SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- After battling back from an early deficit to trail by one at the half, the Cornell field hockey team gave up seven second half goals to fall the No. 2 Syracuse, 9-1, this afternoon at Coyne Stadium.
 
"Syracuse is an outstanding team," said head coach Donna Hornibrook. "They're second in the country and they played like it today. There ball pace was phenomenal. There attack and speed on the attack was outstanding and I feel like there were times that we hung with them early on, especially late in the first half.  But we need games played at this type of pace to learn what's required to really play at a high level. There are things they do that we're capable of doing, but we need to learn and get better at doing those things."
 
The home team held the 27-5 advantage in shots and put 19 shots on goal to the Big Red's three. SU also held the 7-3 edge on penalty corners.
 
In goal, Kelly Johnson made seven saves, most of which were of the spectacular variety, while Luisa Schulte-Bockum registered three defensive saves. Schulte-Bockum entered the weekend ranked third in the nation in defensive saves.
 
"I think Kelly was great," said Hornibrook. "I don't think we did her any favors but she has been and continues to be a solid backbone for us."
 
Krysten Mayers registered Cornell's lone goal in the final minute of the first half to make it a 2-1 game at the intermission.
 
Syracuse (11-0) had eight different players register a point, including Roos Weers with two goals, including a penalty stroke, and two assists. Serra Degnan and Emma Lamison also scored twice for the Orange.
 
In goal, Jess Jecko made one save and allowed one goal in 51:27 of action before giving way to Regan Spencer, who finished with one save as well.

Syracuse peppered Johnson with shots in the first half. The sophomore goalie made five saves, including one right before the Orange's first goal, which was scored by Weers off a rebound. Syracuse's second goal came when Weers found Lamison who was all alone on the far post and tipped the pass into the goal.
 
Schulte-Bockum also stopped two first-half SU shots from going in the net.
 
The Big Red scored on its only penalty corner of the first half. The play was set up by Kate Fitzpatrick, who took a cross crease pass from Katie Carlson and sent a shot into an SU defender's feet. Marisa Siergiej's initial shot was saved but the clearing pass went right to Mayers, who blasted it onto the net with 59 seconds to play in the first half.
 
Cornell (5-4, 1-1 Ivy) hits the road for a pair of games next weekend when it travels to Yale and Holy Cross on Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11, respectively. Last season, Cornell defeated both the Bulldogs and Crusaders, improving to 19-17-1 all-time vs. Yale and 6-5 all-time vs. Holy Cross.