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Colgate’s Delani MacKay tripped up Syracuse’s Mae Batherson 12 minutes into the second period and was sent to the box for a two-minute penalty. MacKay handed the Orange their fifth power play of the contest. Despite having a player advantage and recording four shots before MacKay returned to the ice, Syracuse failed to capitalize and find the back of the net.

The Orange ended the matchup with six power plays, but they couldn’t convert on any of them.

Syracuse (1-4-2, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast) lost to Colgate (8-0-0, 0-0-0 Patriot League) 5-2 at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Orange struggled during power plays and initiating counterattacks, as forward passes from SU’s defense were often intercepted by Colgate forwards, which kept the puck in Syracuse’s half.

Syracuse registered 14 shots during its six power plays. Four of SU’s power plays came in the second period, which totaled 6 minutes and 52 seconds of a player advantage over the Raiders.

“(What) we were trying to emphasize when we were not having success early on was just get pucks on net,” Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan said. “Take away the goalie’s eyes, try and get rebounds.”

In Syracuse’s first power play of the game, defender Jessica DiGiralamo was responsible for SU’s two shots in the two-minute period. None of the SU forwards connected on rebounds. This trend of limited shooting opportunities continued, and DiGiralamo recorded the Orange’s lone shot during their power play in the opening minutes of the second period.

Syracuse was rewarded with another power-play thirty seconds later after a tripping penalty was called on Colgate’s Sydney Bard, but this only lasted one minute as Sarah Marchand was called for a bench minor penalty. In the window, SU couldn’t get a shot on goal.

SU’s first shot from a forward during a power play came from Victoria Klimek in the Orange’s fourth spell of earning a one-player advantage. Syracuse’s only other shot during this time frame, which was easily blocked by Colgate’s Darcie Lappan, came from defender Shelby Calof.

Syracuse made some adjustments and managed to get four shots off during each of its final two power plays, which came in the second and third periods, respectively. “Our last power play we had some of our best bids,” Flanagan said.

But SU’s shots came only from defenders in its very last power play. The Orange were able to “get pucks on net,” but Syracuse’s forwards more often than not were slower than Colgate defenders when reacting to rebounded shots.

Power play struggles combined with the inability to successfully launch counterattacks limited Syracuse’s opportunities to create clear chances on goal, as the Orange ended the matchup with only two goals from 31 shots and 17 on goal. There were several occasions in each period where Syracuse forwards either failed to connect with passes moving up the ice, getting smothered by multiple Colgate defenders.

When attempting to bring the puck coast to coast, forwards Sarah Thompson and Rayla Clemons consistently struggled to string passes together and break through the Raiders backline. Marchand, another SU forward, typically found herself alone competing against two or three Colgate defenders to collect loose pucks when the Orange cleared the puck from their defensive area throughout the game.

“They’re a good team but we also need to be better at that,” forward Anna Leschyshyn said about SU’s inability to defensively clear the puck and create counterattacks. “Definitely a mix of those things but we can be a lot better.”

Published on October 16, 2021 at 9:29 pm

Contact Bryan: [email protected]