Syracuse (13-21-3, 10-8-2 College Hockey America) found out on Sunday that it will face No. 1-seed Wisconsin (32-4-2, 18-4-2 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. The Orange will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, for the quarterfinals, and if they advance, the Frozen Four will be played in Hamden, Connecticut, on March 22 and 24.

On Friday, SU blew out Robert Morris, 6-2, in the CHA championship game to earn its first CHA title and NCAA tournament berth in program history. It was the Orange’s third win in three days. They started the CHA tournament with a 4-1 win against Lindenwood on Wednesday before beating Mercyhurst, 4-3, on the back of a Lindsay Eastwood hattrick.

The Orange played Wisconsin twice this season on Dec. 1 and 2 in Madison. SU was blown out both times by a combined score of 15-2. Wisconsin comes off winning the WCHA championship, 3-1, against Minnesota on Sunday, and SU head coach Paul Flanagan called the Badgers a “dynamic team” with “tremendous depth at all positions.”   

Since winter break though, Syracuse has improved offensively and defensively, and Flanagan said the Orange need to have a “short-term memory” when it comes to the earlier losses. In the CHA championship game, Syracuse’s physical defense prevailed and shut down the conference’s leading scorer, Robert Morris’ Jaycee Gebhard.

Flanagan added that the goaltending has solidified in recent weeks, and in the first game against Wisconsin, Maddi Welch made a season-high 48 saves. In the CHA tournament, the Orange gave up just two goals a contest.

Syracuse’s tough slate of nonconference games early in the season, playing six then-top-10 teams before winter break, also helped prepare the Orange for the postseason, Flanagan said.  

“We feel that we’ve got some motivation going and some good momentum,” Flanagan said. “And we’re feeling, certainly, like our team’s done a 180 since we went out there (to Wisconsin).”

With St. Lawrence, his alma mater, Flanagan reached the women’s Frozen Four five times, including four-straight from 2003 to 2007. In his one finals appearance (2001), his team fell 4-2 against Minnesota-Duluth. His experience will helped with the preparation and understanding what distractions may face the players, Flanagan said.

“It’s been a decade, but going to the NCAA’s still hasn’t really changed,” Flanagan said. “So it does help to have been there. Unfortunately none of our kids have been there.”

Syracuse players did deal with a sold-out crowd and a loud atmosphere when the two teams met for the first time, though, which Flanagan said will also help the Orange.

“They (the players) won’t be in awe of the place because they spent two games there,” Flanagan said, “and so I think all those variables can play in our favor.”

Published on March 10, 2019 at 10:05 pm

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