Randy Staats, Kevin Rice Power 'Cuse Past Cornell

Tuesday, April 8

Ithaca, NY

7 pm

Syracuse University

7-3

Cornell

9-2

Syracuse

Cornell

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

Randy Staats, Kevin Rice Power 'Cuse Past Cornell

4/8/2014 10:19:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Attack duo combines for 16 points in 14-9 road win

Score By Period	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Syracuse	3	3	4	4	14
Cornell	1	4	1	3	9
Box Score \| Photos \| Highlights \| Coach Desko Interview Tuesday, April 8, 2014 \| Schoellkopf Field / Ithaca, N.Y. \| Attendance: 2,690

ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior attackmen Randy Staats and Kevin Rice teamed up for 16 points, and Syracuse outscored Cornell 8-4 in the second half, as the seventh-ranked Orange (7-3) defeated the sixth-ranked Big Red, 14-9, at Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday, April 8. It was SU's fourth win this year against a top-10 opponent, and the Orange improved to 6-0 in non-conference play.

Staats scored five goals on six shots and passed out four assists to finish with a career-best nine points. Rice added seven points on three goals and four helpers. Overall, Staats and Rice hooked up six times for goals with each player feeding the other for scores on three occasions. Four of Staats' goals came in an 11-minute span in the second half that turned an 8-6 Syracuse advantage into a 12-6 Orange lead.

"Randy's a great player," Rice said. "He finishes everything. The first couple weeks here we just had to figure out where he likes to be and where he wants the ball, and I think we're starting to get there."

As well as Staats and Rice played, it was Henry Schoonmaker who keyed the Orange offense early. Schoonmaker scored on his first two shots of the game to stake the visitors to a 2-0 lead. At the other end of the field, Syracuse kept the Big Red off the board until the 4:23 mark in the first quarter as goalie Dominic Lamolinara made three saves before John Hogan scored for Cornell unassisted.

Then the Rice-Staats combination began to heat up. Staats fed Rice for an extra-man goal with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Staats found Rice again at the 10:32 mark in the second period to give the Orange a 4-1 margin.

Cornell (9-2) stormed back, scoring the game's next four goals to take a 5-4 advantage. Dan Linter found the cage twice in 16 seconds, and the Big Red ultimately tied the contest on Connor Buczek's strike at the 5:41 mark in the second quarter. Joe Paoletta gave Cornell the lead with 4:52 remaining in the opening half.

Billy Ward halted SU's drought with 4:07 to go in the second, and Hakeem Lecky put the Orange back out in front when he scored on a feed from Dylan Donahue to give SU a 6-5 advantage with 2:15 left in the first half.

In the third quarter, Syracuse extended its margin to 7-5 after a frantic, turnover-laden sequence for the Big Red. Donahue was the beneficiary, receiving a Staats pass and slotting the ball past Cornell goalie Christian Knight at the 12:41 mark. Rice scored again moments later on an extra-man opportunity to push the SU advantage to 8-5 with 11:56 remaining in the period.

Cornell got one back, but Syracuse sealed the game on Staats' four unanswered tallies, including a highlight-reel effort when he collected a ground ball, fought off a Cornell defender while hurdling another, and spun to score. That goal put the Orange ahead 11-6 with a little more than 13 minutes to go in the game. One more Rice-to-Staats connection extended the lead to 13-7 with 6:50 left, an advantage it did not relinquish despite Cornell scoring two of the game's last three goals.

The Syracuse defense held the Big Red to seven goals in the first 54 minutes and Cornell's nine total goals equaled its lowest output of the season. Cornell was 0-for-5 with the extra man. In addition, SU defenseman Brandon Mullins shut out Big Red leading scorer Matt Donovan who entered the game averaging 3.7 points per contest.

Buczek and Paoletta paced Cornell with four points apiece. Both players had two goals and two assists. Lintner scored a team-best three goals. Knight recorded 10 saves in a losing effort.

The Orange returns to action Saturday, April 12 when it hosts No. 4 North Carolina in a pivotal ACC matchup at the Carrier Dome. Faceoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

Game Notes: Syracuse is one of four Division I teams that are unbeaten this season in non-conference action. Maryland, North Carolina and Bellarmine are the others … The Orange improved to 6-2 against the Big Red since the start of the 2008 season … Rice now has 100 career points (43 goals, 57 assists) in 36 games (2.8 ppg) … Donahue has a point in 17 straight contests … Staats' nine-point effort was the second by an SU player this year. Donahue put up nine points on eight goals and one assist in the season opener against Siena ... Syracuse has won 18 consecutive games when allowing less than 10 goals.