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Last night against Mercyhurst, Syracuse gave up nine goals and couldn’t manage to score one as it surrendered the points since a 9-1 loss against no. 1 ranked Wisconsin in 2018.

After the loss, head coach Paul Flanagan knew the importance of the second game of the series against Mercyhurst. With the Mercyhurst win last night, the Lakers only trailed by three points for first place in College Hockey America behind the Orange and would have a chance to tie in points in today’s matchup if they won.

“We know we have to respond and it will take a collective effort from the coaches and the players,” Flanagan said. “We still have a chance tomorrow to win the league.”

In the end, Syracuse regrouped and prevailed in a 4-1 win over Mercyhurst after converting on chances and winning faceoffs. All scores except for the first from Tatum White came off assists, with the final three goals coming in the last two periods.

Throughout the first period, Lauren Bellefontaine won the first faceoff and then Syracuse continued by winning the next two. The first two shots from the Orange were blocked and then Sarah Thompson got a penalty for Syracuse.

With numbers down, Syracuse held strong and didn’t allow a single shot from Mercyhurst and won the only faceoff that occurred.

Halfway through the first period, White scored her fourth goal of the season unassisted to put the Orange up 1-0. However, after back and forth play, Mercyhurst countered when Kristy Pidgeon scored a goal off a pass from Sydney Pedersen with three minutes remaining in the first period.

In the second period, Alexa Vasko won the initial faceoff for Mercyhurst, but Syracuse put pressure on the Lakers’ defense. First, Victoria Klimek took a shot but missed wide. Then, Syracuse dominated by outshooting Mercyhurst 10-4 over the next six minutes, but it had no luck getting the puck in the net.

The Orange had a power play shortly after, but couldn’t convert and after the advantage was over, Mercyhurst challenged Arielle DeSmet with three straight shots after rebounds in the 12th minute of the period, but she saved them all. On the day, DeSmet finished with 33 saves and a 97% save percentage.

Klimek then took two shots and Syracuse kept knocking with goal opportunities, and Anna Leschyshyn finally knocked one in for SU off a pass from White with six minutes remaining in the second period to give it a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Syracuse extended its lead to 3-1 when freshman Madison Primeau hit double-digit goals on the season and scored in the fourth minute after Marielle McHale rebounded her miss seconds earlier and dished it off to her again.

Mercyhurst had six shots in a row to counter over the next two minutes, but DeSmet saved all of the Lakers’ shots.

With four minutes remaining in the game, Mercyhurst, who was anything but desperate last game against the Orange, emptied its net to make a last-minute attempt to get to the top of the CHA standings.

Mercyhurst took three shots, but DeSmet saved the first one and Jessica DiGirolamo blocked the next two. Seconds after DiGirolamo’s block, Shelby Calof and Abby Moloughney connected passes to get the puck to Klimek who netted in the game-clinching goal to give Syracuse a 4-1 win and the regular season conference title.

Published on February 12, 2022 at 4:50 pm

Contact Adam: amccaffe@syr.edu