Out-shooting an opponent 39-21 typically indicates a win in hockey. Instead, Syracuse controlled much of Friday night’s game against RIT, but couldn’t finish chances and lost, 7-4.

Syracuse (1-10-0, 0-1-0 College Hockey America) fell to RIT (3-5-1, 1-2-0) at Tennity Ice Pavilion despite strong performances by the whole team in the first and second periods. 

“We need to make sure that we play the full 60 minutes. And we can’t give up and we got to do the little things,” junior defenseman Jessica DiGirolamo said. “We’ve got to block shots and we do need to capitalize on chances.”

Despite just coming off a shutout win against Union — SU’s first of the season — Ady Cohen found herself backing up junior Allison Small for its first of two matchups against RIT this weekend. Small, along with the entire SU team, started off incredibly strong, out-pacing, outshooting and outscoring the Tigers. The Orange held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first, with RIT mustering only three shots.

However, teams are not measured by how well they finish the first period, they’re measured by how well they finish games. Syracuse seemingly lost focus coming onto the ice for the second period. Within ten minutes, their 1-0 lead had evaporated, and they trailed the Tigers 3-1.

“I think our kids had a false sense of security.” said head coach Paul Flanagan.

Syracuse did fight back, scoring two of its own in the second, coming courtesy of Victoria Klimek and Savannah Rennie. SU carried that momentum into the third, with freshman defender Mae Batherson wristing one in from the blue line 59 seconds into the third. 

Despite three straight goals from the Orange, the old habit of earning inopportune penalties returned. Two in quick succession — Brynn Koocher for tripping and Lindsay Eastwood for hooking — placed RIT on a five-on-three. Although it failed to score, thanks in part to some great saves by Small,  the Tigers maintained control in the SU zone for nearly the entirety of the two-skater advantage, tiring out the defense and firmly shutting down any kind of momentum the Orange had.

Throughout the third period the Orange kept piling on shots but to no avail. RIT’s junior goalie, Jessi O’Leary turned away 10 SU shots in the third alone. Shot selection was a recurring problem for SU as a whole. While the sheer quantity of shots was good, SU rarely challenged O’Leary, allowing her to settle into a comfortable rhythm. 

“We definitely just need to focus on quality shots. I mean, picking corners there, we gotta finish. I mean, that was the difference in the game today,” Batherson said. 

The Orange did not play properly with their lead. Often when Syracuse would get the puck, it opted to skate straight through the Tigers defense instead of getting pucks in deep and establishing a forecheck. This lack of quality time on RIT’s side of the blue line left Orange skaters frequently out of position and allowed the Tigers to steal and control the puck for a majority of the period. Because of this, RIT was able to push two more shots past Small in the third period, one during a Tiger power play. 

Flanagan cites lack of fundamentals, like back-checking and shot-blocking, as crippling the Orange in the long term, and not allowing them to take winnable games. It’s a combination of physical and mental mistakes that hamper the Orange. Flanagan isn’t afraid to point the blame on himself either, and said RIT “out-coached” the Orange in the last two periods. 

Two empty-netters from the Tigers bookended the night, bringing the final to 7-4 in favor of RIT.  

“It just demotivates the team and it’s just upsetting to see but you know,” Small said, “there’s nothing you can do about it sitting on the bench.”

Published on November 2, 2019 at 12:41 am

Contact Will: wrhentsc@syr.edu