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COLUMBUS, OHIO — Syracuse was down three goals and was simply trying to clear the puck from its zone with under 90 seconds left in its season. Quinnipiac was passing the puck around the zone as Victoria Klimek started to poke check aggressively. Klimek’s pressure on Sadie Peart eventually helped Lauren Bellefontaine get her stick on it in order to make a clearance.

But this clearance was short lived. The Orange pulled Arielle DeSmet from the net, and after a Rayla Clemons advance was snuffed out, the Bobcats gained control once again as Lexie Adzija buried the empty-net goal to cement Quinnipiac’s victory.

No. 5 Quinnipiac’s (26-9-3, 15-7 ECAC) offense consistently improved throughout the game to help seal a 4-0 win to end Syracuse’s (15-11-6 11-4-1 College Hockey America) season. The Orange kept the first period scoreless against the Bobcats, with both teams gaining quality chances, but they were unable to capitalize on them nor the ones on the power play in the second period. SU’s mistakes concluded a season that saw it emerge from below .500 to host and win its second CHA Tournament ever.

Head coach Paul Flanagan said that Syracuse played well for a “period and a half” and that there were great moments during the game to score.

“We didn’t have a ton of shots but we did have some great chances,” Flanagan said. “We had at least three two-on-ones and we didn’t really get a good bid.”

The Orange began the first period with multiple breakaways, using some of their speedier players to do so. Clemons used her quickness to create multiple chances early on. On a turnover in the SU zone, Clemons and Sarah Thompson now had a two-on-one, but Thompson was farther up in the rush than Clemons, which forced an offside call.

But on another breakaway, Clemons drew a penalty which gave the Orange some opportunities to break the scoreless tie. Bellefontaine sent a pass to Madison Primeau at the middle of the crease 20 seconds into the advantage. It deflected off of Primeau and another defender, falling to Abby Moloughney who had an open shot at the right side of the net but couldn’t handle the puck and her shot went wide.

“We could have had a better chance on those power plays,” Moloughney said. “Especially like on my chance on the backdoor.”

While Syracuse was outshot 7-4 in the first period, the game remained full of quality chances. Klimek opened up the second period by receiving a long pass down the left side of the ice to create another breakaway opportunity, but she sent a hard shot right into Bobcats goaltender Corinne Schroeder’s chest.

“(The Orange) wanted to get players in behind our defense,” Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said. “They sent their weak-side winger out of the zone and they did a nice job in the neutral zone.”

Still, the Orange had another man advantage after the Bobcats were called for too many players on the ice. Three of Syracuse’s shots were blocked by Quinnipiac, and less than two minutes later, Jessica DiGirolamo attempted to clear the puck, but it was deflected and fell onto Taylor House, who easily scored on the open net.

Even though the Orange were now trailing, they still found breakaways. Quinnipiac’s Olivia Konigson attempted to clear the puck in the neutral zone, but it deflected off of Courtney Vorster and back into Quinnipiac’s zone. Sarah Marchand was nearby and now had an opening, as she set herself up for a hard wrist shot, but Schroeder tipped it with her glove and stick to end another quality scoring chance.

Immediately after Marchand’s miss, Vorster quickly moved past multiple SU defenders with the puck. Vorster was able to pass it off in the zone to Peart who stood right in front of DeSmet. Peart made a spin move with the puck to get the SU goaltender to fall down, scoring easily to give Quinnipiac a 2-0 lead.

Along with the lack of offense, the missed opportunities on the faceoff circle were now starting to hurt SU. The Orange kept it close with the Bobcats in the faceoff circle in the first period, only trailing by one. But after that, Quinnipiac won in the faceoff circle 11 more times than Syracuse.

Midway through the third period, the faceoffs finally came back to haunt SU and Bellefontaine — one of three players in the CHA to win at least 700 faceoffs this season. Adzija beat Bellefontaine with a quick move of her stick which sent the puck back to Zoe Boyd, who sent a long wrist shot down toward the net that Jess Schryver tipped in to solidify Quinnipiac’s win.

The lead was now insurmountable, and as the game came to an end, DiGirolamo embraced fellow fifth-year players Klimek and backup goaltender Allison Small. The three experienced SU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019, where it lost to top-seeded Wisconsin 4-0. Now the three experienced a similar loss full of missed opportunities to the Bobcats in the Orange’s second-ever tournament game.

“It’s definitely not where you want to end your college career,” a teary-eyed DiGirolamo said. “Just being there to support one another. We’ve had our ups and downs together as a team.”

Published on March 10, 2022 at 10:47 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com