Syracuse Ice Hockey’s Well-Timed Hot Streak
By Ben Chadwick | @BChad214
A week ago, things were looking dismal for Syracuse Ice Hockey (10-20, 8-8 in AHA). But boy have things turned around for the better. After starting off 2025 with a dreadful eight straight losses, the Orange have won their last three by a whopping nine combined goals. It all started with that first 3-2 win over RIT last Saturday.
“I think for us, again, we talked about it last night, but we just won the series there,” SU Head Coach Britni Smith said. “So we have the head-to-head, which is huge for us. We don’t focus on standings, we don’t focus on points. But that was a goal of ours, win the series, and to drop one on the road and win the other three, that’s a hard-fought series that I think we earned.”
After finally getting that first win in what seemed like a lifetime, ‘Cuse had no intentions of looking back. The unfortunate opponent that would have to face this revamped Syracuse squad was Lindenwood. After splitting their weekend series 1-1 earlier in the season, the Orange showed no mercy to the Lions.
In game one, SU racked up five goals en route to a 5-2 win. Not only was that a season-high in goals scored for ‘Cuse, but it was also the most Syracuse has had in a conference win in over three years when it beat Lindenwood 6-1 back in 2022. Two of those goals came from sophomore Jackson Kinsler, who had a career-high four points on the day.
“Yeah, I think she’s someone who, you know, her game was not struggling necessarily, but she hadn’t been finding the points that I think that she expects from herself,” said coach Smith. “So to see her with four tonight, I think just shows her ability to stick with it and to continue to play her game and battle through some of those tough bounces I think she was getting. So nice to see her find the back of the net a couple times and obviously with her being on our top power play, she gets a lot of time and it’s great to see her reward in front with that little tip in.”
And when game two rolled around less than 20 hours later, things just got sweeter and sweeter for the Orange on their Senior Day. Syracuse walked away from a 5-0 thrashing of Lindenwood. That’s the Orange’s largest conference win since, you guessed it, their 6-1 win over the Lions back in 2022. There were five different goal scorers for SU in this one, four of which were sophomores or younger.
“Obviously, balance point production is something that I think any coach would be pretty happy with,” coach Smith said. “But to see it from some of our younger players, especially sticking to the senior weekend theme, I think it goes to show the leadership they have and the standard that’s been set.”
After winning three straight games for the first time since November, ‘Cuse looks to extend it to five this weekend. Syracuse travels southwest to take on Robert Morris (8-19-3, 2-12-2 in AHA). The Orange lead the season series 2-0 after taking down the Colonials with a 4-1 score in each of their December matchups. Game #1’s puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.
