Three Keys For Syracuse Ice Hockey To Earn Its First Ranked Win of the 2025-26 Season
By Jared Valentin | @JaredValentin_
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse ice hockey’s (2-2, 0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) start to the 2025-26 campaign was far from ideal. SU got shutout twice in a 48-hour span to No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (4-0, 0-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) 4-0 and went 0-10 on power plays in the series.
However, Syracuse turned it around last weekend in its following series with a two-game road sweep over Stonehill (0-2, 0-0 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance). The Orange narrowly beat the Skyhawks in the first contest 3-2 Friday night before dominating in the series finale 8-2 Saturday afternoon. With SU hopping back into ranked play this weekend with a two-game series against No. 7 Quinnipiac (4-0, 0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey), here are three things the Orange need to repeat from their last series to earn their first ranked win of the 2025-26 campaign.
Aggressive Offense
The difference between Syracuse’s offense in its first series and last weekend was night and day. Against Minnesota Duluth, SU started out flat. The Orange were outshot 13-4 in the first period of the second matchup. That set the tone throughout the rest of the night. Syracuse had three shots in the second period and six in the third to end the contest getting outshot 38-13. The Orange were outshot 86-46 across both games against the Bulldogs.
That was the complete opposite in last weekend’s sweep over Stonehill. In Friday’s victory, SU fired 16 shots in the first period and scored a goal, ending its seasonlong scoring drought. The next day, that trend continued with 15 shots in the first period from Syracuse. Similar to the UMD series, SU’s start dictated the Orange’s offensive performance the rest of the way. Syracuse had seven different goal scorers and 13 assists in its six-goal victory. Forward Peyton Armstrong led the way with two goals and an assist. The sophomore’s four points across the two-game series was enough to be named the AHA forward of the week. SU needs to continue its aggressive start offensively against Quinnipiac’s much tougher defense.
Scoring On Power Plays
As stated earlier, the Orange went 0-10 on power plays in their series with the Bulldogs. That was the biggest reason why Syracuse fell short in both games. In its first matchup with Stonehill, SU didn’t improve in that area at all. The Orange went 0-4 on power plays to drop to 0-14 on those opportunities. It took until the second contest of the series for Syracuse to end that drought. SU went 2-5 in its six-goal win with the power play goals coming from forward Emma Gnade and Armstrong in the second period. Against the Bobcats, getting on the power play won’t be easy, so the Orange have to take advantage of the opportunities they get. Opponents have only had seven total power plays against Quinnipiac in four games and the Bobcats have only let up one goal on the penalty kill. For a Syracuse squad that’s struggled on the power play this season, that’s not a good sign. Not taking advantage of the power plays can easily be the difference between walking away with a win or suffering another defeat.
Strong Goalie Performances
Replacing the NCAA’s all-time leader in career saves is not easy. However, four games into the 2025-26 campaign, SU’s goalies have been a consistent bright spot. Freshman netminder Ava Drabyk started in net during the series against UMD and recorded 78 saves with a .918 save percentage. That save total was 5th in the nation at the time and Drabyk’s save rate led all freshmen in the AHA.
“She’s battling. It’s good to get a first year some experience against the best to see where she is right now,” SU associate head coach Heather Farrell stated after the Orange’s second defeat to the Bulldogs. “She did a really wonderful job this weekend.”
Against Stonehill, Syracuse split the goaltending duties between junior Bella Gould and senior Maïka Paquin. Gould, SU’s main backup last season behind former netminder Allie Kelley, started in the first game of the series and tallied 24 saves and a .923 save percentage. The junior had 38 saves total in seven games played in 2024-25. The next day, Paquin made her season debut and racked up 19 saves and a .905 save rate. The Orange allowed half as many goals as they did in the series against the Bulldogs. Each goalie has made a strong impression in net so far and this weekend’s two-game series against Quinnipiac is a prime opportunity to build upon that against a ranked opponent.
If Syracuse can maintain its aggressive start on offense, capitalize on the power play and have more strong performances in net, beating Quinnipiac and earning its first ranked win of the season is more than a possibility. Puck drop of the series opener is Friday at 5 p.m. from Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse, N.Y. For all coverage of that contest and the first-half of SU’s 2025-26 season, follow @JaredValentin_ and @CitrusTVSports on X/Twitter!
