Victoria Klimek made her way down the ice late in the third period. The Orange trailed by one and it was on the powerplay. On seemingly one of SU’s best chances, Klimek quickly found space near the net and took her best shot. She missed wide.

This was a common sight for Syracuse (0-2-1) on Friday, as an inability to execute prevented the Orange from presenting too much of a threat in a 1-0 loss to No. 1 Wisconsin (5-0) in SU’s home opener.

“We’ve got to score some goals,” Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan said. “It’s been three games now and it’s pretty apparent you’re not going to win a game if you don’t score.”

Much of the game was spent on the defense, which was evident as Wisconsin finished the game with 39 shots on net compared to Syracuse’s 20. This led to senior goalie Abbey Miller ending the contest with a career-high 38 saves. But it was the one she didn’t save that made the difference.

With 13:34 to go in the second period, Wisconsin’s Lauren Williams passed to teammate Abby Roque, who then moved nearly in line with the right side of the net. Even with Miller hugging the right post, Roque launched a shot that found a very small opening, zipping past Miller’s mask and into the top left corner of the net for the game’s only score.

On offense, the Orange threw shots on net, often sending them wide or right into the goalie’s chest pad.

“Coach always says, ‘If you’re going to shoot high, shoot high. If you’re going to shoot low, shoot low.’” Miller said. “We have to make sure we’re not in that middle ground where its easiest to make saves.

One big critique Flanagan and some players had was where the players were shooting from. Flanagan noted he saw multiple instances where players opted to take perimeter shots rather than taking a couple more steps to look for a better opening.

“We need to be a little more patient with the puck,” Flanagan said. “(Players) have a little bit of time in there, sometimes it’s just a half a second to get yourself a little bit better angle.”

Rebounding also presented a problem for the Orange. Though the team played aggressively throughout, often diving on the ice for loose pucks, they struggled to corral bouncing pucks. Though freshman forward Emma Polaski acknowledged that Wisconsin goalie Kristen Campbell was stout, she knew the problems that need to be worked out for tomorrow.

“Their goalie’s great,” Polaski said, “but I think that rebounds and traffic in front of the net are going to be our keys.”

Published on October 6, 2017 at 8:39 pm

Contact Brandon: bross02@syr.edu