Syracuse Ice Hockey Drops Third Straight Game, Remains Winless

By Noah Cierzan

CitrusTV Women’s Ice Hockey Beat Reporter

Syracuse returned home after a rough starting weekend against Clarkson when they took on No. 7 Boston College. While Paul Flanagan said SU had a great week of practice, he said the energy wasn’t there on Saturday.

“It wasn’t as much of a rah-rah environment before the game,” said Flanagan.

The Orange spent most of the first period in their own zone and ended the first period with a one goal deficit. That ended up being the difference as Syracuse (0-3, 0-0 College Hockey America) ended up losing 4-3 to No. 7 Boston College (4-0, 3-0 Hockey East).

After the slow start for the Orange, they started to pick things up. In the second period alone SU had 17 shots on goal.

“In between periods coach told us to take a deep breath,” said Senior Lindsay Eastwood.

Even with that strong second period, Syracuse was having trouble getting past Maddy McArthur. The Boston College goalie had 33 saves, including saving the first 20 shots she faced. Flanagan had high praise of McArthur after the game.

“I hate to say it, but you switch the team’s goalies and we probably win,” said Flanagan.

The goalie situation has been a bit murky this year, and Flanagan said that will continue to be the case until someone takes the job. He also said Allison Small, who played last Saturday, will get a chance to play in one of the two games against No. 4 Northeastern.

Another big problem for the Orange has been the fact that they have not put together three solid periods of play. Flanagan praised the effort in the second and third period but was baffled by the struggles early on.

“We had a couple penalties early on, and you can’t do that against teams like Boston College,” said Flanagan.

Despite the 0-3 start, Junior Jessica DiGirolamo remains hopeful moving forward.

“We got to keep playing, keep moving,” said DiGirolamo.

DiGirolamo also said she actually enjoys playing against tough opponents such as Boston College. She was one of the leaders in the near comeback, as she had one goal and two assists.

DiGirolamo was not the only bright spot for the Orange, as Syracuse had a lot more success on the powerplay this game. Syracuse went 2-6 on the powerplay, improving upon their rough start.

Syracuse will have a chance at their first win this season when they have two games against Northeastern starting on Friday, October 11 at 7 p.m.

@ncierzan | ncierzan@syr.edu