“I think if we just play together and play as we’re capable of playing, we can definitely surprise them,” said senior midfielder David Lau prior to the men’s lacrosse team’s Tuesday night matchup against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

It was difficult to find any pundits bold enough to predict that the Red would come out on top against the No. 1 team in the country, but No. 5 Cornell (9-2, 4-0 Ivy) did just that on Tuesday evening in Syracuse, N.Y. The Orange (9-1) lost its first game all season, 11-6, and suffered its first defeat to the Red in the last five contests between the upstate rivals. 

The Red opened up play with an early goal by Lau and quickly extended that lead with two more goals before the Orange finally got on the board at 6:49. A stellar defensive effort by Cornell limited Syracuse to just two goals in the first half, sending the visiting players into the locker room with the lead, 7-2. 

“We played some great defense 6-on-6,” said senior defenseman Max Feely. “I felt like we had a few lapses in transition and unsettled situations, but I felt like we stuck to our game plan and that made all the difference.”

Indeed, the seven Red defensemen were able to hold top Orange attackman Stephen Keogh to no points on the night — the first time any team had held him scoreless in 14 games this season.

Cornell sophomore goaltender A.J. Fiore made a strong showing in the cage, posting eight saves on the night. Junior co-captain and attackman Rob Pannell kept up his tradition of leading the Red’s attack, scoring three goals and adding three assists on the night. Five of these six points came in the first 30 minutes of play, after which it seemed as though the Orange’s rotation adjustments on defense targeting Pannell was able to solidify a relatively successful strategy.

Syracuse’s top defenseman, John Lade, attempted to return from a previously sustained injury in this contest, but left the field early in the first quarter. Lade’s absence left the No. 1 team in the nation shorthanded on defense against a Cornell attack led by Pannell, one of the top offensive threats in the country.

Coming onto the field for the second half, the Orange regrouped and looked to put a dent in the Red’s comfortable five-goal lead. The home team made a valiant attempt as it scored consecutive goals just 35 seconds apart, but the Cornell offense stepped in to end the run with a goal from junior midfielder Roy Lang. 

“Every goal against a team like Syracuse is going to be important, but that one in particular [was] because we said at half-time ‘they’re going to have a run,’” Lang explained. “With all the talent on that side of the ball offensively, they’re going to put a couple of goals in. That’s when you just kind of look at each other and fortunately they called my number and I was able to put the ball in the back of the net. No lead is too secure against Syracuse, as we learned in 2009.”

In the 2009 NCAA championship game the Red held a three-goal lead over the Orange late in the second half before the tides instantly turned and Cornell lost in overtime. The memories of this experience as well as a disappointing loss to Syracuse last season at home remained in the back of many players’ minds on Tuesday night. Those factors made Tuesday night’s win especially meaningful for the veterans on the squad, according to Pannell.

“It’s great that we go this win for our seniors,” Pannell said. “They were 0-4 against Syraucse up until this point, and you’ve got to leave your Cornell career with a win against Syracuse … especially after the [losses] over the past two years.”

Following Lang’s goal, the Red scored another three compared to only two from the Orange, as the game ended with Cornell on top, 11-6. 

In addition to the offensive output generated by Pannell and Lang, junior attackman Scott Austin, sophomore attackman Steve Mock, freshman midfielder Mike O’Neil and Lau also contributed to Cornell’s 11-point night. The Red out shot the Orange, 36-25, and held a fairly substantial edge, 34-26, in ground balls in this upstate color war. 

Although Syracuse won one more face-off than Cornell and went 1-of-3 in man-up goals, the Orange was still unable to generate enough offensive movement to narrow the early deficit.

For the seniors on the Orange’s roster, the loss marks widest margin by which they have lost since beginning collegiate play. Syracuse has not lost a game by more than two points over the past four seasons. 

On the other hand, the win marks the first time the Red was able to upset a No. 1 team since the 2009 season, when it defeated Virginia in the NCAA semifinals en route to the aforementioned loss to Syracuse in the championship game. 

Head coach Ben DeLuca ’98 was proud of the team for its performance, attributing the win to an adherence to the Red’s strategy. 

“They did a wonderful job of executing our game plan right from the start, from the opening whistle, to the final whistle,” he said. “I think all of the credit goes to these players.” 

Cornell will have a short break before its final two games of the regular season — a match up at Brown and then a home contest against Princeton. The team will keep its goals of going undefeated at home and in conference play in mind as it undertakes these final contests in advance of postseason play, which kicks-off with the Ivy League tournament on May 6.