Practice ended, but Allie LaCombe was still on the ice.

She grabbed a few pucks and lined them up between the circles. Starting from the left, she fired each at the goal, skated a lap, collected the pucks and lined them up again, this time at the right circle. She shot those, did another lap and started again from the left circle.

LaCombe continued this way for a half hour before assistant coach Alison Domenico had to force her off the ice.

“Whether it’s out of frustration or just trying to get better,” LaCombe said about why she stays after. “It’s my senior season so you want to be in the best shape possible.”

This season, frustration has come all too often for LaCombe, who scored for the first time in 17 games Saturday, giving her three goals for the season. The forward totaled 11 goals and 19 points last year, including five game-winning goals. Syracuse (6-13-9, 4-5-5 College Hockey America) has struggled to score since a month-long break, scoring more than two goals just once in eight games.

Despite LaCombe’s lack of production, head coach Paul Flanagan has kept her ice time consistent as she wins 64.7 percent of faceoffs and has just been unlucky offensively, he said.

“I think she’s been a little snake-bitten, particularly lately,” Flanagan said. “She’s so strong and she knows the game well. She really pounds the puck.”

He offered an example from a game against Mercyhurst, in which LaCombe fired a shot that froze the goalie but hit her anyway. Often times, Flanagan said, LaCombe’s been an inch away.

Though Flanagan remains happy with her play in spite of lower numbers, LaCombe has gotten frustrated and said she doesn’t believe in luck.

“It’s always tough as a senior and wanting to lead but not executing,” she said. “Try to tell yourself it will come, just hopefully it does come soon.

“I don’t think it’s a failure, but I know I definitely expected more out of myself.”

LaCombe’s 68 shots are fifth for SU, but the bad bounces have led to just 4.4 percent of those attempts hitting the back of the net. She’s not getting bad passes or taking bad shots; the puck’s just not going in.

Instead, LaCombe said, she needs to focus harder and watch more tape. Or stay after practice and shoot until the coaches make her stop.

“She’s just trying to get some points on the board,” forward Julie Knerr said. “I know it’s been hard for her personally and she’s giving it her all to get some points on the board.”

In the absence of points, LaCombe continues to contribute in other ways. She’s a leader and a physical presence on the ice, Knerr said. In the faceoff circle, LaCombe is fourth nationally and first in the CHA in faceoff percentage.

Though she plays mostly on the wing for Syracuse, LaCombe played center a lot growing up. When she is in the circle for SU, she goes in with confidence. Her strategy is to try to win the puck back to the defenders.

“She’s a very, very strong girl and she uses that to her advantage,” Flanagan said. “She’s got good hands, good technique.”

As for points, everyone expects them to come and LaCombe’s goal over the weekend against Penn State shows that her luck may be turning.

“She’s just struggling a little bit,” he said. “I think at this point in time now, she’ll get some big ones down the stretch.”

Published on February 3, 2015 at 12:07 am