The Syracuse Orange (6-3 overall, 1-2 ACC) make the short trip to Ithaca to matchup against the Cornell Big Red (4-5 overall, 0-1 Ivy League). The Orange defeated Hobart 13-6 last Wednesday for a much-needed win after three straight losses.
Who’s Hot- The Offense
The Orange got balanced scoring against Hobart. They had seven different players score a goal; Jordan Evans led the way with four. For much of the season, the Orange has been too dependent on Dylan Donahue to create offense, leading to stagnant periods of offense. This did not happen against Hobart, as the Orange shared the wealth.
“It’s awesome,” Nick Mariano said. “We don’t have to rely on one guy. It doesn’t matter who’s out there, we just play within our offense and find open guys like Coach Donahue preaches every day in practice. As long as we finish our shots, it looks good at the end of the day.”
Who’s Not- Warren Hill
The three straight losses weren’t to blame on senior goaltender Warren Hill, but Hill did not have his best games during the losing streak. In particular, the Notre Dame game was one to forget for Hill; he saved only 4 shots while being blitzed for 14 goals. SU head coach John Desko turned to junior Evan Molloy against Hobart, and it is unclear if it was a one game thing or if it is something to expect for the rest of the year.
Cornell’s Massimilian dominating face-offs
While Syracuse’s face-off man, Ben Williams, is no slouch, Cornell’s Domenic Massimilian has been dominant. Massimilian enters Tuesday’s game as the fourth ranked face-off man in Division 1 lacrosse with a percentage of .68%. Controlling draws is a key in any lacrosse game, especially for a team looking to score an upset.
X-Factor- Jordan Evans
Cornell isn’t likely to score a lot of goals; they’ve been held under double-digits in six of their nine games. For the Orange, they’ll need their balanced scoring to continue, and the man to do that is Jordan Evans. You know what you’re getting from Donahue and Mariano each week. If Evans can find some consistency to his game—7 of his 17 goals have come in the past two games—the Orange will be tough to beat.