In its first game since being named the No. 1 team, Syracuse (9-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated unranked Cornell (3-7, 2-2 Ivy), 15-8. The Orange extended its win streak to seven games and now has its best 10-game start to a season since 2011. Nick Mariano, Nate Solomon and Jordan Evans all finished with a hat trick for SU.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday night’s win inside the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse uses 10-0 run to pull away from Cornell

The Orange struggled to get off to a strong start Tuesday night, but that all changed after Sergio Salcido found Brendan Bomberry on a man-up situation. Bomberry’s goal pulled SU within one and started what would become a 10-0 run.

In that string of 10 goals, the starting attack scored seven. Evans had his three during the run while Bomberry and Nate Solomon each added a pair of goals. Freshman Jamie Trimboli also added a buzzer-beating goal to enter the half.

Six different Syracuse players scored on the run that was the difference maker. The hole became too deep for Cornell to dig out, as SU walked away with a comfortable win.

Jordan Evans has first multi-goal performance since Feb. 25

For most of the season, Evans has struggled to create offense. He transitioned into becoming more of a facilitator and less of a scorer. The last time he scored more than one goal was against Army on Feb. 25.

But on Tuesday, Evans led the Orange with five points. He scored a hat trick for the first time since the season opener against Siena and assisted on two more. The senior attack made smarter decisions and created multiple scoring opportunities for SU.

A Cornell shot that went off the post and was sent flying 60 yards the opposite direction. Evans grabbed the ball that went out of bounds and found Solomon waiting in front of the goal, who scored and gave SU its first lead since the first goal of the game.

For the third time all season, Evans had more than a pair of points. Against Duke and Johns Hopkins, he was goalless. But on Tuesday night, the Cornell defense struggled to stop him.

The old Ben Williams returns at X

Ben Williams’ midseason slump seems to be a thing of the past after the faceoff specialist dominated on Tuesday night. Even while winning 17-of-28 the previous week at Hobart, there were many times where Williams didn’t look like his normal, dominant self. That all changed against Cornell.

The All-American opened the first half winning 9-of-12 faceoffs, creating possession on offense and allowing the defense to take a break — something that has not been the case the past few games. His success at the X carried into the second half where Williams won all but one faceoff in the third quarter.

The senior was a big contributor to advancing the Syracuse 10-0 run, finishing the day with a season-high 76-percent success rate at the X (19-of-25).

Published on April 11, 2017 at 9:26 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco