Four minutes into a five-minute power play, Rochester Institute of Technology defender Emilee Bulleid drove down the center of the ice, marking the first strong scoring opportunity on the power play.

Bulleid fired a wrist shot toward the right post and Syracuse goalie Jenn Gilligan split her legs, dropped from her stance and stuck her glove hand out to the left. As she hit the ice, the puck hit the back of her glove and the score remained tied at 1.

“Ow, that one kind of hurt,” Gilligan said after the game. “That was just a reaction save so I wasn’t really thinking about it until after.”

Gilligan and the power play in front of her stayed strong for most of the game Saturday night, giving up goals early in the first period and late in the third. SU (5-8-7, 4-2-3 College Hockey America) killed all six of RIT’s (7-9-3, 1-5-1) power play opportunities en route to a 4-2 win while Gilligan made 16 saves.

“If you get through that kill, I think it carries you through and I think that helped us a lot in that period,” Flanagan said.

SU killed a five-minute major power play in the third period, which head coach Paul Flanagan said energized the team.

Soon after the penalty, RIT forward Victoria Pitawanakwat took a stretch pass and split the two SU defenders for a breakaway. She shot a few feet short of the goal and to Gilligan’s right. The goalie got her arm in the way, deflecting the puck into the corner.

“She stepped up when she had to and that’s what we need out of a goalie,” defender Nicole Renault said.

Both teams spent a lot of time in the penalty box, with RIT on the power play for 11:38 of game time. In three of RIT’s opportunities, SU didn’t allow a shot.

Orange players blocked eight shots and were constantly poke checking during penalty kills.

“RIT is known to have a pretty good power play, so we worked on it all week in practice, just focusing on taking away certain players and being in the lane,” Renault said. “I think we did a good job of it.”

SU took the lead on an Alysha Burriss goal with 12:28 left in the third period, and Gilligan held firm for the next 12 minutes.

After the Orange took a 3-1 lead on an empty net goal with less than a minute to play, RIT forward Marissa Maugeri shot from the left wing into Gilligan’s body. Gilligan brought her arms up and caught the puck against her chest, preventing a rebound opportunity.

On the ensuing faceoff, Maugeri beat Gilligan to the right post, sneaking the puck into the net behind the goalie’s skate. The goal gave the Tigers a second wind, but Burriss put in a second empty net goal to seal the victory.

“I thought I did a lot better than the last couple nights,” Gilligan said.

Gilligan was happy with the penalty kill in front of her, praising her teammates for blocking shots and their quickness in getting the puck out of the zone.

Burriss was forced onto the penalty kill after center Jessica Sibley got hurt in the first period and couldn’t return. For her, the perfect kill percentage says it all.

Said Gilligan: “I still think I have some improving to do but it was good end to the semester and hopefully we can come back after break and really get things going.”

Published on December 6, 2014 at 11:29 pm