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Anna Leschyshyn dished the puck to Hannah Johnson at the right side of the blue line and continued skating toward the net. Two Long Island University defenders rushed to Johnson, who slotted a one-time pass to complete a give-and-go sequence to a wide-open Leschyshyn.

She gathered the puck in motion, uncontested, and fired a wrist shot, beating LIU goalie Kenzie Harmison’s glove side into the top-right corner of the net. Leschyshyn had just secured her first collegiate hat trick to put Syracuse ahead 4-0.

Syracuse’s (8-8-1, 6-6-1 College Hockey America) 5-0 victory over LIU (2-8, 0-0-0 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance), its second-largest win margin of the season, came in a dominant fashion just one day after defeating LIU 5-2. The Orange had 47 shots on goal, a power play goal and a dominant performance in the offensive zone on Saturday that allowed the Orange to control the play from start to finish.

“I thought last night we were skating towards someone, then passing the puck and just delaying for a second or two,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “We could tell right from the very first power play that, in both units, we were moving the puck with a little more sense of purpose and, you know, much more efficient.”

Syracuse was given seven power-play opportunities, with LIU taking eight in Saturday’s game. Immediately, the Orange were far more patient on the power play, not taking a shot too early and making as many passes as they could.

With five seconds remaining on its first power play, two LIU skaters rushed toward Jessica DiGirolamo, who was in the process of controlling the puck against the right boards. DiGirolamo sent a pass to Mae Batherson, who skated inwards, and was given an open lane to find Lauren Bellefontaine. Bellefontaine sniped a high wrist shot above Harmison’s glove for her second goal of the series and for the game’s opening goal.

“Today we made an adjustment just to get it moving quicker and, you know, spring people into openings,” Flanagan said. “If you don’t have an open shot, find a way just to get it through, to get it on net.”

The Orange found the opportunity to storm the crease whenever they had extended puck control in the offensive zone, with at most two players consistently parked in front of Harmison to impede her vision.

In the second period, Rayla Clemons was hit by an LIU defender within the blue paint, which seemed to have distracted Harmison and the Shark’s netfront defenders. Meanwhile, Kristen Siermachesky played a cross-ice pass to Johnson at the right point, who fired a wrist shot into the heavy traffic in front of the net.

Harmison rebounded the puck, leaving five players vying for the loose puck. Leschyshyn stormed the crease, beating everyone to the puck and poking it through Harmison’s legs and into the net.

Leschyshyn, who scored a career-high of five goals in the two-game series against LIU, boosted her season goal total to seven.

“You could just see (Leschyshyn), even last night just kind of beaming on the bench and feeling confident,” Flanagan said. “We’ve known all along she has a real good shot. Four of the five (goals this weekend) were just nice shots where she’s picking corners, and she’s got a really good quick release.”

Leschyshyn’s Friday night featured nearly identical goals beating Harmison on the top shelf. On her first tally on Saturday, Leschyshyn mirrored those exact shots.

“That’s how you score goals,” Flanagan said, noting that she scored quality “goal scorer’s goals.”

While Syracuse was able to freely tee up shots from further out, many of Syracuse’s best chances came beneath the faceoff dots and at point blank range.

Forty-nine seconds into the second period, Syracuse had been awarded its fifth power play of the game. On the ensuing one man-advantage, Victoria Klimek was given quality chances to fire close-range shots. Batherson set up Klimek to walk in a wrist shot on Harmison, who left a rebound right in Abby Moloughney’s path for a shot that went wide. Twenty seconds later, Klimek was once again wide open for a close slap shot from a sharp angle that sailed high.

“We had some really good chances,” Flanagan said. “And that’s what we want to see going forward.”

Published on February 20, 2021 at 5:41 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu