For Paul Flanagan, this weekend will be the first real opportunity to exercise his bench. For his starters, this could be an opportune time to grab some rest after racking up a lot of minutes through the first few weeks of a four-month season.

Flanagan, the SU ice hockey head coach, and the Orange will play six of their next seven on the road. The upcoming two-game road trip to Union College turns the page on a season-opening homestand that featured four previously unseen programs, including nationally ranked Providence and Boston College.

‘I’m not looking at it like we’re just going to have our way,’ Flanagan said. ‘I think it’s going to be a very competitive game. But hopefully, we’ll be able to utilize our bench strength a little bit more. What we’re trying to do here, now that we’re in year three, we’re trying to develop some depth within our program.’

With 10 freshmen on this year’s Syracuse (2-2-1) team, Flanagan points to Friday and Saturday as some of the first real chances to put that bench to work. The upcoming series will provide an opportunity for some of the fresh faces, as well as the veterans, to get more involved in the offense. Flanagan doesn’t want his underclassmen to remain stagnant amidst the already heavy minutes being given to the starting unit in the first few games of the season.

That means the freshmen could see quite a bit of time this weekend.

‘A lot of times it just boils down to a lot of little things,’ Flanagan said. ‘So much of it isn’t so much what any of the seniors, or any of the captains, are going to say. I think it’s those freshmen who are watching, and just kind of visually, what they see.’

SU’s reserves showed they were paying attention in the second period on against Connecticut Saturday, when the Orange scored four goals en route to a 7-1 route of the Huskies. When the night was over, 12 different players recorded points, two freshmen (Sadie St. Germain and Margot Scharfe) scored their first career goals and a freshman goaltender (Jessica Drinkwater) shut down 18 shots from the opposition. If role players are able to have that effect again this coming weekend, SU will be in good shape.

If not, then maybe Union College is taking greater strides than many initially anticipated.

‘They caught up and surprised a couple teams with some close games,’ senior forward Julie Rising said of the Bulldogs. ‘They’re a lot better than they were last year. So we have to make sure we play our game, and be prepared for what they bring to us.’

Although Syracuse came out on top in two meetings last year, winning 4-1 and 3-2, respectively, Union College is a team that won just five games and dropped their final 10 contests on the season. After beating Sacred Heart and hanging with Northeastern, a team the Orange tied 4-4 to start the season, Union College is looking to earn the respect of its division. Much like SU. However, now in its sixth season as a Division-I team, the Bulldogs’ transition from newly anointed program to actual divisional threat has come slow, unlike SU. The weekend series is the final set for the Bulldogs before they dive into their own conference schedule.

‘I haven’t actually ever seen them play but it sounds like they’re a pretty hard-working team,’ transfer Ashley Cockell said. ‘They can move the puck. We have to be ready to be able to play them this weekend and play hard, and hopefully get two Ws out of it.’

If everything goes right for coach Flanagan and his team, he will wake up Monday morning following hard-fought victories on the road, several of his 17 underclassmen will have seen time on the ice, and the week ahead will provide time took scout his next big opponent, in an Ohio State team that’s off to its best start in program history.

But to Flanagan, this is not a weekend to be overlooked.

‘We had a very good series against them last year and we expect more of the same,’ Flanagan said. ‘I think they’re a team that’s getting better, each year. They’re developing more depth. I think they’re well coached. They’ll be good for us.’

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Published on October 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm