Syracuse Ice Hockey Falls in Home Opener, 2-0

By Ryan Nelson | @rtnelson18

CitrusTV Ice Hockey Beat Reporter

In hockey, usually the team with the best goalie wins the game.

In Syracuse’s (1-3-0, 0-0-0 in College Hockey America) home opener against St. Lawrence (2-3-0, 0-0-0 in Eastern College Athletic Conference), that was not the case. 

The Orange fell to the Saints, 2-0. 

That was despite Syracuse goaltender Arielle DeSmet though. She grabbed 43 saves on 44 shots against the northeast rival. 

The goalie was the anchor of the team. 

“She’s a goalie who gives you a change every night,” head coach Britni Smith said. “She kept us in the game, allowed us to get our goalie out and get an opportunity to get one at the end there, one bounce, one shot that gets us back in the game.”

While the scoreline will never go from a loss to a win, DeSmet feels there are positives to take away from the game. 

“We got a lot of good clears on the power play which helped me out a lot, but other than that, just staying outside the crease, staying big, staying confident really helped me,” goaltender Arielle DeSmet said after the game.

DeSmet recorded her 1,500 save in Orange against St. Lawrence, that is good for fifth-most in program history. 

“She just brings a calmness to our system, she allows us to have a little bit of error within our systems and knowing we have someone behind us to back us out,” Coach Smith said. 

The Orange continue their search for that elusive second win of the season on Saturday when S-U takes on the Saints, again, this time on the road at St. Lawrence.