Abbey Miller slouched into a sitting position, eventually falling forward to lay down. As the Providence bench spilled onto the ice, Miller took her time to right herself and rise to her feet. After 65 minutes in goal, the senior lethargically positioned herself for postgame handshakes.

It wasn’t the first time Syracuse seemed sluggish on the ice.

The Orange (1-4-1) lost, 3-2, to the Friars (4-2-0) in overtime, on Saturday at Tennity Ice Pavilion. Following a pair of goals in the opening two minutes of the second period that gave Syracuse a 2-0 lead, the Orange appeared to ease off defensively. Providence promptly tied the game with two goals of its own in the third period, and a miscommunication by the Orange allowed the Friars a breakaway with 1:34 left in the extra period. After a shot made its way between Miller’s legs, the comeback bid was complete.

“Our defense got caught napping,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “I don’t know if it’s us just not understanding what we have to do physically or what.”

Flanagan explained that a poor decision on the blue line led to the puck not being contained, allowing the Friars to leak out in transition. Syracuse had no one back to defend the puck, and Providence capitalized on the one-on-none opportunity.

The final goal encapsulated a lackluster final 25 minutes for the Orange, which, after nearly blowing its 2-0 lead in the first game this weekend, couldn’t stop the Friars’ second charge.

“We went up 2-0 then sat back a little,” said freshman Victoria Klimek, who scored her first career goal in the loss. “We didn’t really play as hard as we should’ve. I think because we had a lead it got to our heads a little bit.”

After taking six shots in Friday’s win, Klimek ended a frustrating, goalless stretch in the second period. It gave Syracuse its second goal in as many minutes, thanks to Kelli Rowswell’s prior score on a successful deflection that put the Orange on the board 17 seconds into the period.

A successful two periods by the Orange were followed by a poor third as Syracuse turned apathetic and content. After managing only 10 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, Providence put 11 attempts on target in the third.

“A 2-0 lead is the worst lead in hockey,” said Rowswell. “We kind of put our feet up and thought the game was over.”

Instead of maintaining its aggression and persistence on both ends of the rink, the Orange gave the Friars open lanes to shoot and opportunities to steal the puck. Syracuse has to be a “three-period team,” Klimek said, and “play 100 percent the game.” It needs to keep its focus and stay positive on the bench, and the mental difference will translate into a change on the ice, the forward said.

Whether Syracuse’s problem is physical or mental, it has to find a remedy before conference play begins in a few weeks. If not, the season will “spiral out of control.”

“That’s a terrible loss for us,” Flanagan said. “We have a lot of close games in this sport, and if we can’t play 60 minutes or 120 minutes on a weekend, we’re going to struggle. As a coach, you think you’re doing everything right in practice, but obviously we’re going to have to train harder.

“We have a lot of work to do.”

Published on October 14, 2017 at 7:39 pm

Contact Eric: [email protected] | @esblack34