Special Teams Shine for Orange in 5-2 Loss to Clarkson

Syracuse women's hockey suffered another home loss on Thursday.

The Orange returned home to Tennity Ice Pavilion after dropping their third straight loss of the season to the hands of St. Lawrence. Tonight’s task ahead: the 11th ranked Clarkson Golden Knights.

From the first drop of the puck, Syracuse seemed to have a great jump. The starting line of Clemons-White-Bellefontaine had some urgency to their game, and it was destined from the start that they would be destined to find the back of the net. However, the offense seemed to be bit dormant in the first twenty minutes, as it was Clarkson who struck first thanks to two goals from junior forward Anne Cherkowski and junior defenseman Kirstyn McQuigge. After the first twenty minutes, Clarkson outshot The Orange 9-1.

The first intermission lit a fire under ‘Cuse, yet it might have been too massive as Syracuse found themselves in the “sin bin” five times. Clarkson found their third score of the game thanks to the play of their leading scorer Darcie Lappan (5G, 5A in 10 GP). My initial reaction of the top line paid off in the second, as Lauren Bellefontaine found Tatum White on a 2-on-1 for a shorthanded goal at 7:46 in the 2nd period. The momentum would halt for a minute when Syracuse senior forward Anna Leschyshyn went down with an injury. Coach Britni Smith did not have an update on Leschyshyn when asked during her post-game availability. It would remain 3-1 in favor of The Golden Knights after forty minutes of physical hockey.

The second intermission was the most impactful for The Orange. When asked what was said to the team before they took the ice for the 3rd, Coach Smith said, “It was up to us…make sure we stay out of the box, 5-on-5 is the way we need to play…”. The impressive jump from puck drops continued in the third and carried over past the midway point. Yet before you knew it, Clarkson responded again with their ever-so crucial fourth goal of the contest thanks to sophomore forward Gretchen Branton, who earned her third point of the night (1G, 2A). Syracuse found some light on the Powerplay thanks to a Sarah Thompson goal at 16:26 in the 3rd, which cut the Clarkson lead in half. The deal was sealed when Anne Cherkowski found the empty with her second goal of the contest, and saw The Golden Knights outlast The Orange 5-2, in what was a valiant effort from the home team. Syracuse now falls to 1-4-0 on the season.

Syracuse and Clarkson face-off tomorrow, this time in Potsdam. Tomorrow’s matchup is set to start at 6 p.m. and coverage can be found on ESPN+. 

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