A Roller Coaster Week for Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey
By Andrew Della Piana | @dellie_5
Syracuse women’s hockey had its busiest week of the season, playing three games in five days. The Orange’s best game was a 4-4 tie with Boston University in the middle, but a slew of losses sandwiched, including a 7-0 setback to No. 9 Cornell and a 6-1 decision to BU on Saturday.
Head coach Britni Smith emphasized the importance of her team being more disciplined, especially after the Orange committed 18 penalties over this week’s stretch. SU had only 19 infractions in the previous six games, which is significant since Syracuse is playing 5-on-4 hockey for the majority of the game.
Offensive inconsistency has definitely hampered SU, as the combined shots on goal total in wins and the tie is 128, but when compared to defeats, the number drops to 79. A large part of that is the absence of senior Rayla Clemons, who has only played in one game this season after suffering an injury versus Post on the first weekend. Last season, the second-year assistant captain set a career best in goals, points, and shots. In addition, forward Mik Todd will be out for an extended period of time after injuring her wrist against Cornell on Tuesday. Todd is one of five players on the roster who have scored multiple goals this campaign.
Defenseman Rachel Teslak, on the other hand, has helped ramp up productivity and was voted College Hockey Association’s Defenseman of the Week for the second week in a row. Teslak notched two tallies for Syracuse in the first game of a two-game series against BU on Friday. She scored in the opening period to put the Orange up 2-0, then again in the third to tie the game at 4-4. In her first year at SU, Teslak is tied for the team lead with 3 goals along with sophomore Heidi Knoll. Teslak’s goal total also ranks tops among all CHA defensemen.
Syracuse opens CHA play this weekend hosting Penn State on Saturday and Sunday. Follow @Dellie_5 on X for live in-game updates and coverage for everything Syracuse women’s ice hockey all semester long.
aedellap@syr.edu | @dellie_5
