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The Daily OrangeMLAX | EASY GOING: It's 7 in a row as SU throttles No. 5 Cornell
By Tyler Dunne
Posted: 4/9/08, 12:43 AM EST Section: Sports
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ITHACA, N.Y. - Who knows what would happen if Steven Brooks put his right sock on before his left sock?
The Syracuse midfielder isn't about to find out. He'll keep on putting every single piece of his equipment on from left to right. He'll keep on listening to the same music and praying to his mom. And the Orange will keep on winning.
"If I don't put all of my stuff on left-to-right, then I get rattled," Brooks said.
Behind the numbing, routine consistency it's maintained all season, No. 2 Syracuse looked completely unfazed at Schoellkopf Field, trouncing No. 5 Cornell, 15-8, for SU's seventh straight win.
At some point exhaustion is supposed to set in. The Orange (9-1) is supposed to get a wakeup call. One letdown game. One trap game. One hiccup along a smooth, effortless season - especially after a semi-surprising demotion in the national rankings from first to second this week.
Tuesday night had the makings of such a letdown. In the past four games of the 88-year-old Syracuse-Cornell rivalry, no team has won by more than two goals. The Big Red had been on its own seven game win streak, outscoring its opponents, 87-42, during the span.
But the Orange played with the never-in-doubt confidence it has embodied this season and handed Cornell its most lopsided loss in five years.
"Coming in here, everybody predicted us to lose," Brooks said. "I thought it would be closer, but the offense executed well, and the defense played phenomenal against one of the best middie groups in the country."
Brooks smiled into a squint, turned and pointed to the far-side scoreboard with a suave sense of calm.
"We came out here and played smart and executed well, as you can see on the score."
It's a sense of tranquility the consistent Orange maintained throughout the game. Nineteen seconds in, Cornell's Rocco Romero fired a shot past SU's John Galloway. No visible panic. Syracuse answered 90 seconds later when senior Mike Leveille circled around the Cornell cage and whipped a low scoop shot into the net.
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LAx fan
posted 4/10/08 @ 5:22 AM EST
Why isn´t this article in today´s paper??
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