Orange Unable to Hold On Against the Raiders in Second Straight Game

By Tyler Melito

CitrusTV’s Ice Hockey Beat Reporter

After a thriller on Friday night, Syracuse and Colgate went at it again on Saturday afternoon and, once again, it was a fun game. The two teams were tied at one goal apiece after two periods with SU goalkeeper Allison Small denying shots left and right by the Raiders. However, that wall created by Small in net could not hold, as Colgate scored two goals within a minute of each other in the third period to ultimately give the Raiders a 3-1 win and push them to 2-0 on the season.

Colgate got the party started when Eleri MacKay ripped a shot past Small just 90 seconds into the game, which showed that the momentum the Raiders had from Friday’s overtime win, carried into Saturday.

Syracuse would respond however with Brynn Koocher tipping in the slap shot by Kristen Siermachesky moments later tying things up at one.

That was it in terms of the goal scoring from both teams. Colgate would have their chances however, getting multiple power-play opportunities and simply dominating the puck when both teams were at even strength. For Syracuse, Small was simply dominant as well, stopping shots repeatedly and at times doing what seemed to be unthinkable to prevent the Raiders from scoring.

Eventually, the shots became too much to bear as MacKay netted her second goal of the game, just seconds after Rosy Demers broke the tie between the two teams with under seven minutes remaining. As was par for the course on Saturday, the Orange were unable to respond on offense, and ultimately dropped their second straight game.

The Orange now sit at 0-2 and, although there was some good in the two games against Colgate, Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan’s team could not put it all together for 60 minutes of play to pull out a victory in either game. Their next game has yet to be announced. It is still early, but the Orange need to turn things around quickly to avoid what occurred last season, when they lost their first nine games of the year.

Colgate’s victory allows them to continue their run of dominance against SU, extending their unbeaten streak against the Orange to 12 games. They will play Sacred Heart next week.

tylermelito@gmail.com | @MelitoTyler