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In Syracuse’s weekend series against Mercyhurst on Jan. 12 and 13, SU goalie Allie Kelley combined for 89 saves. Despite the spectacular effort across the two-game series, the Orange dropped both games. With 2,952 saves in her career across her time at Saint Anselm and Syracuse, Kelley was just 48 away from reaching 3,000.

While she had only tallied over 48 saves in one game this season (56 on Oct. 6 against Merrimack) the chances of Kelley hitting the mark were likely as SU faced one of its toughest opponents of the season in No. 10 St. Lawrence.

In a 65-save effort, Kelley not only made personal history but also program history. The total set a new Syracuse program-record – passing Kallie Billadeau’s 57-save performance against Cornell in 2010. Though Kelley was superb, Syracuse (4-18-2, 1-8-1 College Hockey America) fell to No. 10 St. Lawrence (16-8-0, 9-3 Eastern College Athletic Conference) 6-3 in the final nonconference game of the season for SU. For Kelley, the historic marks were somewhat dwindled by a negative result for her team.

“Honestly the mark doesn’t really mean much,” Kelley said postgame. “All the games are pretty similar to me. I just came in today and was like, just have fun because sometimes games get away and they can not be fun.”

The Orange have had their fair share of games slip away this season. In those games the key struggle has been within the defensive zone, forcing Kelley to stand strong to keep the team in them.

While she’s faced dozens of shots in multiple games this season, she faced the most on Tuesday. St. Lawrence tallied 103 total shots, 71 of which were on net. As members of the ECAC, the Saints play a difficult schedule, facing top teams in the country like Clarkson, Colgate and Quinnipiac multiple times in a season. St. Lawrence entered Tuesday’s game averaging 30.43 shots on goal per game. Against Syracuse they had no trouble doubling the total.

“She’s definitely facing a lot of shots right now and she’s up to the task,” SU head coach Britni Smith said of Kelley postgame. “I’d like to see us play a little tougher in the D-zone to not give up 71.”

The Orange did receive a boost to the defense in Tuesday’s game as defender Rachel Teslak returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with an injury. As a member of SU’s top pair, Teslak has been a staple of the defensive unit in her first season with the Orange.

Despite the added ammo, SU started slow and St. Lawrence quickly pounced, putting immediate pressure on the defense and Kelley. In the first period, the Saints totaled 26 shots on goal to Syracuse’s measly five. St. Lawrence dominated the neutral zone, resulting in the large discrepancy.

“We have had good chemistry with our lines the past few games and our (defense) has been doing a really good job being involved in the play offensively,” St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells told The Daily Orange postgame. “I think that allowed us to generate so many shots tonight.”

Kelley, though, kept Syracuse in the game, allowing just two goals on 26 shots in the first period.

With two minutes remaining in the opening period, St. Lawrence forward Abby Hustler possessed the puck deep in the Syracuse zone. Hustler – who had a goal and assist already – quickly turned towards the center of the offensive zone and found Aly McLeod wide open in front of the net. McLeod fired a shot from just a few feet out, testing Kelley’s quick-reflex ability.

She answered the call, making the save and keeping the deficit to two. Kelley added 21 more saves in the second period as the Orange clawed back in the period to tie the game 2-2.

“Kelley was excellent positionally along with battling for saves and rebounds. She ended a lot of our shifts by being able to swallow up pucks,” Wells said.

Entering the third period, Syracuse found itself tied with the No. 10 team in the nation and a chance for a season-defining win. The Orange have not won a game against a ranked opponent through Smith’s 60 games at the helm.

Just over four minutes into the final frame, Kelley reached the 3,000-save mark on her third of the period. Nine saves later, she broke the program record. But the damage was already done. Between the two records being set, Kelley and the Orange had given up two goals, creating a two-goal deficit with just minutes to play.

In the third period, St. Lawrence turned it on while Syracuse failed to find its rhythm. Kelley added another 20 stops in the third period, finishing with 65 saves and moving into third place on the Syracuse single-season saves list with 793.

Though it was a similar result for the Orange as their 18th loss through 24 games, forward Kate Holmes showed appreciation for Kelley’s outstanding day, and season, after the loss.

“(Kelley) stands on her head for us every day, at practice or in games,” Holmes said. “She gives it her all and I know every day she’s gonna give us that which is really helpful.”

Published on January 16, 2024 at 11:01 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky