Marchand, Power Play Propel Ice Hockey to 3-0 Defeat of RIT
By Chilekasi Adele | @CAdeleTV
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Ice Hockey (8-9-5, 6-3-0 College Hockey America) hasn’t lost a game since Dec. 11 against Princeton. SU took down RIT (0-22-2, 0-8-1 College Hockey America) 3-0 Friday night at Tennity Ice Pavilion.
For the Orange, it was their first game at home since last year and their first game in 19 days. SU was set to play Minnesota State on Jan. 7 and 8 but had to cancel the weekend series due to positive COVID-19 tests within the program.
Friday’s game heated up in the 2nd period. Anna Leschyshyn and Rayla Clemons rushed down the ice on a 2-on-1. Tigers Goaltender Sarah Coe made the save, but Sarah Marchand found the loose rebound and put it in to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead.
It was a busy night for Marchand, someone Head Coach Paul Flanagan said could be classified as a “slick playmaker.” A freshman, the forward recorded the aforementioned goal — her seventh of the season — along with two assists Friday for a total of three points. Postgame, Marchand credited tonight’s victory to the team and credited the power play, which scored two goals Friday. SU has a chance to sweep RIT tomorrow for the season series.
“It would be good momentum for us moving forward because we have a lot of in-conference games coming up and we haven’t played in a while,” Marchand said.
About two minutes after Marchand’s goal, Jessica DiGirolamo doubled the Syracuse lead. That was the defenseman’s fifth goal of the season. Abby Moloughney would top off the solid night for Syracuse, scoring about six minutes into the third period. The senior forward now has 13 goals this season.
Goaltender Arielle DeSmet had another solid night. The senior recorded 29 saves, earning her second shutout of the season. DeSmet’s performance comes after she was put on the “Watch List” for Women’s Goalie of the Year by the Hockey Commissioner’s Association this week for her performance this season.
“I mean, it’s an honor to be on that list,” DeSmet said. “There’s a ton of other great goalies that made that list as well… It kind of shows that my hard work has been paying off, and I hope to make it further on that list but that’s something that’s out of my control. So, I’m just gonna try to perform to the best of my ability and see how far that gets me.”
Head Coach Paul Flanagan said he’s happy with his team’s defensive performance in the neutral zone.
“We forced a lot of dump-ins, and that’s what you want,” Flanagan said. “I was afraid we were gonna be backing in, backing in, because we hadn’t played in a while… I thought we did a good job.”
Syracuse will travel west to Rochester on Saturday afternoon to take on RIT again — the last game of the season series. Puck drop is at 3 p.m. Be sure to follow @CAdeleTV and @CitrusTVSports on Twitter for updates during Saturday’s matchup, and check out citrustv.com after the game for a postgame recap.
