No. 9 Syracuse (7-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) bested No. 8 Cornell (7-4, 2-2 Ivy), 13-8, in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night. Against one of the top offenses in college lacrosse, the Orange stymied the Big Red’s attack. Drake Porter was steady in net for the second game in a row, repelling 10 shots after stopping 16 a week ago. And for the first time this season, Stephen Rehfuss scored a hat trick.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s regular season home finale.

Shut down

Cornell came to Syracuse with one of college lacrosse’s best attacking units. Led by Jeff Teat, John Piatelli and Clarke Petterson, the Big Red ranked in the top-10 in a majority of offensive metrics. Cornell scored 15.9 goals per game before Tuesday, second best in the country.

But the high-octane unit never found its stride, scoring a season-low eight goals. Tuesday was the first time all year Cornell’s been held to single-digit goals. The trio of Piatelli, Petterson and Teat finished with three goals and four assists, combined.

Teat, the facilitator of Cornell’s offense, drew Nick Mellen, Syracuse’s lock-down defender. All game, Mellen used a combination of agile feet and upper-body strength to beat back Teat, deny him the ball and keep him out of danger areas. Teat had just two assists. It was as strong a defensive performance SU’s had all year, if not the best.

Getting hot, finally

Prior to the start of the season, Rehfuss, a preseason All-ACC selection, was poised to take a large role in Syracuse’s offense. A bout with the flu that coincided with SU’s first game held him back, and he’s been playing catch up ever since. Earlier this week, SU head coach John Desko said he thought Rehfuss is finally fully back, well conditioned and ready to break out.

In the third quarter, Rehfuss curled around the back of the cage with his stick at his right hip and his defender a step behind. He got to Chayse Ierlan’s right post and swung his stick around his body, nestling the ball in the far corner of the net. It was Rehfuss’ third goal of the night and his first hat trick of 2019.

Tuesday wasn’t so much a breakout as a reemergence for Syracuse’s 2018 points leader, but with two games remaining in the regular season, it couldn’t have happened at a better time for the Orange.

Back on track

Even as Syracuse sat on its late lead, waiting for the last minute-and-a-half to run out and Cornell to stop trying, Porter called out adjustments to his defense. His voice carried through the mostly-empty Carrier Dome.

It was another steady, strong performance for Porter in net on Tuesday. In the two games since allowing 11 goals in the first half and getting benched for the second at Notre Dame, Porter’s made 26 saves and allowed 13 goals. Both those games, against Hobart last week and Cornell on Tuesday, pitted Porter against the business end of two of the top offenses in the country.

Both times, he nearly silenced them. On Tuesday, he wasn’t challenged often, but batted away most of the shots within reach.

As the first quarter wound down, Cornell’s Connor Fletcher broke free and went low on Porter, on his right side. With no chance to swing his stick to it, Porter jutted his foot out and deflected the ball high in the air, out of harms way, as the buzzer sounded.

Published on April 9, 2019 at 8:12 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham