ITHACA, N.Y. - With the score tied 3-3 at halftime, No. 5 Cornell (9-1) came out of the break with five third quarter goals and added four in the fourth to defeat the No. 13 Syracuse men's lacrosse team (5-5) on Tuesday night at Schoelkopf Field, 12-6.
Tommy Palasek led the Orange with two goals and an assist, and Bobby Eilers and Derek Maltz each scored twice while Cornell's Max Van Bourgondien and Roy Lang scored four and three goals, respectively.
Cornell used two long possessions to take a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game on goals from Roy Lang and Max Van Bourgondien on a shot from the right side with the stall warning on.
The Big Red dominated the Orange in nearly all statistical categories including shots (46-24), ground balls (39-23) and faceoffs (14-8).
After Bobby Wardwell made a huge save on Mike O'Neil to keep the deficit at two, JoJo Marasco put the Orange the board by collecting a loose ball off a shot from Eilers and rocketing a shot over the shoulder of Big Red goaltender Andrew West (nine saves) with 5:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Wardwell, who earned the start in goal for the second straight game, was tested early and often in the contest, finishing with 12 saves to keep the Orange within striking distance for most of the game.
A SU goal from Palasek, the reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, two minutes after the Marasco tally tied the game at two, but Cornell quickly retook the lead with 47 seconds left in the first as Van Bourgondien spun around an Orange defender and threaded a shot from 15 feet past Wardwell.
As the game's physicality increased with the start of the second quarter, so too did the Orange defense, which held Cornell without a goal and saw Wardwell make five saves.
Syracuse would wait until near the midway mark of the second quarter to tie the game at three as Maltz received a pass from Tim Desko and fired a low shot that got between the legs of West for the score. West would deprive SU of its first lead of the game about a minute later when he stoned Kevin Drew.
The Big Red got right back to business early in the third quarter as Lang buried a pair of goals, one just 20 seconds into the quarter and the other three minutes later, give Cornell a 5-3 cushion. To be to outdone, Matt Donovan made it a three-goal game 67 seconds after the Lang tally on a leaping shot past Wardwell.
SU sliced the Big Red lead to 6-4 halfway through the third as Eilers netted a man-up goal on a straightaway shot from 15 yards out. With Cornell back up by three and on the man-up, Van Bourgondien scored his second straight goal when he intercepted a clearing attempt by Wardwell and tucked a shot into the goal before the SU goaltender could recover.
A goal from Connor English was sandwiched between tallies from Eilers and Maltz kept the Cornell lead at three with 8:14 left in regulation, but that was as close as SU would get as Scott Austin, Cody Bremner and Donovan extended the Big Red lead to six in the final three minutes.
Syracuse will play its third game in eight days on Saturday as the Orange heads to Charlotte, N.C. to take on Rutgers at the ESPNU Warrior Classic. Game time is set for 11:00 a.m.
Game Notes: JoJo Marasco's first quarter goal extended his point scoring streak to 18 straight games, and 26 of the past 27 … Tuesday marked the first time all season that the Orange have been tied at halftime … Bobby Eilers scored two goals for the second time this season; he also scored twice at St. John's … Bobby Wardwell's 12 saves are the most for any SU goaltender this season … Tommy Palasek is averaging 4.00 points per game in his last five contests ... Max Van Bourgondien's four goals and five points are tied for the most in both categories for a SU opponent this season … Syracuse wore navy blue uniforms in the game for the first time since 2007.
**Courtesy SU Athletics**
