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Syracuse has fallen two games below .500 after losing 14-12 to UAlbany on Thursday. To be eligible for the NCAA Tournament, the Orange need to get back to .500, and need to win three of their remaining four games to do so.

Here’s everything you need to know about No. 6 Cornell (9-1, 3-1 Ivy League) before it travels to the Carrier Dome for a Monday night matchup:

All-time series

Syracuse leads the all-time series against Cornell 66-38-1. (In 1929, the two teams tied, 4-4.)

Last time they played

The two teams didn’t play in 2021 or 2020, but in 2019, Syracuse beat Cornell 13-8 in their most recent contest. The Orange took an early 3-0 lead and maintained that cushion throughout the April 2019 contest. Bradley Voigt and Stephen Rehfuss scored hat tricks for SU, and Brendan Curry added two goals and an assist. Jakob Phaup went 11-of-18 from the faceoff X, and Syracuse won the ground ball battle 40-24.

The Cornell report

At 9-1 on the season, Cornell has a 53% chance of winning the Ivy League, according to “a couple thousand simulation runs” done by Lacrosse Reference. The Big Red have won their last three games, with their most recent defeat coming in late March in a four-goal loss to UPenn.

They are coming off a season-high 17 goals against Harvard and an eight-goal win which tied their largest margin of victory this season. Cornell averages 13.11 goals per game, 25th-most in the nation, and allows 10.44 goals per game, tied for 18th-best in the nation.

On offense, the Big Red are led by attack CJ Kirst, who has notched 49 points (32 goals, 17 assists) this season. Attacks John Piatelli and Michael Long aren’t far behind with 43 and 31 points, respectively, though Long missed two games this year.

Cornell beat UAlbany 16-8 in its season-opener. Syracuse just lost to the Great Danes 14-12 on Thursday.

How Syracuse beats the Big Red

Cornell isn’t a very dominant faceoff team — it hasn’t won more than 62% of its faceoffs in a game this season. Syracuse, on the other hand, has Jakob Phaup who ranks 11th in the nation in faceoff win-percentage (.589).

The Big Red have found ways to grind out close wins despite not much success at the faceoff X. They beat Yale 13-12 despite a 25% faceoff-win percentage as well as Dartmouth 8-7 with a 38.9% performance.

Syracuse should have success at the faceoff X, and it’ll need to be productive on offense with those possessions, something it’s struggled with in its last two games against UAlbany and Notre Dame. SU had 0.90 shots per possession against Notre Dame and 1.13 against UAlbany, according to Lacrosse Reference. It needs to get more shots away, especially with the recent struggles to convert shots into goals.

Stat to know: Three wins in 1-goal games

Cornell has grinded out three wins in one-goal games this season. It beat Dartmouth 8-7, Yale 13-12 and Penn State 16-15. The Big Red haven’t lost in a close game this season.

Syracuse, on the other hand, beat Hobart 18-16 but hasn’t had another close game turn its way this year. The Orange couldn’t mount enough of a comeback against UAlbany, and they came up short against Johns Hopkins.

Cornell has been in and won a number of close games this season, and that should give it a favorable position if Monday night’s game comes down to the wire.

Player to watch: Chayse Ierlan, goalie, No. 22

Chayse Ierlan is the younger brother of Syracuse faceoff coach TD Ierlan. Chayse has been the starting goalie since his freshman season in 2019, and he earned All-Ivy League recognition as a rookie. He started all five games in 2020 before the season was cut short. This year, after the Ivy League took the year off in 2021 due to the pandemic, Chayse ranks 28th in the nation in save-percentage (.530) and 33rd in saves per game (11.78).

His older brother will be on the other sideline for Monday’s game, but this time as a coach. The two faced each other in 2019 when Yale beat Cornell 16-11. TD went 24-of-30 from the faceoff X, and Chayse made 15 saves.

Published on April 10, 2022 at 11:01 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16