Syracuse Ice Hockey comes up short against Penn State 3-2.

The last time Syracuse (12-12-3, 8-7-2 in Atlantic Hockey America) and No.4 Penn State (20-4, 14-1 in Atlantic Hockey America) met, the Orange lost 7-0 in the first game of the series.

This time around it was a completely different story.

SU still lost 4-1, but it was a lot closer than the scoreboard suggested.

The ‘Cuse was outshot 40-14, but there’s plenty of positives to take away than from a couple months ago in the first meeting.

“Definitely a big improvement since the last time we played them,” said assistant captain Heidi Knoll. “It’s about the process, you know tomorrow we’re going to play even better, but it was nice to be close for a big portion of that game. Tomorrow we’ll get the win.”

“Just looking through screens was a big one,” said goaltender Ava Drabyk. “There’s two goals I think where I didn’t fully see through the screen so I think just being more aware of the players around and maybe taking a look to see where the players are before the play and obviously looking through traffic.”

The Orange defense stifled a Nittany Lions offense that ranks first in the AHA in power play goals.

They didn’t concede a single chance on the four opportunities given. The loss though does snap a four game winning streak and ends a three game shutout streak.

Syracuse can get back on track tomorrow with puck drop set for 3pm.