Syracuse Ice Hockey Swept by Mercyhurst
Coming into the weekend, The Orange were winless in their last four with their last victory against RIT on Jan. 25. Despite having no wins in the month of February, Syracuse has done an excellent job of playing to their competition. Coach Britni Smith and her squad welcomed the Mercyhurst Lakers to Tennity Ice Pavilion for the final weekend of CHA play.
Friday’s contest began as what some might call a “stalemate” with no teams giving in while playing a careful, conservative style of hockey. Arielle DeSmet and Ena Nystrom were tested from the opening puck drop, but nothing out of the ordinary. The lack of offensive chances from both Syracuse and Mercyhurst was due to the lack of discipline. There were 13 penalties between the two clubs, with no one scoring on the woman-advantage.
Mercyhurst found the breakthrough with less than a minute left in the 2nd period thanks to a 2-on-1 goal from defenseman Sydney Pedersen off of a cross-crease feed from Mary Kromer. The Lakers would find an empty net goal late in the 3rd from Liliane Perrault after a rare miscue from Arielle DeSmet, as she left the puck for the Lakers captain while heading to the bench to gain the extra skater. Although it was nearly a defensive masterclass from The Orange, it was senior goaltender Ena Nystrom who earned herself a shutout and a victory for The Lakers.
The opening period of Saturday’s contest was all Mercyhurst, as The Lakers were able to score 3 of their 4 goals in the first twenty minutes. Megan McKay got the scoring going at 2:15 in the 1st period with a pinpoint slapshot from the left side boards that was placed perfectly over the left shoulder of DeSmet. Liliane Perault and Sara Boucher added to the lead and it seemed like an uphill battle for Syracuse.
A powerplay chance in the 2nd period saw Syracuse find themselves on the scoresheet as Sarah Thompson tallied her 13th of the season by capitalizing on a rebound from an initial Madison Primeau shot. Mercyhurst took the two goal lead into the final period, but it was The Orange who found a late goal after pulling Arielle DeSmet. Rhea Hicks pounced on a Sarah Marchand rebound and this was now a one goal game with 1:20 left. The hope would run out for The Orange as the Mercyhurst captain Liliane Perrault earned her third goal of the weekend, and second empty netter in a row, and sealed the deal for The Lakers with a 4-2 win and a weekend sweep over Syracuse.
When asked about what would be the one positive takeaway that her squad can take into next weekend and the upcoming postseason, Coach Smith said that it was her powerplay units that showed potential in each of these two goal losses.
“We’ve seen it from this team, they’re resilient, they’re ready to battle,” Coach Smith said. “Hopefully we can put that together with our lesson of knowing we can’t take a period off, and I think when we can do that, we’ll be a team that can make a little bit of run here at the end of the season.”
The Orange will hit the Tennity ice for the final time this season as they will host Stonehill for Senior Day next Saturday, Feb. 18. Puck drop is set for 2pm and the game will be broadcasted on Cuse.com.