Women’s Ice Hockey falls to Providence 3-2 in Overtime

By Zachary Levine

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The women’s ice hockey team suffered another loss on Saturday, falling to Providence 3-2 in overtime.

After Syracuse outshot the Friars in the first 20 minutes, they quickly seized a two-goal advantage in the second period.

The Orange got its offense going just 17 seconds into the second period. Alysha Burriss fed Kelli Rowswell the puck near the left circle, who delivered SU’s first goal on a wrist shot. That gave the already-dominant Orange an added boost of momentum. Syracuse, however, was just getting started.

Just over one minute later, SU found the back of the net again on a goal from freshman forward Victoria Klimek with an assist from Lindsay Eastwood. The Ontario native’s first career college tally came on the power play. This marked the only power play goal on a day of a combined 13 penalties from both teams.

The Orange headed into the second intermission up two goals. And with overwhelming control of the puck on the attack, it seemed they could cruise to an easy victory for the second straight night.

The game changed drastically as SU took the ice for the third period. Providence lit the lamp 37 seconds after the opening faceoff, signaling a complete role-reversal from the prior frame.

Seven minutes later, Meaghan Rickard tied the game on a pass from Christi Putigna.

Just as it had the night before, Syracuse surrendered the lead in the third period.

“The first period, we were playing really well,” Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan said. “[Then] the first part of the second period when we had a 2-0 lead and we had a power play, we had some good things going. Then I think we just got lazy.”

The clock wound down and the game headed for overtime. It was the first overtime period of the 2017 season for the Orange. However, it was one to forget. Three and a half minutes into the sudden-death frame, Meaghan Kelly found twine again, lifting her team to its second road victory of the season.

Freshman SU forward Victoria Klimek said her team stopped playing with “eagerness” and “attacking and pressuring one-hundred percent.”

“I don’t know if it’s psychological versus mental, mind over body, it’s just not us understand what we have to do physically,” Flanagan said.

After surrendering a goal in the third period in last night’s game, Flanagan described the night as a “tale of two games,” because the Orange played so differently in the third period compared to the prior two. Flanagan said the same situation was true tonight.

The Orange is back out on the ice next Friday night when they take on Northeastern in the first game of a two-day doubleheader at Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Huskies enter play unbeaten in the Hockey East conference.