Luke Cometti hadn’t scored in Syracuse’s last two games, and was mired in a mini-slump.

He broke out of that scoring rut Wednesday night as the No. 7 Orange (8-2, 2-1 Big East) knocked off No. 2 Cornell (10-2, 4-0 Ivy) at the Carrier Dome. Cometti scored a career-high four goals, including three in the second half, propelling Syracuse to the win.

“Luke put the ball in the back of the net,” Syracuse midfielder JoJo Marasco said. “That’s what he’s been doing every time in practice and most of the games.”

Cometti’s first goal came at the 9:59 mark in the second quarter off of a pass from Scott Loy. The goal tied the game at six after Syracuse trailed 4-0 for five and a half minutes.

His second goal came midway through the third quarter. He juked to the left, spun back to the right and motored toward the goal. Cometti didn’t have much room, but he squeezed the ball past Cornell goalie A.J. Fiore to cut the deficit to two.

Marasco said Syracuse’s midfielders have continued their strong play lately. Saturday night against Princeton, it was Henry Schoonmaker’s turn, scoring four goals in a 13-12 win.

On Wednesday night, Cometti stole the show. He, too, had four goals and he, too, led Syracuse to a 13-12 win over a top-10 opponent.

“It’s great to see these guys constantly step up each game,” Marasco said. “We feel so comfortable out there with each other and everything’s coming together with us.”

Syracuse head coach John Desko said Cornell switched its defense throughout the game. He said Cornell’s defenders slipped early to SU’s dodgers, and that his team responded by finding the open man and generating high-percentage looks.

“Second half, it looks like they just changed up their mind and said, ‘You know, we’re athletic defensively and we’re going to see if they can beat us one-on-one,’” Desko said.

That tactic suited Cometti’s style perfectly. He tacked on two more goals, the first of which came with just three seconds left in the third quarter.

Said Desko: “It came down to him beating his guy and going in to score.”

Published on April 11, 2013 at 1:10 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass