ITHACA, N.Y. — Randy Staats was quietly having a great game.

Through the third quarter in his first start at attack in six games, he dished out four assists, allowing his teammates the recognition that comes with scoring, and he netted a pair of modest goals to close out the third frame.

But in the fourth quarter, he let all of Schoellkopf Field know whose game this was.

“He finishes everything,” Syracuse attack Kevin Rice said. “The first couple of weeks he was here, we just had to figure out where he likes to be and where he wants the ball and I think we’re starting to get there.

“It’s nice playing with him because if you find him, you can start celebrating before he scores because he never misses.”

What was an admirable two-goal, four-assist night for Staats swelled into a five-score masterpiece as the junior exemplified his team’s resurgence in a game in which it desperately needed a jolt of energy. With a trio of highlight-reel goals in the fourth quarter, he capped off a personal 5-0 run that sealed No. 7 Syracuse’s (7-3, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) 14-9 thumping of No. 6 Cornell (9-2, 3-1 Ivy League) on Tuesday before a crowd of 2,690.

The sluggishness and lack of intensity that nearly sunk the Orange against Binghamton last week was instead seen in the Big Red. SU came in with a spotless nonconference slate, looking for an enormous win over its Central New York rival to regain momentum before squaring off with North Carolina on Saturday with ACC tournament implications at stake.

Once the Randy Staats Show was completed in the fourth quarter, Syracuse was able to flip on cruise control and roll to an upset of its longtime rival.

“We know he’s very capable of it,” SU head coach John Desko said, “and I think Cornell in the fourth quarter had to take some chances with the score the way it was.

“And he’s very opportunistic … (Goals) like that you don’t see very often.”

Staats found an open Rice on the doorstep for two scores, one late in the first quarter and the other early in the second, that built SU a 4-1 lead. Although Cornell rode a 4-2 spurt the rest of the frame, a Hakeem Lecky goal gave the Orange a one-goal edge going into halftime.

Out of the break, Staats quietly continued to keep the SU attack flowing.

On the ride, he caused a turnover, scooped up the ground ball and tossed it to Dylan Donahue for a score. Not even a minute later, Rice — who’d finish with three goals and four assists — again converted from the left doorstep, courtesy of a helper from Staats.

“I just want to help the team win. I’ll contribute any way I can,” Staats said, “and I was lucky enough to get that many points tonight.”

Staats himself found the back of the net twice to put SU ahead 10-6 going into the fourth, but the real spectacle had yet to begin.

Twenty yards out from Cornell’s cage in the first minute of the quarter, Staats knocked the ball — and a Cornell stick — loose. Off balance, he scooped it up, turned and ripped the shot inside the left post. The only celebration he offered was a casual fist pump, while his teammates went ecstatic on the SU sideline.

“I just kind of go with it,” he said. “You don’t really plan that kind of stuff, it’s just where you are on the field.”

A minute and a half later, Staats buried a spinning goal from the crease after taking a pass from Rice, to put the Orange up 12-6. Three minutes after that, Rice and Staats connected for the final time, a tally by Staats that put an exclamation point on his 5-0 burst.

After the final horn, the Orange players triumphantly jogged from the sideline to the locker room at Schoellkopf Field, yelling in celebration the whole way.

It was one of their biggest wins of the year; they couldn’t help it. The locker room door briefly opened, teasing to the shouting.

“Someone play some f*cking music!” one player roared.

But among the last ones to leave the field was Staats, who slowly made his way to a horde of reporters waiting for him.

Exhausted, but with a smile on his face, and still unassuming.

Published on April 8, 2014 at 9:08 pm

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