In the first six games of the season, Syracuse’s lineup hardly changed. The top two lines gave the Orange experience and a raw energy that the strongest of opponents struggled with.

Familiarity was spreading, more passes were connecting and SU had every reason to believe it could return from Storrs, Conn., with a pair of wins. The leading lines were at least stable enough for Flanagan to try to fine-tune his third unit.

“We’ve got our third group that’s a mix of four or five players, I keep mixing it up, and they’re doing better and they threatened on the weekend,” Flanagan said on Oct. 20 after SU’s 4-0 home win against Quinnipiac.

Then an injury to Laurie Kingsbury and 1-1 weekends against UConn and Union threw the Orange (5-5, 2-0 College Hockey America) into flux. With mixed results, defenders switched to forwards and back in an effort to balance the lineup. Yet the changes, though not without their challenges, also bring opportunity to more of the roster as SU prepares to visit RIT (4-3-1, 1-2-1 CHA) on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

Junior forward Cara Johnson played irregularly on the third line prior to Kingsbury’s injury. Yet when the then-leading scorer went down, Johnson slotted into her spot in SU’s second shift. The change forced Johnson to elevate her play to match the new line that was outscoring the first line prior to Kingsbury’s injury.

“It’s given me more of a focus because on the second line I’m playing with Shiann (Darkangelo) and Melissa (Piacentini) and they’re both really, really, really, really good players,” Johnson said. “And not to say the people on the third aren’t, but I just want to play better for them and not disappoint them. I don’t want to be a burden on their line.”

Balancing the need to raise her game with a lack of familiarity and fear of ruining what’s worked can be a puzzling task for Johnson. But the on-ice intelligence of Darkangelo and Piacentini ultimately allows for freer-flowing attacking hockey.

“They especially read off each other and I’m starting to be able to figure out what they’re going to do,” Johnson said. “So it’s easier just to move on the ice if you know there’s going to be someone there to cover for you and cover your back.”

If Kingsbury does return, though, it’s back to the third line for Johnson. Kingsbury attended practice on Tuesday, but was not set to participate, assistant coach Alison Domenico said.

As players filed into the locker room at Tennity Ice Pavilion at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, they discovered yet another lineup experiment. Defender Brittney Krebs was moved to forward.

“She’s a big defenseman, hopefully she can use that size and power down low and create some offense, get some loose pucks and make it a little bit harder for the goalie to see the puck when it’s down there,” Domenico said.

Domenico could not confirm which line Krebs is set to play on, but she will not be playing center. Her inclusion among the forwards is part of an ongoing struggle to bury rebounds in front of the net.

SU has outshot its opponents in every game except the 3-2 overtime loss to Quinnipiac. The Orange recorded 38 shots that evening to the Bobcats’ 39, the last of which flew over a screened Jenesica Drinkwater’s right shoulder and into the net with less than seven seconds remaining, ending the game.

Jacquie Greco has bounced between defense and forward throughout her career at SU. In the third period of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Union, the senior captain, listed as a defender, was moved up to forward.

Kallie Goodnough was also tried out at forward the past two weekends. And while Goodnough returned to defense this week — “hopefully forever” — Greco takes the moves positively.

“They want to try different things and they can rely on me to be both a defense and a forward, so I kind of take it as a compliment that they trust me on both sides,” Greco said.

The changes can cause problems for a team with young players in key positions throughout the lineup. So the SU coaching staff is sure to explain each lineup adjustment to the players.

Yet none of the tinkering will work if the team does not buy in. All across the ice, though, Domenico sees her players working through the changes.

Said Domenico: “It’s all facets of the game whether it’s in the defensive end, offensive end, on the power play, penalty kill, just playing for each other and sticking to our systems and what we think will work.”

Published on November 8, 2012 at 1:01 am

Contact Jacob: [email protected] | @Jacob_Klinger_