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Tatum White comfortably skated the puck out of the Syracuse zone and fired a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone. The pass was intercepted by Long Island University’s Alva Johnsson, who skated the puck back into the Syracuse zone, working it to Delaney Bonifacio. She fired a hard wrist shot through traffic that forced Amelia Van Vliet to spill a rebound to the right of her crease. 

The loose puck found the stick of Megan Bouver, whose shot was covered up by Van Vliet once again. The freshman’s sequence of saves prevented a LIU equalizer with 6:05 left in the second to maintain Syracuse’s 2-1 lead.

Syracuse’s (7-8-1, 6-6-1 College Hockey America) Van Vliet earned a victory in her first start to secure a 5-2 win over LIU (2-7). Van Vliet, who had seen brief action in the team’s 5-2 loss against Mercyhurst, recorded 19 saves and was at ease despite defending five LIU power plays and dealing with the Sharks’ heavy netfront presence.

“You almost want to get in there and have a lot of work, make some saves and really get into it,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “I thought she played fine, you know, looking for how she’s covering up rebounds and setting the puck for the (defensemen).”

Van Vliet stopped all 10 shots she faced in the first period, shaking off the expected nerves Flanagan was aware of prior to puck drop. The freshman goalie was strong with her stick and showed good awareness in the crease.

But it appeared that Syracuse had LIU goaltender Kenzie Harmison all figured out, as three of the Orange’s goals beat the sophomore netminder high on her blocker side.

Van Vliet was tested from similar angles, having to deal with an array of high shots early on. On her second save of the game, she was well-positioned as Bouver raced alone on the left wing and into Syracuse’s zone. Her quick slapshot was trapped under Van Vliet’s right arm.

LIU’s net presence was apparent, causing many close-range deflections that tested Van Vliet’s rebound control. With just under 12 minutes remaining in the third period, LIU won a faceoff in Syracuse’s zone after a DiGirolamo interference call ruled out an Orange penalty for a brief 4-on-4. The puck was played out to the point to Carrigan Umpherville. Her low wrist shot was guided in the direction of Paula Bergström, who cleanly got a stick on the puck to redirect it on net. 

But Van Vliet was sharp in dealing with her rebound. She used her stick to bat the puck to Kristen Siermachesky, allowing Syracuse to successfully counter in the LIU zone, which led to an eventual high-rising shot by Hannah Johnson that gave Harmison a tough time making a glove save.

“It was somewhat sporadic when she had work and then a couple of occasions they walked right in on her,” Flanagan said of Van Vliet. “I felt bad.”

With LIU on its third power play of the game just under eight minutes into the second period, the puck was cycled to Ashley Morrow, who was unmarked inside the left faceoff circle. Her wrist shot beat Van Vliet near post, who had a hard time tracking the puck due to Maggie Culp’s screen in the crease, with no Syracuse skater clearing the way for the rookie netminder.

LIU took four penalties in a 12-minute span in the final period, resulting in a nearly seven-minute shooting drought ending in the game’s final two minutes, an instance where Flanagan wished Van Vliet had seen more action.

Still, Flanagan said he’s confident SU’s win means there’s no reason to change the lineup for Saturday’s matchup with the Sharks. 

“Hopefully there’s many more to come,” Flanagan said. “(Van Vliet) did a good job, and she’ll be back in there tomorrow.”

Published on February 19, 2021 at 11:37 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu