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After beating Lindenwood (1-7-0, 1-1 College Hockey America) on Friday 3-1, Syracuse (2-5-2, 1-1 CHA) lost 5-3, splitting the series and giving the Lady Lions their first win on the season.

Unlike the first game of the series, which had a scoreless first period as a result of strong defense, Lindenwood scored twice while Syracuse scored once. The period began with an early penalty on Lindenwood’s Megan Wagner 44 seconds in. Syracuse then dominated for the next two minutes with six shots from five different players, but the Lindenwood defense held strong and none went in the back of the net.

After the Lady Lions’ penalty ended, the game remained even for the next five minutes. Syracuse had another opportunity for a goal when Victoria Klimek shot in the seventh minute, but her attempt went wide. Then, Lindenwood caught Syracuse off guard as Val Caldwell sent a pass to Rachel Goff, who netted the puck. Syracuse remained calm and six seconds later, Abby Moloughney took the puck herself right off of the faceoff and scored to tie the game at 1-1.

The Lady Lions then received a penalty for high sticking, but Syracuse again couldn’t take advantage and score a goal even with two shots from Tatum White. Down one player, Lindenwood still found a chance to score, and Madilynn Hickey received a pass from Sierra Burt and scored to put the Lady Lions up 2-1.

The rest of the period went scoreless, and despite the Orange outshooting Lindenwood 22-8, they now had to climb back from a one-score deficit.

In the second period, both teams played relatively even as Syracuse totaled 21 shots and Lindenwood had 20. But neither team could convert. By saving 15 of the 20 Lindenwood shots, Arielle DeSmet prevented Lindenwood from increasing its lead to two goals.

In the third period, however, DeSmet gave up her third goal of the game to Maddison Stitt in the third minute. Syracuse tried to come back and won the next three faceoffs. It had two shots from White and Rayla Clemons, but both were saved by Natalie Ferenc.

Syracuse finally converted as Sarah Marchand put the Orange within one after she scored a goal off of an assist from two SU players. But SU found itself in trouble after White bodychecked a Lindenwood player and got a penalty for two minutes. Even though Syracuse got the penalty kill, the Lions maintained their high press, winning two faceoffs and tallying three shots before Syracuse could respond.

With six minutes left in the third period, Jessica DiGirolamo evened the game up at three, but the tie didn’t last for long when Goff scored a goal two minutes later. Syracuse was desperate for a goal to force overtime, going empty net. DiGirolamo had two shots, and Lauren Bellefontaine had two as well, but both were unsuccessful in the final minute.

Lindenwood took advantage of the empty net and iced the game in the last 10 seconds when Morgan Neitzke scored her second goal of the season. The Orange outshot Lindenwood 62-39 by the end of the game, but Lindenwood shot more on target to earn its first win of the season.

Published on October 23, 2021 at 5:41 pm

Contact Adam: amccaffe@syr.edu