Syracuse Season Comes to an End In 6-0 Loss To Mercyhurst

By Luke Burgess | @BurgessLuke03

Citrus TV Women’s Ice Hockey Beat Reporter

ERIE, PA — Following yesterday’s close loss, including a flukey dump in goal, most expected Syracuse to come out with a new sense of fight to keep its season alive. 

That was not the case.

Syracuse fell to Mercyhurst in an essential non-contest on Saturday afternoon. After Alex Weiss opened the scoring in the first period, the game was essentially over.

Syracuse registered only five shots in the first and the second would not be much better. It’s a tired narrative, but after regaining some ground and generating some more pucks on net, Mercyhurst goalie Ana Nystrøm was ready for it.

The Laker goaltender is one of the best in the country, and the best in the CHA. Coach Smith knows that her team needed to generate second chance opportunities as well, capitalizing on the Powerplay if they wanted to beat the 5’10” netminder. SU simply was not able to effectively do that today.

Thea Johansson, a player that has torched Syracuse all year, netted two goals in the afternoon, headlining her team’s win. 

The season-ending loss can all be attributed back to one simple statistic, Syracuse finished with far too few shots. The total for the day was 20, with 15 coming in the last 25 minutes of the game.\

Starts were an issue all year for The Orange, and unfortunately, the problems were never addressed. Looking ahead, Coach Britini Smith will likely speak with Syracuse media one final time, it will be interesting to hear her take on how the team underwhelmed in such an important game.

The CHA final will include Mercyhurst and either Penn State or Lindenwood, if Penn State wins today, the Lakers will travel to State College for the one-game CHA Final.

ljburges@syr.edu | @BurgessLuke03