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Throughout the season, head coach Britni Smith has emphasized that her team needs to get off to stronger starts in the first period. In the nine regular season games where Syracuse won the first period, its record is 8-0-1 and its record after losing or tying the first period is 2-22-1.

However, as it has all season, Syracuse let its opponent take an early lead. Along the boards in Syracuse’s defensive zone, Hannah Johnson tried backhanding the puck away from Liliane Perreault, but the puck went right to Thea Johansson.

Johansson controlled the puck, skated down the center of the ice and passed the puck to Perreault as she made a push toward the left goalpost. With only Arielle DeSmet to beat, Perreault fired a shot toward the right goalpost and easily scored 2:23 into the first period.

The Orange’s first period struggles laid the groundwork for a loss as Syracuse (10-23-2, 6-9-1 College Hockey America) lost to Mercyhurst (20-13-2, 11-3-2 CHA) in the first game of the best-of-three CHA semifinals. 

Although Syracuse had more shots on goal (10-9) than Mercyhurst in the first period, the Lakers made their shots on goal count. With just over six minutes remaining in the period, Vanessa Upson controlled the puck and immediately created an opportunity for Mercyhurst in transition.

As Upson brought the puck into Syracuse’s defensive zone along the left boards, two of her teammates skated up the ice with her, while there was only one Syracuse defender behind the blue line to stop the Lakers’ attack.

In sync with Upson, Sydney Pedersen skated down the middle of the ice and received the puck. Instead of looking to shoot, Pedersen immediately gave the puck back to Upson on a 1-2 advantage and Upson scored giving Mercyhurst a 2-0 lead. 

Just like she did in the first period, Perreault scored a quick goal to start the second period, extending Mercyhurst’s lead to three. 5:17 into the period, Madison Primeau was penalized for cross-checking, giving the Lakers a golden opportunity to put the game out of reach early.

Despite being outnumbered on the ice, Syracuse pushed the puck into Mercyhurst’s defensive zone and with no defenders marking Charlotte Hallet, she bolted down the ice. With a full head of steam, Hallet received the puck in the middle of the defensive zone and fired a missile into the back of the net for a short-handed goal.

Although SU scored a short-handed goal, Mercyhurst still had another minute left on its power play, and Upson scored her second goal of the game 42 seconds later. 

Less than a minute later, Mary Kromer dumped the puck into Syracuse’s defensive zone from the center of the ice and despite not attempting to score, the puck took a wicked bounce by DeSmet giving Mercyhurst a 5-1 lead. 

Syracuse didn’t let the devastating goal phase it. Twelve seconds into Syracuse’s power play after Makayla Javier was called for tripping around the midpoint of the period, Lauren Bellefontaine received the puck. After corralling the puck just in front of Mercyhurst’s blue line on the right side, Bellefontaine fired a shot to the bottom right corner of the goal and snuck the puck by Ena Nystrom making it a 5-2 game.

Five minutes into the second period, SU received another power play after Pedersen was called for tripping. With three seconds left on the power play, Rhéa Hicks deflected Mae Batherson’s shot into the goal to cut the Lakers’ lead back to two.

Despite holding Mercyhurst scoreless and outshooting it 12-9 in the third period, SU couldn’t score, losing the game 5-3. The Orange played competitive hockey in the second and third periods, but their slow start is the reason they will face an uphill battle to advance to the CHA Championship.

Published on February 24, 2023 at 3:27 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon