Syracuse took a 1-0 lead against Rochester Institute of Technology as Brooke Avery put the Orange on the board within the first minute of the game in the quarterfinals of the College Hockey America conference tournament.

Syracuse (13-20-2, 11-8-1 CHA) continued its historical dominance of RIT (4-28-3, 1-19-0) with a 5-1 victory in the first round of the CHA tournament. Prior to tonight’s game, SU owned an 18-7-2 series advantage against RIT, and swept the weekend series against the Tigers in early February by an overall score of 13-1. Avery and Alysha Burriss had big games for the Orange — the former netting a hat trick — propelling Syracuse to the semi-final of the CHA tournament.

Avery has found success against the Tigers this season. She scored three goals in the two games against RIT in November. She found similar success in today’s matchup, matching her season total goals against RIT in two periods. After scoring her first goal, Avery followed suit with her second goal of the first period at 14:24 mark. She was not finished there. Fifty-seven seconds into the second period, Avery netted her third goal of the game, giving the Orange a comfortable 4-0 lead.

The Tigers have been outscored by opponents 141-42 this season. Their last win came in November — an overtime victory against Boston University. Before tonight, SU outscored RIT 22-3 in its four-regular season matchup’s and today was no exception. SU’s Savannah Rennie found the back of the net at the 9:38 mark of the first period, at the time giving Syracuse a 2-0 lead. Orange defender Lindsay Eastwood all but cemented SU’s victory with a third-period goal at the 8:41 mark. Eastwood entered the matchup with three assists in the last two matchups against the Tigers.

Before today’s game SU senior Burriss acknowledged that RIT, despite its struggles, is a tough team to face, and that the Orange could not look past them.

“RIT is a good team and their record doesn’t necessarily reflect that. They work really hard all over the ice and it won’t be an easy game,” Burriss said.

Burris followed through and assisted on three goals Thursday.

SU head coach Paul Flanagan was adamant about a need to improve SU’s defense. SU killed all seven of the Tiger’s power play opportunities, while only allowing one goal. SU goaltender Abbey Miller finished the game with 25 saves.

With the win, SU moves onto the semifinals of the CHA tournament. The Orange faces Mercyhurst on Friday, March 2nd at 4 p.m.

Published on March 1, 2018 at 5:50 pm

Contact Anthony: amkhelil@syr.edu