The Good, Bad and Ugly From Syracuse Ice Hockey’s Series Against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth
By Jared Valentin | @JaredValentin_
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Last week, Syracuse ice hockey (0-2, 0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) opened its 2025-26 campaign with a two-game series against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (4-0, 0-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association). Coming into this season, there were many questions surrounding the Orange: Who would be SU’s new starter in net? How would the defense look? Can the offense finally take a leap forward? After dropping both games to the Bulldogs 4-0, some of these questions were answered, for better or for worse. Let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from SU’s first series of the season.
The Good: Freshman Goalie Ava Drabyk
Before the 2025-26 campaign began, the Orange had three options for who would start in net: Junior Bella Gould, senior Maïka Paquin and freshman Ava Drabyk. While Gould was SU’s primary backup last year, playing in seven games and totaling 38 saves, Syracuse instead went with the freshman for its series against Minnesota Duluth. Despite seven goals allowed through two contests, that decision has more than paid off. Drabyk totaled 78 saves in the series, good for 5th in the NCAA. Additionally, her 39 saves per game has the freshman atop the AHA leaderboard in that category. Among all freshmen, Drabyk leads the conference with a .918 save percentage.
“She’s battling. It’s good to get a first year some experience against the best to see where she is right now,” SU associate head coach Heather Farrell said after the Orange’s second loss to the Bulldogs. “She did a really wonderful job this weekend.”
The freshman has big shoes to fill, replacing former Orange goalie Allie Kelley who set the NCAA saves record last season. While there’s still plenty of time for Gould and Paquin to get their reps in net, Drabyk has already made a strong case to be Syracuse’s full-time starter in net for both the 2025-26 campaign and the foreseeable future.
The Bad: Faceoffs
In order to score goals in hockey, you need possession. In order to get possession, you need to win faceoffs. That’s an area where SU struggled in its first contest with UMD. The Bulldogs won 38 faceoffs compared to the Orange’s 27. Minnesota Duluth was on top of the battle in all three periods, with Syracuse losing 12-7 in the first period and 12-9 in the second. The third period was a little bit better for SU, hitting double-digits with 11 faceoff victories. Despite that, it was still fewer than UMD’s 14 faceoff wins.
Luckily for the Orange, that improved in the second matchup of the series. While Syracuse lost the game, it narrowly emerged victorious in the faceoff battle 25-24. Similar to the season opener, SU had single-digit faceoff wins in the first two periods. However, the margin was a lot closer, with Syracuse only getting beat 7-6 in that category in the first period, and 10-6 in the second. The Orange even managed to lead the category in the third period with 13 faceoff victories compared to seven for the Bulldogs.
The Ugly: Power Play Offense
While the defense has looked promising through two games against one of the best squads in the NCAA, the offense has held Syracuse back greatly, especially during 5-on-4 situations. The Orange were on the power play six separate times in their season opener, but came up empty on each opportunity.
“We had good possession to be honest,” SU head coach Britni Smith said after Thursday’s 4-0 loss. “We really possessed quite a bit of our power plays, a couple in which they were pretty successful with keeping us to the perimeter. It’s just finding those opportunities to find lanes and get pucks on net.”
“They [Minnesota Duluth] have a great goaltender,” Syracuse forward Jackson Kinsler said following Thursday’s defeat. “I’m really proud of the way we moved the puck. Their penalty kill was strong. We have to come out ready tomorrow and we need to take advantage.”
SU did not improve its offense on the power play in Friday’s loss. For the second straight game, the Orange had more power plays than the Bulldogs and failed to score a single goal. Syracuse went 0-4 in 5-on-4 situations, putting them 0-10 on power plays only two games into the season. That has to change, and quickly as SU faces three more ranked opponents in the first-half of its season.
Drabyk can build off of her hot start and Orange can improve on faceoffs and their power play offense when Syracuse’s 2025-26 campaign continues Friday. SU travels to East Bridgewater, MA for a two-game series with Stonehill. Puck drop for game one is Friday at 5 p.m. from Bridgewater Ice Arena. For all coverage, follow @JaredValentin_ and @CitrusTVSports on X/Twitter!
