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Five-thousand, eight hundred and three days.

That’s how long it’d been since Syracuse defeated Cornell entering Tuesday. Since the two teams first met on Jan. 5, 2010, it’d been utter domination by the Big Red. Cornell had beaten the Orange in 17 straight games, winning by three or more goals in every contest.

Since SU head coach Britini Smith took over in 2022, the Big Red have outscored her squad 22-4 in four losses. The Orange most recently fell 5-0 to Cornell on Oct. 28 this season, in a game where goalie Maïka Paquin saved just 84.8% of her shots and the team won just 38.6% of its faceoffs.

Heading into Tuesday night’s home clash with the Big Red, SU desperately needed a pulse. It hadn’t won a contest in regulation since Oct. 24 against RIT, and was just 10 days removed from getting swept and outscored 18-2 in two games by No. 6 Penn State.

It’s safe to say SU found that pulse. The Orange (6-10-2, 4-5-2 Atlantic Hockey America) tied No. 5 Cornell (9-2-1, 6-2-0 Ivy League) 2-2 on Tuesday, snapping Cornell’s 17-game win streak over them and winning the shootout. While SU trailed 1-0 and 2-1 at points throughout the game, Ava Drabyk’s career-high 48 saves and Stella Costabile’s third-period equalizer propelled Syracuse to its second shootout win in three games.

Despite losing 5-0, SU stayed rather competitive in the first period against Cornell in their first matchup this season. Other than a Rose Dwyer goal 18 minutes into the frame, Paquin held her ground and recorded 10 saves.

It was more of the same on Tuesday. The first period was uneventful for Syracuse, but for the better. Cornell pounced on net and peppered Drabyk with 16 shots, but she saved all 16.

Dwyer unleashed four shots, while her sister, Grace Dwyer, had three in the period. The Big Red looked poised to score on their two power plays, with freshman Nora Curtis nearly scoring on their second woman-up opportunity, but Drabyk held steady.

For an Orange squad whose 72.3% penalty kill rate ranked last in the AHA entering Tuesday, the first period was a very encouraging sign.

Even with a strong defensive effort, SU’s attack struggled to find its rhythm in the first period for the third straight game. The Orange tallied 12 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes against Mercyhurst last Friday, but couldn’t convert on any of them.

And on Tuesday, Syracuse’s offensive shortcomings continued into the second period.

SU has been woeful on power plays this season, as its 10.6% power play success rate is the second-worst in the AHA, just ahead of Delaware. Its woman-up struggles have persisted since going 0-for-6 in its season opener on Sept. 25, and that didn’t change on Tuesday.

After a Cornell tripping call less than a minute into the second, SU had its first power play of the game. Jordan Blouin had a solid look from behind the net, but she couldn’t slide her shot past Cornell goalie Annelies Bergmann. Nea Tervonen’s ensuing shot was knocked away, and once again, the Orange left a power play with more questions than answers.

Following a series of sustained possessions from each side, Cornell’s gorgeous cross-ice feed found Karel Prefontaine by the net. With little hesitation, Prefontaine rifled one past Drabyk’s outstretched arms to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead six minutes into the period.

But just as it did against Mercyhurst on Saturday, Syracuse quickly responded. Makenna Williment initially drove into traffic before finding Mik Todd in front of the net. Despite strong pressure from Bergmann, Todd kept persisting and pushed the puck into the net to even the score. It was Todd’s first goal of the season.

Syracuse’s increased speed and intensity were evident early in the third period, but it didn’t lead to goals. In fact, SU became overaggressive, as a Rachel Walsh tripping call gifted Cornell a power play, where Mckenna Van Gelder fired the puck at Drabyk after an initial missed shot.

Drabyk had no chance, and the Big Red regained the lead at 2-1 with 12 minutes left.

For a seven-minute span, the Orange seemed dead in the water. They were well on their way to an 18th straight loss to Cornell.

And then, they weren’t. Off a rebound, Costabile muscled the puck into the goal for the game-tying tally. Her effort on the putback was a microcosm of Syracuse’s resilience throughout the game, and sent the contest to overtime.

Midway through overtime,Heidi Knoll had a golden opportunity to give SU its first win in over a month, but her shot went wide. For the second time in three games, the Orange were heading to a shootout.

It was all Syracuse in the shootout. Knoll made her first shot look effortless. Drabyk made a spectacular save on Prefontainte. Tervonen’s shot was perfectly on-target.

A minute later, a mob of Syracuse players ran onto the ice in pure jubilation. The tie and shootout victory served as major momentum boosters for an SU squad in dire need of some.

Published on November 25, 2025 at 9:22 pm
Contact Spencer: sabrod@syr.edu | @spencerbrod20