Sloppy Play Gives Syracuse their Fifth Straight Loss

By Noah Cierzan

CitrusTV Women’s Ice Hockey Beat Reporter

Syracuse entered its second contest against No. 3 Northeastern with about as much confidence an 0-4 team can have. The Orange know their talent is better than their record indicates, so Kelli Rowswell showed the Huskies her skills, scoring just over three minutes into the game.

“I think after yesterday’s loss we kinda had the mentality that needed to keep that same energy we did in the first period yesterday,” said Rowswell.

That energy translated to early scoring for the Orange, but defensive lapses allowed the Huskies to run up the score. After playing toe-to-toe with the third-best team in the country through two periods, Northeastern (3-0, 0-0 Hockey East) exploded in the third period, defeating Syracuse (0-5, 0-0 College Hockey America) 6-3.

“The third period was pretty ugly hockey from my perspective, it was like watching paint dry,” said SU head coach Paul Flanagan.

Syracuse let up four power play goals in game two after killing six of the Huskies’ seven power plays in the first game. The penalty kill has been a problem for SU all season, as opponents are converting at a .391 clip.

“We said it last night, it’s our Achilles heel. Then we go right back to today and have eight minors,” said Flanagan.

Penalties have plagued the Orange all season, but that isn’t the only problem. Syracuse continues to struggle on their own man-up opportunities. SU has a conversion percentage of .138, which is good for 11^th worse in the country.

“Most of our penalties are stick penalties, so we gotta be able to keep track of where our stick is and mover our feet,” said defender Jessica DiGirolamo.

The Orange fall to 0-5 on the year with all five losses coming against Top-10 foes. Flanagan emphasized yet again how the tough schedule will help the team in the long run.

“You can’t beat them up too much early in the year, it’s a long haul,” said Flanagan.

Syracuse gets the day off tomorrow before they’ll start practice back up on Monday in preparation for a two-game series against Colgate.

ncierzan@syr.edu l @ncierzan