Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

ITHACA, N.Y. — The ultimate sequence of déjà vu unfolded Tuesday night at Schoellkopf Field. Back on April 11, 2022, Syracuse led then-No. 5 Cornell 7-2 after the first quarter. Facing a stunning upset to what was a lowly SU side, Big Red head coach Connor Buczek initiated a goalie switch. He swapped a struggling Chayse Ierlan for backup Wyatt Knust.

That evening, Knust was the catalyst behind Cornell’s come-from-behind 16-15 overtime win over Syracuse. He made eight saves and limited the Orange to just four second-half goals. Knust gave the Big Red enough leeway to complete the comeback, as Michael Long tied the contest with 24 seconds left and Hugh Kelleher netted the overtime game winner.

Fast forward nearly two years later, against the same opponent, Syracuse began on a 7-0 run and held a 7-2 lead after the first quarter. Its offense, led by Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz, continued to demolish Cornell’s defense — which entered Tuesday as just the 55th-most efficient back end in the nation. So, Buczek played a familiar card. He took out Matthew Tully, and put Knust in.

“I was just hoping the same thing would happen again,” Knust said postgame.

And it did. Once Knust entered to start the second half down 14-10, the Orange could only muster three goals in the remaining 30 minutes. All while Cornell unleashed a shocking retaliation upon Syracuse, spurred by a combined 10 goals from Long and CJ Kirst. It took the lead for the first time all night with 10 seconds remaining but Sam English answered, scoring a game-tying goal with one second left to clinch SU’s third overtime game of 2024.

Yet in the same way it played out between Syracuse and Cornell in 2022, and in the same way all of the Orange’s overtime contests have gone this season, SU fell short. Finn Thomson was stopped at the doorstep on an acrobatic save by Knust late in double overtime. Then, Kirst drilled the game-winner on the other end to send the Orange reeling again.

A once-sure demolition for SU had evaporated into a blown seven-goal lead. Unthinkable.

“Tough loss for our team,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait muttered postgame. “Certainly another opportunity to learn.”

No. 4 Syracuse (9-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) gave up the most goals it’s allowed in a single game this year, suffering an 18-17 double-overtime loss to No. 13 Cornell (6-3, 2-1 Ivy League). Spallina and Hiltz combined for 12 points in a bounce-back effort from previous struggles against No. 1 Notre Dame. But Cornell’s Long and Kirst were unabating. The two steadily carried the Big Red to a seven-goal storm back while the latter delivered the final punch in SU’s second straight loss — its first losing streak of the season.

“We can go back to some basics, back to some fundamentals, really focus on what we need to do to have better success in the end of games like this,” Gait said. “We’re fighting to get to the playoffs and we want to have that opportunity to play and move on.”

Everything turned sideways following SU’s 7-0 game-opening run, its largest run to commence a contest in 2024. But its misfortune stemmed from drama on the sidelines.

Near the end of the first quarter, SU offensive coordinator Pat March was ejected for making contact with an official. Cornell was amid what became a 4-0 run at that point. Gait said he was unaware of what happened with March. Though it was clear the coach’s sudden exit made a negative impact.

“I think it definitely (affected the team),” Gait said of March’s ejection. “Obviously trying to step in and replace him is tough to do…But we had opportunities. We had tons of opportunities throughout that second half and overtime to put this game away.”

Cornell Attack CJ Kirst unleashes a game-winning shot in double overtime against Syracuse. Maxine Brackbill | Photo Editor

The Orange were firing on all cylinders in the early portion of the contest. Pristine ball movement led to vast pockets of open space materializing in the attack to free up Spallina, Hiltz and Co. for a season-high 14 first-half goals. Mason Kohn was consistent at the faceoff X and while SU’s back end teetered on the edge of collapse, Syracuse’s offense looked like it’d carry it to victory. That wasn’t the case.

Gait said his squad lost a lot of possessions in the second half and had to adjust without dominating the ball. John Odierna’s group adapted well at first. SU forced Cornell into a four-shot, zero-goal attacking trip to start the third quarter and Riley Figueiras forced Long into a turnover on the Big Red’s following possession.

Syracuse initially took advantage. On the other end, Spallina fired a running shot into the top shelf of the cage and after Kohn won the ensuing faceoff, Spallina found Luke Rhoa in front of the net for an easy score. Spallina’s two points gave the Orange a 16-10 cushion midway through the third quarter.

The lead looked safe. It even seemed that SU could have taken its foot off the gas pedal. But that April 2022 matchup remained fresh in the minds of those on Cornell’s sideline who experienced the improbable.

“We just think back on those moments,” Kirst, a sophomore on the Big Red in 2022, said. “All it takes is one play, there’s no goal that can put up four points on the board, just gotta keep chipping away.”

Cornell scored an unprecedented seven consecutive goals from the 1:53 mark of the third quarter until there were 10 seconds left in the fourth. Though, the Orange still had a possession once the game clock ticked under 1:30, with a chance to salvage a victory.

But a nightmare scenario played out. An English turnover went the other way and resulted in a Kirst game-tying goal. Kohn lost the ensuing faceoff to Marc Psyllos, who sprinted from midfield to the cage and sent a go-ahead goal past Will Mark with 10 seconds left.

English responded from the blunder, streaking down the middle of the field to bury a last-second equalizer to send the game into overtime. Just like the Orange had against then-No. 4 Maryland then-No. 5 Army, they couldn’t finish the job.

The Terrapins won on a controversial goal-mouth violation. The Black Knights won after Christian Mulé missed an open net for a potential game winner. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred in overtime versus the Big Red, though.

Syracuse had a clean slate and its attack was still stagnant. A few stops by Mark and failed clears from Cornell gave SU plenty of chances to capture victory. Yet it was the Big Red storming the field in jubilation after handing the Orange a heartbreaking defeat — one they’ll have to swallow for each of the next 11 days before their next matchup.

“In every single one we’ve had opportunities to win the game,” Gait said of Syracuse’s overtime losses. “Unfortunately, we’re just not making the play.”

Published on April 2, 2024 at 10:00 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews