ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Caelahn Bullen made a career-high 14 saves and the Big Red defense stymied No. 6 Syracuse much of the night en route to a 13-8 victory on Tuesday evening at Schoellkopf Field. No. 11 Cornell won its fifth straight and improved to 8-3, while the Orange fell to 6-4.

Bullen's 14 saves buoyed a defense that held Syracuse scoreless for more than 22 minutes of game action, including the entire second quarter. Cornell led 7-3 at half, 10-4 at the end of three and held off the Orange in the fourth for its second straight win against Syracuse in Ithaca. Cornell limited the visitors to nine shots and one goal over the middle two quarters with Bullen making six saves during that stretch. Dom Doria caused two turnovers and Paul Rasimowicz more than held his own on the face-off "x", going 13-of-25 with seven ground balls. In all, the Big Red won the battle on the ground 43-30.

Sophomore Jeff Teat scored six points (two goals, four assists) and sophomore Jonathan Donville had five (two goals, three assists) for an offense that reached double figures for the sixth-straight game. Against a stingy Syracuse defense that had allowed just 10 goals total in its previous two games, Cornell scored its 13 on a total of 33 shots. Six different players scored two goals apiece - Teat and Donville, along with Clarke Petterson (two goals, assist), Jake McCulloch (two goals, assist), Jordan Dowiak and John Piatelli (two goals each).

Stephen Rehfuss had a goal and three assists and David Lipka scored twice to lead the Orange offense. Nick Mellen caused three turnovers in front of Dom Madonna, who made nine saves in defeat.

Cornell scored the first two goals and never trailed, though the Orange tied the game at 2-2 midway through the first before the Big Red reclaimed the lead for good at 70 seconds later. McCulloch made it 3-2 with 7:07 left in the first quarter, igniting a slow-burning 8-2 Cornell run over the next 38:42 that put the home team up 10-4. The Orange defense limited the Big Red to a pair of second period goals, but that was still enough to build on its lead. A 3-1 third quarter advantage all but put the game away for Cornell, which surrendered four goals in the final 15 minutes, but never allowed SU to get closer than four scores.

Teat's first goal opened the scoring with 12:19 left in the first quarter and made him the fourth Cornell player to register multiple 30 goal-30 assist seasons in a career, joining a list of Big Red lacrosse royalty - Mike French, Eamon McEneany and Rob Pannell.

COACH'S CORNER – PETER MILLIMAN
I thought that was one of our better full team efforts. I would say that was our best defensive effort too. They got to eight goals but I thought our half-field defense was really outstanding when they needed to be. It was great to have a big game. We were challenged pretty much everywhere and I thought our guys played hard. 
 
I thought Caelahn [Bullen] was really impressive. I was proud of him. It's a big game to step in. He has some experience but not a ton in these situations. But he came to play.  We shoot on him every day in practice and I know he can make saves so I wasn't concerned about that. But these can be challenges for guys without a lot of experience. 
 
To point out one person in particular, I thought Ryan Bray was exceptional across the field. I don't know how many clears he had. He had a handful of ground balls, but they were really big ones. 
 
Coach Stevens does a very good job with the defensive coordination. He game plans very well ... I thought we executed well. We've been working on the fundamentals of our defensive game plan. I thought Fleet Wallace did a great job on his match-up. Jake Pulver, all of our short sticks across the board. Scottie Flynn is our second pole and I thought he was outstanding. I thought the defense as a whole did a great job. 
 
NOTES TO KNOW
• With Syracuse ranked sixth in the USILA Coaches Poll, the win over the Orange gives Cornell a victory over its highest ranked opponent since a 12-9 victory over No. 2 Virginia during the 2014 season. 
• Jeff Teat extends the longest point-scoring streak on the team to 20 games.
• Paul Rasimowicz has won at least 50 percent of his face-off attempts over the past eight games.
• The Big Red has held its last five opponents, and 10-of-11 this season, to a save percentage below .500.
• With his two goals Clarke Petterson has surpassed the 50-goal plateau.
• The win gives the Big Red consecutive victories over Syracuse on Schoellkopf Field for the first time since wins in 2000 and 2002.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell closes out its non-conference season when it travels to face No. 17 Lehigh on Saturday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.