As play entered the final minute of the second period, Syracuse found themselves down by a single goal. Then, in an instant, the Orange found themselves down three entering the final period of play, a near-insurmountable task.

Entering the first game of their final road series of the regular season, Syracuse hadn’t lost a game in 28 days. Because of their undefeated streak, the Orange rose in conference standings to be tied with Robert Morris. However, Syracuse’s (12-17-2, 10-5-2 College Hockey America) momentum was stopped dead in a 6-2 loss to Mercyhurst (17-9-5, 11-3-3).

Mercyhurst’s Maggie Knot opened up the scoring by lighting the lamp with six minutes left in the first period, placing it past starting goalie Ady Cohen, who had won her past three starts. Ninety seconds later, Allie Olnowich began the scoring for the Orange, lighting the lamp for only the second time this season. Olnowich’s first goal of the season came during Syracuse’s 8-0 rout of Lindenwood on Feb. 15. However, Lakers’ defender Rachael Marmen scored with two minutes left in the period to give Mercyhurst a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

SU and Mercyhurst then played each other evenly for the first 19 minutes of the second period before Mercyhurst struck twice in the span of five seconds, extending the Lakers lead to three.

In the third, Jessica DiGirolamo netted her eighth goal of the season off a Kelli Rowswell assist, but the Orange failed to score for the rest of the contest. Mercyhurst iced the game with two more goals of their own.

Unlike Syracuse’s previous two games against Lindenwood, where the Orange put up 50 and 63 shots respectively, SU only managed 24 shots on Mercyhurst goalie Jenna Silvonen. At the other end of the ice, the Syracuse defense allowed 46 shots on Cohen, which is the most the senior goalie has seen since Jan. 11.

Syracuse was also ineffective at capitalizing on power-play opportunities all game, as they failed to score on four Laker penalties. Throughout the season, Syracuse has only scored 16 power-play goals, tied with RIT for 22nd in the country.

With Friday’s loss, the Orange fell to third place in conference standings, behind Robert Morris and Mercyhurst. If Syracuse finishes out of the CHA’s top two spots,  the Orange won’t receive a first-round bye at the CHA playoffs in Buffalo, New York.

Published on February 21, 2020 at 9:44 pm

Contact Will: wrhentsc@syr.edu