Coming off its first loss of the season on Thursday against Bucknell, Stephanie Skilton’s two goals led Syracuse (4-1-1) to a 2-1 overtime win against Cornell (2-1).

The game began in a defensive stalemate, with both sides racking up fouls in the early minutes. After 30 minutes both teams had only registered one shot each, with Cornell’s Kennedy Yearby sailing hers high and Syracuse’s Sydney Brackett hitting a ball off of the post. Following Brackett’s miss, the Orange then launched an offensive attack that the Big Red struggled to handle.

Brackett added two more shots in the closing minutes of the first half, with one saved by Cornell goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney. Skilton had one shot blocked in the 34th minute, but managed to send a lofting ball over the outstretched hands of Tierney in the 42nd minute for the first goal of the day.

Cornell opened up the second half on the attack, recording a shot within the first few minutes, but could not send a ball past Orange goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan. A 61st minute substitution made the difference as Tess Pullano recorded her first goal of the season only one minute into the game. After a header missed off the post, Pullano won the scramble and managed to put the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer.

Tony Curtis | Contributing Photographer

Over the next 25 minutes, Cornell and Syracuse traded shots back and forth, but neither side managed to score. SU defender Maddie Iozzi and Cornell’s Paige DeLoach each exchanged one final attack for their teams but Tierney and Brosnan were there to force the game into overtime.

Overtime belonged to the Orange, though, as it managed to record four shots in the 93rd minute, with Cornell unable to clear the ball out of its own box. Only five seconds into the 94th minute Skilton found a loose ball off of a blocked Brackett shot, and Skilton ended the game with a hard strike past Tierney. It was her second of the game and handed the Big Red its first loss of the season.

Although she failed to record a goal, Brackett found life on the offensive end with four shots. The game was an offensive showcase between the teams, who combined for 24 shots (14 for SU and 10 for Cornell).

After turning things around, Syracuse will look to start a new winning streak at Rhode Island on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Published on September 4, 2016 at 4:19 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu