Syracuse Ice Hockey is ready to lace up the skates!
John Boccio I @JohnBoccio23
Head coach Britni Smith’s third year at the helm for Syracuse Ice Hockey begins in just a
few days. Coach Smith’s first two seasons as head woman saw lots of disappointments. The
former Clarkson assistant registered a record of 17-48-5 with SU. In Smith’s premiere campaign,
the Orange were swept in the first round of the CHA Tournament, which every team competed
in. Last year with a four team conference tournament, Syracuse came up short.
Why should these shortcomings be pinned on Smith? In the five years prior to the
Ontario natives’ hire, SU had two NCAA Tournament appearances, and made three CHA
Championships!
So, how can the Orange flip the script this year? First off, this is a brand new roster.
Syracuse has 14 additions to the squad. Five of the newcomers are upperclassmen, and three of
them are grad transfers.
SU struggled the most last season on offense, finishing last in the CHA in goals scored.
The Orange were the only team in the conference that scored less than 70 goals. Well, seven of
the aforementioned fresh faces are Forwards. One of the most notable new attackers is grad
student Bryn Saarela. The Holy Cross transfer was a three-year starter. On the Crusaders, she
was third in points her last two seasons. Saarela was also the team leader in assists last year.
On top of that, the ‘Cuse brought back some key skaters. Likely the most notable is
winger Tatum White. The two-time captain is back for a 5th year in the block S. Last year, the
forward was tied for fourth on Syracuse in points with 20. White also racked up 14 assists which
was tied for second on the Orange. Lastly, the Ontario native racked up nearly 400 faceoff wins,
which ranked eighth in the nation.
Another returner who has built up loads of hype is forward Mik Todd. The junior played
in all 36 games for the Orange her freshman season. Then in the Ontario Natives second year,
went down with a wrist injury in her seventh game. At that point in the season, Todd was one of
just five players on SU with multiple goals registered.
On the other side of the ice, Syracuse was second to last in the CHA for goals allowed.
That statistic doesn’t tell the full story though. While SU may have let up a chunk of scores, it
also led the CHA in saves. That’s because Syracuse faced over 40 shots per game!
The starting goaltender for Syracuse last year was Allie Kelly, who has returned to SU for
a graduate year as well. Kelly did about the best she could last season. The then senior still
posted a 90% save rate even with the amount of attempts she saw. That averages out to more
than 35 saves per game.
To hopefully give Kelly some support are new 5th years Klára Jandušíková and Charlie
Kettyle. Jandušíková travels seven hours West from Colby College. The old White Mule was top
five in blocks her final three seasons at Colby. Kettyle hails from the University of New
Hampshire where she missed just one game in four years. In the blue-liners senior season, she
was 5th in the America East in blocked shots, and was the tied leader in assists for the Wildcats.
See how all these factors come into play for Syracuse on Sunday in its exhibition against
the University of Windsor. Live coverage from the Tennity Ice Pavilion can be found at 1 with
@JohnBoccio23 on X
