Syracuse Ice Hockey on a Historic Run
By Ben Chadwick | @BChad214
MOON TOWNSHIP, P.A. – It was a dominant final 40 minutes for Syracuse Ice Hockey (12-20, 10-8 in AHA) in its 5-1 victory over Robert Morris (8-21-3, 2-14-2 in AHA). With just a couple minutes left to go in the first period, it was a 1-1 game where the Colonials led the shots on goal tally 13 to 1. Yes, the Orange had one shot on goal and one goal for nearly 20 minutes. But something clicked for ‘Cuse in the next two periods.
Freshman Stella Costabile followed up Sophomore Nea Tervonen’s initial goal with one of her own. RMU goalie Lily Phillips had the puck behind the net and didn’t notice a sprinting Costabile skating in to take it away and punch in the wrap-around goal. Towards the end of the period, Orange junior Heidi Knoll found the five-hole to make it a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into the third. Forwards Bryn Saarela and Peyton Armstrong notched two more to cap off the season series 4-0 sweep over Robert Morris. However, the win meant so much more than that.
Syracuse has now won five straight games. Not only is it the longest streak of the season, it’s the most consecutive victories since 2017 for the Orange. In that season, ‘Cuse made it to the CHA finals before losing to, you guessed it, RMU.
Taking an early look at how this postseason is shaping up, the Orange are currently in third place in the AHA standings. The only way SU can drop to the fourth seed is if they lose both in their upcoming series and RIT wins out. ‘Cuse can no longer jump into the two-spot, which is held by its next opponent Mercyhurst (17-13-2, 12-5-1 in AHA). The Lakers swept the Orange in their first weekend series early on in January.
Game #1 is set for 6 p.m. on Friday from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
