With four minutes and twenty-eight seconds left in the third period, Syracuse defender Larissa Martyniuk was called for a hooking penalty. Eleven seconds later, Colgate forward Jessie Eldridge fired a shot that hit the post and the back of the net. Her arms rose up in celebration and her teammates cheered the eventual game-winning goal.

“We’ve been finding ways to lose games lately,” said Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan.

The fifth-ranked Raiders (5-0) had scored their third unanswered goal, en route to beating Syracuse (0-4-1), 3-2, on Friday night at Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Orange loss dampened a strong first period showing. Within the first five minutes of the game, SU scored two goals and Colgate could not muster any offense. But errors and a lack of conditioning combined to cost SU.

A disruptive Syracuse penalty kill did not allow the Raiders to chain its passes together. Active sticks in the defensive zone led to a three-on-one breakaway in the first period for the Orange. Forward Stephanie Grossi’s first shot went wide. Defenseman Dakota Derrer and forward Alysha Burriss were able to work the puck in front of the net, where it found Grossi’s stick and this time, she did not miss.

Forward Kelli Rowswell worked a puck through traffic and forced it past Colgate goalie Julia Vandyk, giving the Orange a 2-0 lead just four minutes and six seconds into the game.

Flanagan said the team needs to be better conditioned.

“We got gassed and our decision making got worse.” Flanagan said.

After SU’s strong start, the team was not able muster any more offense on the night. In the third period, Martyniuk attempted a pass to forward Laurence Porlier in the neutral zone. However, the errant puck made its way to the stick of a Colgate player and Martyniuk hung her head in disappointment.

Late in the second period, SU had the puck in its offensive zone with both the lead and a player advantage. Martyniuk worked her way inside to try and create some offense for the Orange and forward Jessica Sibley failed to rotate over. Instead, she made her way toward the SU bench. That open space resulted in a breakaway for Colgate forward Bailey Larson. As she sprinted down the ice, the Colgate fans in attendance rose to their feet. One-on-one with SU goalie Abbey Miller, Larson blew the shot by her with ease as Colgate tied the game.

SU assistant coach Alison Domenico motioned on the bench for the team to press forward late in the third period. With time ticking down, Flanagan called a time out to will his team to score the equalizer. As the end of the period approached, Miller left her net and retreated to SU bench.

Unfortunately for the Orange, it was too late. Syracuse didn’t get a shot off and the Colgate defense thwarted Syracuse one last time.

“We need to get better physically,” Flanagan said. “I didn’t see a lot of fight from our team. We just stood there and watched the game winning goal.”

Published on October 22, 2016 at 1:23 am

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