Kelly Dimmen took a shot from just inside the blue line that sailed over Cornell goalie Amanda Mazzotta’s left shoulder and found the back of the net. For a moment, there was hope. For a moment, Syracuse stuck around against the No. 1 team in the nation.

Dimmen’s goal was the first that Mazzotta had given up in the last five games. But the Big Red would come surging back. And quickly.

The Orange would lead the Big Red for just five minutes before Laura Fortino would even the score with seven minutes remaining in the first period. Cornell would never look back.

The lone bright spot in SU’s 4-1 loss to No. 1 Cornell was the early goal in the first period. It was the longest time one of Cornell’s opponents had led all season.

‘The first goal to show them that just because they are the No. 1 team, that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park,’ SU forward Julie Rising said. ‘That was really good to set the tempo, and next time we want to try and build off that and see if we can get a couple more.’

For a couple of minutes the Orange earned some confidence, but Cornell would pull the plug on any chances of an upset.

The Orange never settled into a rhythm and would be back on its heels for the rest of the game. After Fortino’s goal, Cornell would continue to put pressure on Syracuse goalie Kallie Billadeau. The Big Red was able to send defenders surging toward the net to corral rebounds, pummeling Billadeau with shots from every angle.

SU’s offense would struggle to find any strong scoring chances for the rest of the game. With the Big Red throwing numbers up the ice, Syracuse forwards were forced to play more defense. And a sluggish pace ensued for the Orange.

‘Our forwards had to come down low and play a lot of defense, and that kind of inhibits your breakout,’ Flanagan said. ‘Playing a lot of defense, it’s hard to get anything going.’

Cornell was able to find a wealth of space in front of the Syracuse net. The Orange simply couldn’t find its way into the offensive zone.

The early goal gave SU some early motivation and confidence, but the momentum was immediately halted by Cornell’s onslaught of opportunities. The Orange never seemed to have control in this game, surrendering turnovers and penalties that allowed Cornell right back into the game.

‘We had a couple little flurries with some chances, nothing where we were getting really sustained pressure like they were,’ Flanagan said. ‘We were maybe getting the initial shot, but not much for rebounds.’

The few Orange shots were covered up directly by Mazzotta. Those that did not find the glove of Cornell’s keeper yielded a breakout for the Big Red. It became a vicious cycle, one that the Orange did not want to be a part of.

‘We can never let our guard down,’ Rising said. ‘We expected them to come hard and they did, so we have a lot to learn, and it’s good to get the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country.’

Although SU got the first laugh against a superior opponent, Cornell would come back and take commanding control of the game. The methodical pace and movement of the puck led to an astounding shot advantage for the game.

The No. 1 team may have trailed early, but with the amount of shots on goal, the Syracuse defense had a hard time controlling the pace of the game.

‘We definitely anticipated a lot of speed, and they move the puck very well, so we just had to be more aggressive and move the puck,’ Rising said. ‘We just had to be a little bit smarter.’

adtredin@syr.edu

Published on November 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm