Ice Hockey Gives Up Late Goal, Ties Penn State

By Chilekasi Adele | @CAdeleTV

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse had seven chances to score on the power play. They only scored once. 

That meager 14.2% success rate led to the Orange tying Penn State Friday, 1-1. The story early on for SU was offensive struggles. The team was outshot 16-6 in the opening period — not mustering much offensively in the early minutes.

The tough fortunes in the first period changed with a power play opportunity for Syracuse. Penn State’s Lyndie Lobdell took a penalty late in the first period. This was initially a 4-on-4 situation — Victoria Klimek took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before Lobdell went to the box. 

After Klimek came out, it was Anna Leschyshyn who got Syracuse on the board first. Klimek assisted Leschyshyn, who scored her fifth goal of the season on that play.

The Orange picked it up from there, with a stronger second period. Syracuse mustered 11 shots on goal, even though they trailed Penn State by four in that category during the middle 20 minutes. 

Syracuse also had a chance to double the lead during the second. Senior forward Abby Moloughney hit the post on a breakaway — a few inches to the left from beating Penn State goaltender Josie Bothun. Through the second, SU played well in the neutral zone, creating a lot of odd-man rush opportunities.

In the third, Syracuse held onto its lead for most of the period. Then with 3:28 left in regulation, Penn State’s Alyssa Machado scored her fifth goal of the season to tie the game. Natalie Heising assisted Machado on the goal. 

Despite giving up the game-tying goal, Arielle DeSmet had another stellar night between the pipes. DeSmet gave up one goal, making 45 saves — just five fewer than her career high of fifty.

Syracuse and Penn State will face off at Pegula Ice Arena in State College, PA tomorrow at 2 p.m. Follow @CAdeleTV and @CitrusTVSports on Twitter for updates during the game, followed by a recap here on citrustv.com soon after.