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Abby Moloughney had the game on her stick as the clock dwindled down in the third period. With 36 seconds left, Moloughney grabbed the puck mid-air in a controversial hand-pass call that left Syracuse in its own zone with one final break to find an equalizer.

Lauren Bellefontaine won the faceoff, and Syracuse moved the puck into the neutral zone. Mae Batherson took the puck and carried it up the left wing. With 20 seconds left, Jessica DiGirolamo followed the puck behind the net and fed it across Raygan Kirk in goal. In an attempt to freeze the puck, Kirk lied flat in the crease, leaving the net wide open. The loose puck trickled across to Moloughney, who set it up on her forehand, shot and missed the open frame.

Despite outshooting Robert Morris 36-35, Syracuse (12-8-1, 10-6-1 College Hockey America) was unable to break through the Colonials’ (16-7-1,11-7-1) defense and the Orange were held to 1-0 loss — its first shutout loss of the season and the end of its CHA tournament run.

“They were well prepared, highly motivated,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “Anything we tried to get started offensively in the first two periods, they seemed to have somebody there.”

Syracuse started the game with five shots in the first four minutes and controlled the neutral zone, holding Robert Morris to just two shots to start. The Colonials’ Gillian Thompson capitalized on a one-time shot into an open right side of the net, setting up by a lucky bounce off the glass.

After the Colonial’s goal, Syracuse produced only three shots on goal in the remaining 10 minutes of the first period. That’s when Syracuse was forced to rely on goaltender Allison Small to maintain the one-goal deficit.

Nearly 14 minutes into the game, Small had batted away a Leah Marino backhanded snapshot behind the net after Syracuse’s defense lagged behind. The Orange’s three defenders were caught in the crease, allowing Robert Morris to regroup for another shot on goal.

The defensive lag caused Robert Morris to compose another shot on goal, this time a wrist shot from Thompson that forced Small to make a diving glove save.

“(Small) for the most part has given us a chance to win every night,” Flanagan said. “Not only does she direct the rebounds, but she’s covering things up and has been a real positive influence on the rest of the team.”

To assist Small, Syracuse was able to generate offense late in the second period, which included 17 shots on goal.

Kirk, who was making her first appearance of the postseason for RMU due to an injury, wasn’t tested to the same degree as Small. The Colonial defense blocked 20 of Syracuse’s shots, 12 of them being at or around the point.

Halfway through the second period, Syracuse had opened up Robert Morris’ defense by taking more shots on goal and cycling the puck behind the net. In an attempt to generate offense, Sarah Thompson passed the puck in the front of the net. While it was intended for Madison Beishuizen, the puck went all the way to the left faceoff dot to the front of Batherson’s stick. As Batherson collected the puck, Kirk had enough time to position herself perfectly to deny Batherson’s low wrist shot.

Despite Syracuse’s offense increasing throughout the game, Robert Morris capitalized on the Orange’s mistakes and, paired with Kirk’s goaltending, the Colonials held Syracuse to a shutout to claim the CHA title and an NCAA tournament bid.

“You can’t say enough about (Kirk),” Robert Morris forward Maggy Burbidge said. “She came off of an injury, she did nothing less than amazing, and we all did it for her, too.”

Published on March 6, 2021 at 11:34 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu