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Late in the third period, Kristen Siermachesky uncontestedly controlled a loose puck in the left corner of Syracuse’s zone. Looking down the ice for an option, she skated gingerly behind her own net before being swarmed by three Robert Morris skaters who anticipated her move up the right side of the boards.

The Colonials’ Maggy Burbidge left the scrum with the puck, taking it into the corner before dishing it in the direction of Ellie Marcovsky. The rolling puck came to Marcovsky, who was surrounded by two Syracuse defenders. She managed to pull off a wrist shot that slid under Orange netminder Allison Small’s pad to give Robert Morris the game winner 34 seconds after Syracuse’s 1-1 equalizer.

Syracuse (2-6-1, 2-4-1 College Hockey America) fell 2-1 for the second consecutive game to Robert Morris (7-2-1, 7-2-1 CHA) despite Small’s 34-save performance — her sixth consecutive game this season with more than 30 saves. The Orange’s consistent defensive zone turnovers once again put the responsibility on Small’s crucial saves to keep Syracuse in contention.

“We’re relying on her too much to be honest,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “It’s great that she’s playing well but, you know, it’s something where I’d like to think we could start minimizing grade-A chances so she doesn’t have to stand on her head and make a lot of great saves.”

Midway through the third period, with the Colonials leading 1-0, Small was forced to leave the crease to challenge a loose puck sent into the Syracuse zone by Michaela Boyle. Small got there first, losing her stick in the process.

The puck then ricocheted right off the net, where RMU’s Emily Curlett took a wrist shot that had Small diving to keep the puck out of the top corner with a blocker-handed save.

Highlight saves were not the only part of Small’s performance, however. With 3:17 to play in the first period, the Colonials broke through as Anjelica Diffendal blocked Small’s sightline of an Emilie Harley snap shot from the point. The shot was directed right at Diffendal, who tipped the puck off the ice, bouncing it into the top right corner.

No Syracuse skaters were there to pick up Diffendal and clear a path for Small to make a routine save.

“We have to support her more. The number of quality shots where they’re just walking in on the weekend, we’ve got to firm that up,” Flanagan said. “Protect the house.”

Unlike Friday, when Syracuse generated numerous odd-man rushes while shorthanded, Saturday’s penalty kill was full of missed clearances out of the Orange’s zone. Traffic was consistently present in front of SU’s net by the Colonials, blocking Small’s vision on shots from the point.

Midway through the first period, with the Orange on the penalty kill after a Hannah Johnson interference call, Diffendal was parked right in front of Small, with the Syracuse defense trying to maneuver her out of their goalie’s crease. The puck was cycled to Gillian Thompson, who took two low shots directed at the crease that Small barely got a pad on. With this strategy, the Colonials’ pressure kept the puck in Syracuse’s end for the majority of the man-advantage.

While Syracuse lacked patience and quality puck possession offensively, the concern was the complete opposite in the defensive zone. Instead of an ordinary breakout or a simple clearance off the boards, the Orange would try to directly skate the puck out of the zone or complete a two-or three-pass sequence to allude Robert Morris’ oncoming forecheck.

Down 1-0 with less than eight minutes left in the third period, Syracuse’s Brynn Koocher won the puck near her own goal line and began darting in a straight line out of the zone. With RMU’s Lexi Templeman applying pressure on the puck, Koocher kept skating forward and Templeman elevated her stick off the ice, allowing Kyleigh Hanzlik to intercept the loose puck and have an uncontested wrist shot that was sent right into Small’s chest.

“We spent a lot of energy playing (defense) in our zone,” Flanagan said. “I think it made it tougher for us to really establish our forecheck the way we wanted to get our ‘D’ active in the rush.”

Small’s flashy saves against Robert Morris were outliers in a rather inconsistent inaugural 2021 series, but it leaves a glimpse of hope as Syracuse tackles the remainder of the second half of its schedule.

“She’s confident, and I know she’s having fun back there and in, and for us, we got to take things up,” Flanagan said.

Published on January 23, 2021 at 8:05 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu