Syracuse Ice Hockey Suffers Its Worst Defeat of the Season After 11-2 Blowout Loss to No. 6 Penn State

By Jared Valentin | @JaredValentin_

UNIVERSITY PARK, P.A. — Syracuse ice hockey (6-9-0, 4-4-0 Atlantic Hockey America) got swept in its weekend series against No. 6 Penn State (14-0-0, 10-0-0 AHA) after Saturday’s 11-2 thrashing at the hands of the Nittany Lions. The loss marked the third defeat in a row for SU and the seventh consecutive loss to Penn State.

The Orange struck first. Syracuse forward Rylee McLeod scored her third goal of the season one minute into the contest and SU had its first lead all series against the Nittany Lions. However, that 1-0 advantage was short lived. Penn State fired back with four goals in the first period, two of which came within one minute of each other on a power play. The Nittany Lions were put on that power play after Orange defender Charlotte Hallett was called for a five-minute major fighting penalty and later disqualified from the game. Five minutes into the second period, SU got on the board again after defender Celia Wiegand capitalized on one of Syracuse’s seven power play opportunities. That would be SU’s last goal of the matchup.

Penn State had three multi-goal players in the final contest of this weekend’s series. Nittany Lions forwards Mikah Keller, Katelyn Roberts and Maddy Christian all tallied two goals. Penn State also had eight players with at least two points, led by Roberts’ four-point outing. In Friday’s victory, the Nittany Lions had five players rack up one point or more.

Syracuse returns home Friday to open a two-game series against Mercyhurst (8-7-1, 5-3-0 AHA), the same squad that eliminated SU in the conference tournament last season. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. EST from Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse, NY. For coverage of the Orange’s next series and the entire first-half of SU’s 2025-26 season, follow @JaredValentin_ and @CitrusTVSports on X/Twitter!