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No.1 Syracuse hosted Cornell on Tuesday evening for its last non-conference game of the season.

The Orange were coming off their most dominant Atlantic Coast Conference matchup of the season, sailing past Louisville 17-5. Up 12-2 at halftime, SU had the luxury of pulling starters in the second half and having ten different players score goals for the second game running.

At home against the Big Red, Syracuse earned their 12th straight victory, which tied the longest win streak in program history. The Orange had the narrowest lead at halftime to an unranked opponent all year, only up 10-5. But, they separated with a seven goal third period to put the game out of reach.

Here are some observations from No.1 Syracuse’s (12-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) 19-13 win over Cornell (6-4, 2-1 Ivy League).

Emma keeps rolling

Emma Tyrrell has been on a tear as of late, specifically early in games. The senior midfielder had a hat trick in six of the last seven games and has reached that mark before halftime in three straight contests.

Meaghan Tyrrell, her sister, has set her up three times in each of the last two games. After scoring the first goal of the day unassisted, the two struck again three minutes later. Sierra Cockerille saw Meaghan positioned directly next to the right post and flipped it to her as Emma started cutting towards the net. Meaghan immediately passed to her sister who shot the ball in stride past Big Red goalkeeper Ellie Horner.

Then early in the second quarter, the Orange were awarded a free position chance. Emma set up at the top center of the arc with Meaghan on her right. Emma charged straight at the goal when the whistle blew, caught a routine pass from Meaghan, and put it in top right to give Syracuse an 8-2 lead.

During the buildup to Emma’s fourth score, Meaghan handled the ball at the top left of the 12-meter before she saw Emma cutting diagonally towards the right post. Emma fielded the pass as she ran with a Cornell defender on her. She saw the defender starting to run ahead of her and shot the ball behind her back for another score.

Meaghan explodes in the third

Meaghan’s knack for facilitating certainly didn’t end by setting her sister up for the early hat trick. She scored five goals herself, four of which coming in the third quarter. She also put two more on goal during the period and sent one ricocheting off the post. Her eight points were the most she’s had since Feb. 17 against Maryland.

About three minutes into the third, Meaghan held the ball at the top right of the 12-meter. Then, she drove toward the left of the goal and snuck one in on the top right corner to extend the lead to 11-6.

Midway through the penultimate quarter, Meaghan scored two times — in just over a minute — on nearly the exact same play. First, Emma Ward was behind the net and saw Meaghan heading for the right post. She fed her a pass and Meaghan scored with ease.

The next goal was a spitting image of the first. Ward had the ball behind the left side of the net and, she once again, set up Meaghan, who was cutting towards the left post. The attacker snuck one past the goalie again to put the score at 14-6.

As the two teams went into the last minute of the quarter, Meaghan continued to press. Maddy Baxter sent a pass from the right side of Cornell’s zone that Meaghan snagged out of the air as she ran up the right seam. She took a wide angle as she worked her way around Cornell defender Annie Thomas. Meaghan swooped in front of the net and stumbled as she reached over her right shoulder and scored again. That goal moved her to fourth in Syracuse’s all time goals scored list.

Syracuse up early, despite being out-possessed

Syracuse had no problem jumping out to an early lead. Halfway through the first period, the Orange were up 4-0. But, when Cornell’s Shannon Brazier scored with four minutes left in the quarter, Cornell was on top in many key stat categories.

When the Big Red ended the shutout, they had gotten off 10 shots to Syracuse’s six, putting three more of them on net than the Orange. Cornell also had turned the ball over less and won more draw controls. The team had scooped up three more ground balls than SU with less than a third of the first frame left. This continued throughout the first half, although Syracuse caught up and maintained a comfortable lead.

At half time, Cornell continued to lead in all these categories, except in draw controls. Even with that, the Orange were up five goals going into the second half.

Goalie Delaney Sweitzer stood tall despite this. She saved nine of fourteen shots in the first half and all three of Cornell’s free position opportunities.

Katie Goodale’s first career goal

Junior Katie Goodale understandably doesn’t get a whole lot of scoring opportunities as a defender. She’s started all 12 games this year and in 2022, while appearing in every game as a freshman. The Riverhead, New York native has recorded two points in her whole career, which were a pair of assists last season. But on Tuesday, Goodale scored her first goal – and it was a passing masterclass.

Emma scooped up a ground ball and delivered a pass to Goodale in the middle of the Big Red zone, who tossed it to Tessa Queri on her left. With Goodale continuing to run towards the net, Queri gave the ball to Ward sitting a few yards to the left of the net. She quickly passed it to a wide open Goodale who looked to her left before sharply turning right and whipping the ball down. It bounced to the right of the goalie and in.

Published on March 28, 2023 at 8:48 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu