No. 5 Syracuse (7-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) travels about 55 miles south to face Cornell (0-5-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Berman Field in Ithaca, New York. With a win, the Orange will be off to the best start in the program’s 83-year history.

Syracuse is coming off a 2-0 win over No. 15 Boston College, while the winless Big Red lost two straight at home last week. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Tuesday’s matchup.

All-time series: This is the 69th meeting between the two schools. Syracuse leads 34-27-7 and has a 7-0-1 record in the last eight matches against Cornell.

Last time they played: Almost two years to the day, the two New York schools met on Sept. 16, 2014 at SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange improved to 5-1-0 that game behind a pair of goals from Juuso Pasanen and Emil Ekblom in the first 21 minutes and a Nick Perea finish from the right wing near the game’s end. Senior forward Chris Nanco, then a sophomore, had an assist in the game. Nanco leads SU this year with five goals.

The Cornell report: Only five different players have scored a goal for the Big Red this season, and a freshman forward is the team’s only player with more than one goal to his name. In its fives losses and two ties, Cornell has been outscored 15-6 and outshot 90 to 62.

First-year head coach John Smith joined the Big Red after serving as associate head coach at Stanford, where he helped the Cardinal defeat Clemson — which beat Syracuse in the national semifinal — and capture its first NCAA title.

How Syracuse beats Cornell: Syracuse and Cornell are moving in completely opposite directions. The Orange is undefeated and a win away from the best start in program history. The Big Red is winless in its last nine games dating back to last October.

Syracuse is more skilled on both sides of the ball. It’s found ways to win games, even when leading scorers Chris Nanco, Johannes Pieles and Kenny Lassiter don’t contribute to the box score. When goals are scarce, SU converts on set pieces. When set pieces are scarce, somebody steps up late. It’s that deep attack that has propelled SU to an undefeated start. SU shouldn’t have any problem dominating on Tuesday night.

Stats to know:

9 — The Orange’s 0.41 goals-against average ranks ninth in the nation.

315:52 — Minutes and seconds Syracuse has gone without allowing a goal in the last three and a half games. That’s the longest stretch SU has held opponents scoreless since 2014.

4 — Of Cornell’s seven games this year, four have gone into overtime. The last time the Big Red played in four overtime games through the first seven games of a season was in 1995.

Player to watch: Brady Dickens, forward, No. 19

The freshman leads Cornell with five points on a team-high two goals and one assist. The 6-foot-1, 155-pound Dickens has started in each of the Big Red’s six games this year, generating a shot in all but one of them. His 40 percent shot percentage leads the team. Before Cornell, Dickens was named to the NSCAA All-East Team.

Published on September 20, 2016 at 2:38 am

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21