With 9:42 remaining in the third period, Syracuse defender Lindsay Eastwood and Penn State forward Hannah Ehresmann raced to the puck. In an attempt to get there first, Ehresmann dove forward and took out Eastwood’s legs, sending her to the ground and her stick flying out of her hands.

This weekend’s series between Syracuse (2-7-2, 1-0-1) and Penn State (2-7-4, 0-2-4) was extremely physical. The Orange’s tough play lead to an increased number of penalties which hurt SU in Saturday night’s 2-2 tie against the Nittany Lions. There were a combined 19 penalties called against the Orange this weekend, 11 of which occurred in this matchup against PSU.

“We really have to be better at managing our stick and staying away from those penalties,” said SU head coach Paul Flanagan.

Despite the 11 penalties in Saturday’s game, SU was able to build off last night’s strong penalty kill performance by outlasting nine of PSU’s penalty opportunities. The Orange held the Nittany Lions to one power-play goal in 19 attempts overall in this weekend’s series.

At the 10:48 mark of the first period, a cross checking penalty was called on SU’s Emma Polaski. PSU attempted to take advantage of the power-play opportunity but the Orange wouldn’t allow the Nittany Lions to enter the zone. The one time PSU generated an opportunity, SU’s bench shouted: “Get there, get there, get there!” Shortly thereafter, goaltender Abbey Miller made a sprawling save, using her legs to block what seemed to be a sure goal by PSU, off a shot that was taken straight on in front of the net.

Although SU improved with the penalty kill this weekend, limiting penalties will be essential in success for the remainder of conference play.

With 4:24 remaining in the second period, Orange forward Brooke Avery was called for cross-checking. The call was made after taking a tough angle in retrieval for the puck, eventually slamming into a PSU player in front of the net.

“We need to be more disciplined and watch our sticks,” said Orange defender Allie Munroe, “We need to go into corners smarter and angle ourselves better.”

SU is working on discipline mainly avoiding penalties moving forward. Munroe said the Orange must avoid penalties because, “they kill us.”

Orange defender Megan Quinn said she believes SU can improve with discipline.

“Keeping our feet moving when we have the puck and don’t have the puck,” she said. “Keeping our sticks down and avoiding anything that can cause a penalty.”

Published on November 11, 2017 at 7:38 pm

Contact Anthony: amkhelil@syr.edu