ITHACA — History backed the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team entering last night’s game at Cornell.

The No. 16 Orangewomen owned a three-game winning streak against the Ivy League foes. They were coming off a game in which they rediscovered the potency of their offense. They hadn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 1999, and needed a victory to make sure that string would continue.

Yet history wasn’t enough here last night. After a debilitating 13-6 loss to the Big Red at Schoellkopf Field, the postseason hopes of Syracuse (7-5, 2-3 Big East) are just that — history.

‘We’re done,’ head coach Lisa Miller said as her players trudged off the field, baffled and sullen. ‘We’re done. Right now we have three more games to play, and we’re going to start looking to the future. It’s just unfortunate. It seems like every time we have a big game, we struggle on attack.’

SU’s struggles came primarily in the second half, when No. 6 Cornell (9-1, 4-1 Ivy League) turned a 5-3 game into a seven-goal blowout. The final five Big Red goals came with offensive starters Carrie Soults, Kim Wayne and Erin MacDonald on the bench. The attacking threesome — which has accounted for nearly 45 percent of SU’s offense this season — was relegated to the bench with about 10 minutes remaining and SU down, 8-5.

At that point, the Big Red iced the game with a goal by senior Beth Calder. Two minutes later, Jaimee Reynolds, who has a point in 57 straight games, danced between four SU jerseys to beat goaltender Carla Gigon.

‘You can never second-guess another coach for that,’ CU head coach Jenny Graap said, referring to Miller’s unexpected lineup changes. ‘But we certainly noticed it, and it made it easier for our defense.’

Syracuse, which entered the game averaging 11.9 goals, tied its lowest total of the season. Junior midfielder Jessica Trombley provided one of the few offensive sparks, posting two goals. On the latter she sprinted 15 yards toward the net and bounced the ball into the CU cage.

A stifling Cornell defense, however, built a moat around starting goaltender and Manlius product Carrie Giancola, rarely allowing SU attackers within point-blank range.

When Syracuse managed a shot, it often went wide of the net. Soults misfired on three of her five first-half shots, and MacDonald was denied on two close shots within one minute of each other.

‘All I know is that, both as an attack unit and a defensive unit, we weren’t playing together,’ senior defender Devon Baer said. ‘It’s something we’ve been working on, but we still have to get much better at it.’

Despite the discombobulated attack, Miller credited Gigon and the defense for keeping the Orangewomen steady during the back-and-forth action of the first half. Several times, Gigon fell to her knees to get in front of bouncing Cornell shots.

‘Carla had a decent game,’ Miller said. ‘But if time of possession is so far in favor of the other team and you struggle getting the ball downfield because you’re not hustling, that puts the defense and your goalie at risk.’

Syracuse is now essentially out of the NCAA Tournament after reaching it for the past two seasons. Currently ranked No. 16 and likely to fall, the Orangewomen seem a longshot to earn one of the nine at-large bids. Miller said that she won’t opt for the ECAC Tournament, analogous to the NIT in basketball.

Before the season ends, indications are that Syracuse will prime its younger players for game experience. While 51 goals stood on the sideline as time wound down, inexperienced players Jessica Bell, Caitlyn Dragon and Cristine Doran struggled and Cornell dominated the final minutes of regulation.

The Big Red win marked the first time in school history that both the men’s and women’s teams defeated Syracuse in the same season.

‘I thought our defense played well, but our attack just bit the dust,’ Miller said. ‘In transition we don’t tackle back hard enough, then we don’t cut hard enough and then we don’t roll hard enough. They’re a better team than we are.”

Published on April 17, 2002 at 12:00 pm