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Syracuse led an ordinary rush into the Mercyhurst zone with the game tied at one and less than 90 seconds to play. With the puck wrapped around the boards and the Orange ready to regroup in the offensive zone, the whistle blew, and Emma Polaski was headed to the penalty box on a questionable cross-checking call, where she fell onto Mercyhurst goaltender Ena Nystrøm and knocked her down into her own end.

Head coach Paul Flanagan argued the call, and Syracuse began defending its fifth penalty of Saturday night. With 21.9 seconds in regulation, Lauren Bellefontaine tripped Mercyhurst’s Summer Rae-Dobson in the neutral zone for the sixth penalty of the night, and Syracuse was handed the tough task of holding off a 5-on-3 to preserve a tie and force overtime.

Jessica DiGirolamo pinned Mercyhurst’s Calista Rowbottom against the boards, and Rowbottom batted the loose puck out to Alexa Vasko. Vasko found Sara Boucher in front of the net, and with 0.8 seconds left on the clock, Boucher put home a one-time shot to spoil the Orange’s hopes, solidifying a weekend sweep for Mercyhurst.

The first power-play goal of the series cost Syracuse (3-8-1, 3-6-1 College Hockey America), as the Orange fell to Mercyhurst (6-4-1, 6-4-1), 2-1. The weekend series was a scrappy one, and two costly penalties saw Syracuse leave its second consecutive homestand without a point.

“There were some full-on body checks that (the referees) just looked at and did not call, which was pretty disappointing,” Flanagan said.

But one that the refs did eventually spot was a Kristen Siermachesky cross-check with 13:55 left in the third period. In its recent games, Syracuse has used its shorthanded pressure to fuel a chance in the offensive zone.

And that’s exactly what Bellefontaine accomplished on the following penalty kill. She took the puck along the right boards before performing a toe-drag move on a sliding K.K. Thiessen. Bellefontaine’s shot went off the right pad of Nystrom and fell right to the stick of Mae Batherson, whose one-time shot found the open left side of the net for the Orange’s first shorthanded goal of the season.

“It’s good to see her jumping into the play, it was a great read and a very nice goal and obviously very opportunistic coming shorthanded,” Flanagan said.

But much like the Robert Morris series two weeks ago, where Syracuse gave up quick third-period goals after scoring one of its own, Mercyhurst was able to find an equalizer 42 seconds later.

With Siermachesky’s penalty killed, Batherson’s clearance was stopped at the blue line, and Mercyhurst carried the puck back into Syracuse’s zone. Megan Korczak handled the puck at the left faceoff dot, picking up her head to find an onrushing Boucher for a one-time slap shot that beat Allison Small gloveside.

Small was once again a standout for Syracuse, making 34 saves and bouncing back after allowing four goals on Friday, which led Flanagan to pull her early in the third period.

Small faced numerous odd-man rushes in which she held her own, and much like Friday, it was the small scrambles and bounces where she ended up conceding. With 11:47 left in the second period, Hannah Johnson stumbled at center ice, allowing a 2-on-0 chance for Mercyhurst. Chantal St. Croix skated in by herself, and the shot was knocked away to the right corner by Small’s blocker pad.

“We need to do as good of a job as possible and take the pressure off of Allison (Small), move that puck out of the zone and manage it well, but also now help create some offense from our defense.”

With its hopes of overtaking Penn State and Robert Morris for first or second place mostly out of the question, Flanagan believes “taking one game at a time” is the most important step to overcome securing only two points in a five-game stretch.

“It’s going to take everyone on this team to get us out of this rut and get us to a position for us to do well come the CHA playoffs.”

Published on February 6, 2021 at 7:36 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu