Recapping’s Syracuse Ice Hockey’s Four Losses to No. 6 Penn State Last Season
By Jared Valentin | @JaredValentin_
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse ice hockey (6-7, 4-2 Atlantic Hockey America)’s road trip continues this weekend with a two-game series against No. 6 Penn State (12-0, 8-0 AHA), the squad atop the throne in the 2025-26 AHA standings. Last season, the Orange and Nittany Lions squared off four times, but SU came up empty in each contest. In fact, Syracuse has won against Penn State only once in the last 12 meetings. With the Orange and Nittany Lions battling for the first of four times this season on Friday, let’s recap what went wrong for SU in its four defeats to Penn State in 2024-25.
The first contest between the Orange and Nittany Lions last season came on Halloween when Syracuse fell on the road 3-2 in overtime to open AHA play. Penn State’s offense fired 37 shots to SU’s 16. Despite the aggressive attack from the opposition, SU goaltender Allie Kelley held her own with 34 saves. The first period nearly ended with no score from either squad until Nittany Lions defender Kendall Butze scored with 1:20 remaining in the opening frame to put Penn State on the board. In the second period, the Orange finally hit their stride. Syracuse forward Tatum White found the net unassisted four minutes in. Ten minutes later, SU struck again with forward Nea Tervonen scoring off assists from defender Jocelyn Fiala and forward Mik Todd. However, that was all the luck Syracuse had. In the third period, Nittany Lions forward Maddy Chrisitian scored to force overtime before forward Brianna Brooks tallied the game-winning goal.
24 hours later, SU and Penn State met up again. In the series finale, a late surge put the Nittany Lions on top of the Orange. After a 1-1 tie through 40 minutes, Penn State exploded with four goals in the final period to sweep the series. Similar to the first matchup, Syracuse’s offense couldn’t keep up, getting outshot 37-18. Individually, Christian was unstoppable with two goals, extending her series total to three. Brooks and defenders Leah Stecker and Lyndie Lobdell also had multiple points in the contest. The pair of defeats marked the fourth consecutive series sweep for SU.
After the road losses, the Orange and Nittany Lions squared off two months later at Tennity Ice Pavilion. Similar to the Halloween showdown, the first matchup of this series went into overtime. Penn State won 1-0 after forward Katelyn Roberts netted the game-winning score three minutes into the extra period. The difference in this contest was the power plays. Syracuse had seven chances to get on the board with a player advantage but failed to capitalize on a single opportunity. Despite the defeat, history was made. Kelley recorded 41 saves which broke the record for the most career saves in NCAA history. The graduate student ended the night with 4,176 total, surpassing the 4,167 set by netminder Lovisa Selander.
The final matchup between the Orange and Nittany Lions in the 2024-25 season was completely lopsided. SU was shutout 4-0 to conclude the series without scoring a single goal. Penn State forward Grace Outwater spearheaded the offense with two scores. The Nittany Lions also had eight players tally at least one point. However, Syracuse head coach Britni Smith had nothing but praise for her squad’s figh
“We battled hard between the dots. Every game is important,” Smith said after the second straight shutout to Penn State. “We know every single point is going to be a battle, so another week of practice and right back to it. This is all part of the process. We just have to focus on getting the next one.”
After four losses to the Nittany Lions last season, the time has finally arrived for the Orange to enact revenge. Find out if SU can nab the victory Friday at 2 p.m. EST when the two do battle from Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, PA. For coverage of the Orange’s next series and the entire first-half of Syracuse’s 2025-26 season, follow @JaredValentin_ and @CitrusTVSports on X/Twitter!
