certain spells. A group of inexperienced players shined as SU jumped out to a five-goal lead by the end of the first quarter. The Orange had two goals from reserve midfielder Jackson Birtwistle, a pole-goal from Saam Olexo and a transition one from short-stick midfielder Brandon Aviles.

It took Syracuse 45 seconds to get going. Brendan Curry inverted at X and dished a perfect pass to a cutting Mikey Berkman to start the offensive barrage. From there, Matteo Corsi inverted and found Birtwistle, who went between the legs of Cornell goalie Chayse Ierlan.

Ierlan, the younger brother of SU volunteer assistant coach TD Ierlan, was benched at the end of the first quarter after allowing seven goals and not recording any saves. Just days after Gait said SU simply wasn’t converting its shots, it scored four goals on its first eight shots of the game.

But Cornell started building momentum in the second quarter when Michael Long scored from the doorstep on a scuffled shot that found its way in the net. That made it 7-3, and a SU offside call quickly made it 7-4.

The Orange closed out the half strong, but the third period was when Cornell whittled Syracuse’s lead away. The inconsistencies that have plagued SU all season reappeared — after a half with some of its best lacrosse of the year, it started to collapse. Cornell scored five goals, bracketed by one Curry goal.

Dordevic and Corsi both fired shots wide on one of SU’s first possessions of the half, and then it had a possession clock violation. Seebold, Birtwistle and Curry had shots saved by backup goalie Wyatt Knust. But for the most part, the offense didn’t see the ball much — Cornell, who isn’t a strong faceoff team, won 5-of-7 of them.

On the other end, Cornell capitalized on a Syracuse defense that didn’t look the same as earlier in the game. In the first half, it contained Kirst and the Big Red offense, for the most part. Yet after halftime, it was missing slides and defensive assignments. Long was wide-open in the middle to make it a three-goal game after a teammate started his run from X. Billy Coyle was wide-open — again, in the middle of the zone — when Olexo didn’t slide quickly enough, making it a two-goal game. Kirst, who Kennedy locked up for most of the half, spun and shot to make it 12-11.

And then Kirst drew a double-team with two Syracuse long poles and Kelleher equalized the Big Red for the first time on Monday.

That’s when SU’s stars took over. First, it was Curry ripping a shot to tie the game at 13, and then, Dordevic, who delivered a strike with 1:45 left after Tyler Cordes found him on the right side. For a moment, it looked like Syracuse might hang on for the win.

But the Orange’s defense looked like they were holding their breath when back-to-back John Piatelli shots flew over the top of the cage. Both were good looks, and the SU defenders hadn’t closed down in time.

Then the Syracuse sideline looked on in disbelief when Long scored. Piatelli had elected not to shoot on the third chance, instead picking out an unmarked Long at the edge of the crease. Caccamo was late to the slide, and Long’s goal forced SU’s first overtime contest of the year, leading to another loss.

“Unfortunately we didn’t make the plays in the fourth quarter that we needed to, and they had a better fourth and we didn’t finish the game,” Gait said. “Certainly not from a lack of effort or wanting it, just our execution needs to continue to improve.”

Published on April 11, 2022 at 9:34 pm

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