Syracuse Ice Hockey’s 3-2 Double Overtime Thriller Win in AHA Quarterfinals

When playoff hockey rolls around, sometimes all it takes… is one shot.

That was freshman Peyton Armstrong’s game-winning goal in the second overtime of Syracuse Ice Hockey’s (14-21, 11-9 in AHA) 3-2 win over Robert Morris (8-24-3, 2-16-2 in AHA) here in the AHA quarterfinals. ‘Cuse head coach Britni Smith admits that she wishes that one came in the first overtime.

“Unbelievable play, very poised play at the end there. I question why she didn’t just do that on her first breakaway and save us all a lot of time! But no, she’s a player, you know, she’s been growing all season and is someone who we really look to for some offense and for her to be able to find the back of the net as a freshman in a moment like that is pretty special.”

“Yeah, starting the game, I was pretty nervous. I normally don’t get nervous for games, but as a freshman, I’m like, oh my God, so much is going on. We obviously want to win, but there’s definitely a lot of nerves and a lot of excitement to obviously want to win.”

Well, the thing about postseason hockey is, the more you win, the more nerves you get. With tonight’s victory, Syracuse advances on to the AHA semifinals to face Mercyhurst (18-14-2, 13-6-1 in AHA), a team the Orange beat 4-2 in the regular season finale just last weekend. Reporting from Tennity Ice Pavilion, Ben Chadwick, Citrus TV.