Vermont defeats Syracuse 5-4 to sweep weekend series

By Geoffrey Chiles
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.

 

Plenty of scoring

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.

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.

No. 4 Syracuse Downs No. 17 Boston University to Advance to NCAA Quarterfinal

By Robin Deehan

Syracuse, N.Y. - The No. 4 Syracuse field hockey team ended No. 17 Boston University’s  season Saturday at J.S. Coyne Stadium with a 2-1 victory to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.

“It feels really good, I’m very proud of our kids,” SU head coach Ange Bradley said.  “I want to congratulate BU on an outstanding season and a really hard fought game and I’m just so happy for Syracuse and our 2014 team, I’m proud of them.”

SU (16-5) got on the board first, just ten minutes into the first half, when Jordan Page buried a penalty stroke to give the Orange a 1-0 advantage.

BU’s (13-8) best chance to even the score came at the start of the second half when both Emma Russell and Laura Hurff were sidelined with green cards, giving BU a two-player advantage. 

But the SU midfield, lead by Alyssa Manley, put forth an outstanding defensive effort denying all of the Terriers' offensive attempts until SU was back at full strength.

“They had good structure behind the ball, and we valued possession and bought time to be able to get our players back on the field,” Bradley said.

In the 49^th minute, Lieke Visser gave SU its second goal of the game when she ripped a reverse chip shot from the top of the circle into the top left corner of the cage.

“I was really happy because it was a really frantic game and I think that goal was really important so that we could be calm and relax a little bit more,” Visser said.

BU’s only goal came with just over a minute left to play when Hester van der Laan scored off a penalty stroke to make the score 2-1, which held until time expired.

SU goalkeeper Jess Jecko finished with five saves on the day and the SU defense denied all six of BU’s penalty corner attempts.

SU will face Penn State at J.S. Coyne Stadium in the quarterfinal matchup Sunday at 2 p.m. for a chance to punch a ticket to its second final four ever.

Heading Towardsa 4-Peat for #4Pete

 

Story and Photos by Nicole Todd

Herkimer, N.Y. -

Union Owls left, Herkimer General's Right Nicole Todd (c.) 2014

The top-seeded Herkimer College Generals are looking to bring home a fourth consecutive National Title this fall and with extra incentive this year.
 

#4Pete Nicole Todd (c.) 2014

The Generals have played this season for  their "twelfth man," Peter McAvoy who died of a heart attack in August.

Going for a 4-Peat in honor of #4Pete only made sense.  The hashtag has been trending on Twitter and Facebook in support of the team and McAvoy's memory.   

"Pete has been a huge motivation for us," head coach Pepe Aragon said.  "And we are playing our hearts out for him to make him proud."

McAvoy was a star player last season and also a captain. Aragon said that he continues to be the pride of the team both on and off the field.

 "We constantly mention his name," Aragon said.

The NJCAA Division III Quarterfinal was hosted at Wehrum Stadium, home of the Generals.  The Generals defeated the number eight seed Union County (N.J.) College Owls 6-1.

Herkimer is now 17-0-1 this season with 11 consecutive wins since a 2-2 tie with Monroe Community College Sept..20. 

The Generals started fast against Union County with the first goal two minutes into the game. Sophomore captain Jermaine Windster assisted Ben Polk.  It was Windster’s 14^th assist and Polk’s 32^nd goal of the season. 

Captain Shane Jenkison then found Rodrigo Guerra, who slid the ball in on the left side of the goal past Union goalkeeper Arturo Botero, to make it 2-0.  

The Generals extended the lead to 3-0 just before the half ended with Femi Faffo finding Rodrigo Guerra to push the ball past Botero again. 

Some of the Generals team celebrating a goal Nicole Todd (c.) 2104

In the second half, Union scored its only goal in the 68^th minute when Patrick Reed became the only Owl to get a shot past Herkimer’s goalie Austin Santor. 

Six minutes later, the Generals extended their lead to 4-1 with a goal from Ocasio Brown with the assist from Moulid Somow.  Less than a minute after that, the Generals brought the lead to 5-1 with a combination from Femi Kaffo getting the ball to Brown again to score. 

Soph. #10 Ben Polk Nicole Todd (c.) 2014

By this time, Herkimer had brought in its second string players. 

The last goal from the Generals to take the win was from MacIntyre Felton from the outside with the assist from Daniel Riley in the 79^th minute. 

The Generals take on the Suffolk County Community College Sharks Friday.  The game is at Wehrum Stadium and scheduled at 4 p.m

NJCAA DIII Tournament Brackets 

Herkimer Generals  Photos

Fans along the fence Nicole Todd (c.) 2014

Syracuse wins over Kennesaw State, 89-42, in season opener

Story and photos by Thomas Zhou
Syracuse, N.Y-


The No.23 Syracuse men’s basketball team smashed Kennesaw State, 89-42, in the regular season opener, Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 22,833 at the Carrier Dome.



Senior center Rakeem Christmas finished with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-7 at the line. Seventeen of his 21 points came in the second half. Christmas made all six shots in the period. He also grabbed nine rebounds, including a team-high six offensive rebounds.

The gave him an ovation when he was subbed out with 2:35 left in the game.

“It was a good game for us.” Christmas said. “Everyone was playing together. Everything was clicking. We turned it up in the second half. That is what we have to do every game.”

Coming off the bench, B.J. Johnson made all five of his two-point jumpers and shot 2-of-6 from behind the arc. He had 19 points and four assists.

“B.J played great,” Christmas said. “He came out firing. He does it in practice a lot of times. It’s great to see him do it in the game.”


Three other Orange men finished in double figures. Five-star freshman forward Chris McCullough had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Trevor Cooney, recovering from his 4-of-19 shooting in the two previous exhibition games, went 5-of-7 from the floor and had 12 points. Forward Tyler Roberson added 10 points.

The Orange players shot poorly in the first half, making 15-of-43 (34.9 percent) and missed all five three-point attempts. However, they outscored the Owls by 20 points, 36-16.

Defense and rebounding were the key factors. The Orange had 32 rebounds in the first half, including 15 offensive rebounds. SU had a 16-0 run in a six-minute-eleven-second span. The owls had 24 shots in the first half and made only six of them. They shoot 1-of-9 from behind the arc. 

Syracuse made its first six shots in the beginning of the second half and 21 of 32 field goal attempts and 4 of 10 three-point attempts in the period.

The Orange had 25 points off the Owls' 25 turnovers in the game. The Owls went 17-of-52 from the floor (32.7 percent) and 5-of-21 from behind the arc (23.8 percent) overall.

Kaleb Joseph, the freshman point guard who had two efficient exhibition games, only shot four times and made two for four points. While he dished out a team-high six assists in 23 minutes, he turned the ball over four times, two more than his last two games combined. One was a steal by the Owls' Yonel Brown who then made the layup, drew a foul on Joseph and made the free throw.

“I had four turnovers in the first half,” Joesph said. “I don’t think I turned it over in the second half. Overall I can’t really complain. We came away with a big win. I can never be upset about that.”

Head coach Jim Boeheim said it was normal for freshman point guard to make some mistakes.

"He will learn from it," Boeheim said.

Sophomore Ron Patterson made only two of nine field goal attempts and had five points.

Michael Gbinije, the junior guard who played considerable minutes in the previous exhibition games, was not in uniform for the game. Boeheim would not say why Gbinije was held out but he said he would be back for Sunday’s game.

"First game you were going to make some mistakes," Boeheim said of the game. "Hopefully we will learn from that and get back here Sunday."

Syracuse will host Hampton this Sunday. The game starts at 4 p.m.

Fewer Penalties and Power Play Give Crunch Advantage over Bears

By Lauren Winfrey

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - 

The Syracuse Crunch face off against the Hersey Bears
at the War Memorial Arena.
Photo Credit: Julia Morris

                                                                             

There was plenty of anticipation among fans at the Onondaga County War Memorial Friday evening as the Syracuse Crunch looked to extend its point streak to six games. Those fans got what they were hoping for.

The Crunch beat  the Hershey Bears 5-1 in a game with the kind of strategic play head coach Rob Zettler said he likes to see.

“I thought tonight was probably our most complete game start to finish,” Zettler said. “I thought we came out of our end really well. I thought the opportunities we had, we capitalized on them, just some really good work down low by a few guys, but I just thought over all maybe our most complete game of the year.”

The Crunch (7-4-0-3) has won four of its six games in November and picked up points in the other two, losing in overtime.


Bears score first

It was the first time the Crunch and Bears have met this season and early in the first period, Hershey's Kris Newbury scored the first goal of the game. It turned out to be the only goal his team would score all night.

“They got the first goal, but that was really their only decent chance of the whole period,” Zettler said. In the first period I thought we controlled the play for the most part, and even leading up to that goal I thought we were doing well and then ‘boom,’ it’s in the back of our net.”

At the 7:59 mark of the first period, Mike Angelidis scored the equalizer giving the Crunch captain his third goal of the season.

Center Kevin Lynch put the Crunch ahead for good with a goal at 14:11.


Crunch penalty killers come through

 In the second period Hershey had three power-play opportunities, but Syracuse stopped the Bears from scoring.

“I think it was one of our best 60 minute full efforts—just the way we were breaking out of the zone, we were boxing guys out… we were just pushing,” Angelidis said.

The Crunch also had fewer penalties and when they were short-handed the penalty killing team was effective.

“We did a great job on the PK tonight and we got to keep going, we got to keep improving on our special teams—that’s what good teams do,” Angelidis said. We started off slow in that department, but we’ve done a good job working at it and getting better.”

Henri Ikonen, Nikita Nesterov and Jonathan Marchessault had the other Crunch goals, Marchessaults' an empty-netter near the end,


Penguins next

The Crunch travels to Wilkes-Barre Saturday for its second match-up this seasons against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.  The Penguins beat the Crunch 5-4 in overtime last Sunday in Syracuse.

Catamount Comeback: Vermont tops Syracuse in a Wild Overtime Affair at Tennity

Brittany Zuback netted the overtime winner

Story and Photos by Cody Love

SYRACUSE, N.Y -After one period, it looked like the Syracuse Orange would run the visiting Vermont Catamounts right out of the Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Instead it was Vermont that pulled out the win in the end, erasing a first intermission 3-0 deficit and replacing it with a 6-5 overtime victory Friday night.

Dayna Colang was the game's top offensive performer, scoring a hat trick for the Catamounts.

Vermont was outshot 11-4 in the first period, falling behind just four minutes in on a Stephanie Grossi goal.

Alysha Burriss found Grossi wide open in front of the net, and she whipped it past freshman and usual backup goaltender Molly Depew.

Two more were added to the Orange's score in the final two minutes, with a sloppy Vermont own-goal being credited to Jessica Sibley.

Melissa Piacentini rounded out the period's scoring when she picked up a rebound in front on the power play.

However, the Catamounts came out in the second looking like a completely different team.

"I'm sure they had a talking to after (the first)," Syracuse Head Coach Paul Flanagan said. "They had a rejuvenated mentality when they came out, so I give them credit.  The coaches did a good job."

Vermont also made a change in goal for the second period, bringing in first-stringer, Madison Litchfield.

Danya Colang got the Catamounts back in it about five minutes into the period.

Dayna Colang's hat trick was an essential part of Vermont's victory

Playing the point on the power play, the center ripped a slap shot that went straight into the back of the net untouched.

Six minutes later, Colang brought Vermont to within one, picking up a loose puck next to the crease and beating goaltender Jenn Gilligan.

With less than two minutes remaining in the second, the Catamounts got their equalizer.

Colang rushed towards the net in support of puck carrier Amanda Pelkey on an odd-man rush.

Pelkey, a US National Team Member, decided to take the shot herself and slapped it by Gilligan.

Jessica Sibley was credited with two of Syracuse's goals

Just over a minute into the third period, the Orange took the lead back on the power play, with Jessica Sibley redirecting a Kaillie Goodnough shot past Litchfield for her second goal of the game.

About five minutes later, Catamount left winger Brittany Zuback got a breakaway and used a quality deke to fool Gilligan for another Vermont equalizer.

Colang then completed her hat trick to give the Catamounts their first lead, picking up a shot from Amanda Pelkey right in front of the net and deflecting it in.

That lead was short-lived however, as Orange defenseman Nicole Renault set up on the half-wall and slapped in a power play goal to make the score 5-5, where it remained at the end of regulation.

Just under two minutes into overtime, the puck went skidding into the Syracuse zone, with defenseman Akanae Hosoyamada in pursuit.

Zuback caught up to her and the two fell to the ice as the puck went behind the net.

Zuback returned to her feet and wrapped the puck around and past Gilligan for the game-winner, completing the comeback.

These two teams go at it again on Saturday at Tennity Ice Pavilion, as Syracuse looks to salvage the split at home.  Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00pm.


Around the CHA

Although Syracuse is playing a non-conference opponent this weekend, two other CHA teams were in action against each other.

Penn State traveled to Rochester to face RIT and was unable to find any offense as the Tigers won 3-0.

RIT has a chance to tie Syracuse and Lindenwood for second place in the conference with a win tomorrow in the rematch.

Syracuse to Host Opening Rounds of NCAA Field Hockey Tournament This Weekend at J.S. Coyne Stadium

Story by Robin Deehan

Video by Robin Deehan

The No. 4 Syracuse field hockey team will host No. 6 Penn State, No. 19 Boston University and ACC Rival No. 10 Boston College this weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse is looking for better results this weekend after falling just short of the ACC Title last weekend with a 2-0 loss to Wake Forest.

“I think the biggest thing we took from this weekend is that we knew that obviously we lost, and that was disappointing, but there’s a bigger trophy that’s in play now and that’s our focus now,” midfielder Alyssa Manley said.

Captain Emma Russell said the team is excited to get back on Coyne for the NCAA Tournament but is focusing on one game at a time.

“Just being home and playing on our field is really important and just treating it as if we have one more game,” Russell said. “We only have one more game this season and we have to earn every other game, so that’s the way we are looking it.

First up for the Orange will be Boston University this Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Penn State and Boston College will play later in the 2 p.m. slot and the winners will meet Sunday at 2 p.m. to determine who will punch a ticket to the Final Four.

Team Notes:

No. 4 Syracuse (15-5)

-Syracuse had its first win against the top ranked team in the country since 2008 with a 3-2 overtime win against No. 1 UNC in the ACC Tournament Semi-Final

-Emma Russell set two ACC tournament records, most goals scored in a single game with four and most goals scored in an ACC Tournament with six

No. 6 Penn State (15-5)

-The Nittany Lions are coming off a tough 2-1 loss to No. 2 Maryland in the Big Ten Semi-Final Game

-Katie Andrews lead a strong defensive effort in the Big Ten Tournament, shutting out Michigan State in the first round and holding Maryland to just 14 shots in the semi-final game, eight less than the team’s season average.

No. 10 Boston College (13-6)

-The Eagles will be looking to upset Syracuse this weekend after losing to the Orange 5-2 in the first round of the ACC Tournament

-Goalkeeper Leah Settipane leads the ACC with 113 saves so far this season

No. 19 Boston University (13-7)

-The Terriers are coming off their first ever Patriot League Title after beating Bucknell 2-1 last weekend

-Amanda Cassera had a hand in four of the five BU Patriot League Tournament goals, the forward has a team high 32-points this season