Syracuse didn’t trail Northeastern for the first 59 minutes of the game. But with only 23 seconds left, Northeastern forward Peyton Anderson found the back of the net, giving the Huskies the lead and eventually the win.

As the players filed back into the locker room, no one looked more upset than SU goalkeeper Allison Small.

Small was making her third start between the pipes for the Orange. After transferring from Quinnipiac midway through last year, she only played 80 minutes between two appearances in January. Maddi Welch and Ady Cohen had already established themselves as a goaltending duo for the team, so it was tough for head coach Paul Flanagan to find playing time for her. 

“I didn’t feel too rusty,” Small said. “I played in Clarkson a couple weeks ago so that was my first game and then I felt just pretty relaxed.”

On Friday night, Syracuse (0-4) played its fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent. No. 3 Northeastern (2-0) seemed to be the toughest challenge yet. Though Small finished with a career-high 26 saves, Syracuse lost 2-1 to No. 3 Northeastern. The third seed in the 2019 NCAA tournament has beaten Syracuse in four of their last five meetings and outscored it 20-9 in those games.

Playing one of the best teams in the country didn’t seem to affect Small. She confidently stepped onto the ice in the first period and acted like she had always been there. After the first period, she looked unstoppable. She stopped 15 pucks, including seven on the penalty kill. 

The first 15 minutes of the period were fairly relaxed; Small only saw seven shots, and easily stopped them all. Then, Jessica DiGirolamo received a two minute penalty at 17:02 in the first. The puck didn’t leave Syracuse’s side of the ice for the entire penalty kill. Northeastern made nine shots, five of which were on goal. Small didn’t cave and stayed sharp the whole time. Anything Northeastern shot at her, she could block and make it look effortless. 

The second period followed the same story. Small made 14 saves, four of which came on a penalty kill. Even when Northeastern had an extra attacker, she deflected anything that came near her. 

Near the end of the game, however, Small started to fatigue. Her ability on the power play in the first two periods wasn’t there in the third. A shot right after the faceoff made its way to the back of the net ended the shutout and tied the game less than two minutes after Syracuse scored its first goal.

Overtime seemed imminent until Northeastern scored in the last minute of the period. A last-second push failed and Syracuse dropped its fourth-straight game. Of the nine Northeastern shots on goal in the period, Small only saved seven of them.

Small finished the game with 36 saves on 38 shots, an impressive showing for her first start in nine months. Her 36 saves were a career high, besting the 35 saves she made against New Hampshire as a freshman at Quinnipiac. That wasn’t enough for the Syracuse goalie.

“You can stop as many pucks as you want but at the end of the day we still took the L,” Small said.

Syracuse has experienced its fair share of tough losses this year. A 4-3 loss after leading to start the third period. A 5-1 blowout. A 4-3 loss after outshooting the opponent 36-22. Now, a last-minute goal after an incredibly well-played game.

Despite yet another loss, Small reminded the coaches why they wanted her. She reaffirmed her spot on the team and put herself back in the coaches’ minds.

“We’ll sit down tomorrow as a staff and do some video,” Flanagan said. “She looked like she was moving well and responding well and recovering well, there were some good things.”

Published on October 12, 2019 at 12:10 am

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie