Photo courtesy cuse.com
SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- The Syracuse University Ice Hockey Team got a double dose of what it feels like to be on the wrong end of payback this weekend. Last season the Orange swept the University of Vermont Catamounts on the road in the first two times the teams met. This time it was Vermont doing the sweeping at Syracuse.
Vermont evened the all-time series at two with a 5-4 victory on Saturday afternoon at Tennity Ice Pavilion in non-league action. The Catamounts had overcome a 3-0 deficit the night before to beat the Orange 6-5 in overtime.
The Catamounts (8-4-1, 1-2-0 WEHA) got on the scoreboard first in a wild
first period that featured five total goals.
Amanda Pelkey tapped in a loose puck for her second goal of the season at 16:10. She was in the right place at the right time after linemate Victoria Andreakos partially-fanned. The puck landed right in front of Pelkey, who had an easy goal with Syracuse freshman goaltender Abbey Miller out of position.
Pelkey scored her second of the game to
increase the Catamount margin to 2-0 at the 7:23 mark. She positioned herself
in the slot and ripped a shot past Miller.
A little over a minute later at 8:45, the Orange
(3-6-5, 2-1-1 CHA) answered. Junior forward Melissa Piacentini added to her team lead in goals,
collecting her seventh. Piacentini managed to find the puck amid chaos in the
front of the Vermont net and fired a wrister to the short-side.
The jubilation for Syracuse was be short-lived. The
Catamounts regained their two-goal cushion mere seconds later. Brittany
Zuback finally managed to beat Miller glove-side as the Catamounts spent an
entire shift prowling around the Syracuse zone. Zuback picked up her tenth of
the season to pace the Vermont offense.
SU senior forward Julie Knerr scored her third goal of the
season on the power play to make it 3-2. At 18:23, Piacentini fired a shot off the draw. The
rebound came to Knerr. Her first shot was kicked away, but her second attempt was
pushed past goalie Molly Depew’s pad.
A back-and-forth first period concluded with a 10-7
Syracuse shot advantage, but Vermont held the 3-2 lead. Syracuse head coach
Flanagan pulled Miller in favor of junior goaltender, Jenn Gilligan.
Scoreless second, wild third
The Orange penalty-killers limited a dangerous Vermont
power play through a defensive second period, a rarity on the weekend. Despite leading in shots, 22-21, the
Catamounts inability to score with the extra-skater kept the lead 3-2 in
their favor.
The Orange managed to turn that deficit into a 4-3
lead in a matter of minutes to begin the third.
The tying goal came courtesy of the stick of forward
Jessica Sibley at 2:36. The puck slid out to Sibley in the high slot, and she
made no mistake, uncorking a booming slapshot past Depew.
Defenseman Nicole Renault (photo) gave Syracuse a lead at 3:37
of the third. Piacentini skated down the middle of the slot, drawing a defender
with her. Renault was uncovered behind her, received a behind-the-back pass,
and roofed a shot over Depew’s left-handed glove.
Renault said Piacentini’s (one goal, two assists) hard
work was the product of her goal.
“I was wide open, and she saw me out of the corner of
her eye and dropped it to me and made a beautiful pass,” Renault said. “All I
had to do was put it in.”
As has been the case with these two teams this
weekend, momentum changed quickly.
SU’s ecstasy turned rapidly to agony as Vermont turned
the tables, firing in two straight goals of its own.
To do it, Vermont pounced on Syracuse’s defensive lapses. Delia McNally and Casey Leveillee found themselves on a shorthanded 2-on-1 down low in the SU zone. McNally took the initial shot, which Gilligan had to extend to make a miraculous save. Unfortunately for SU, the puck landed on the stick of a wide-open Leveillee, and she tapped it into a gaping cage. The game was tied, 4-4.
To do it, Vermont pounced on Syracuse’s defensive lapses. Delia McNally and Casey Leveillee found themselves on a shorthanded 2-on-1 down low in the SU zone. McNally took the initial shot, which Gilligan had to extend to make a miraculous save. Unfortunately for SU, the puck landed on the stick of a wide-open Leveillee, and she tapped it into a gaping cage. The game was tied, 4-4.
Vermont retook the lead 5-4 at 10:58. Amanda Drobot
scored her first of the season. Drobot was the third Catamount into the fray,
stuffing it past a surprised Gilligan.
Syracuse went on the power play and pulled Gilligan
for the final minute to go 6-on-4, but after a frenzy of chances, Syracuse failed to score and Vermont held on for the 5-4 win and series sweep.
Head coach Paul Flanagan noted that while the offense
is pouring in more, the defense continues to be an issue.
“We need to recognize situations,” Flanagan said. “That
fourth goal, it was a real downer for us. You have to get mentally focused. We
have to be more consistent. You can get too low when you’re down, and you can’t
get too high when you have a lead.”
Syracuse travels to Moon, Pa. for two CHA games with Robert
Morris next weekend.
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