Syracuse Women's Hockey Struggles in Loss to #11 Clarkson

The Orange fell at home against a ranked Clarkson squad.

Going into tonight’s game losing four of their first five games, the Orange returned to the Pavilion to face the 11th ranked Clarkson Golden Knights.

The first period was all Clarkson, as forward Anna Cherkowski scored the first goal of the game at 4:50 seconds into the game. Clarkson would get an additional goal later in the period by defender Kristyn McQuigge at 17:09 in the first period to go up 2-0 by the end of the period. The Orange only managed one shot on goal the entirety of the first period, while Clarkson go Nine shots on goal.

Going into the second period, the Orange made the necessary adjustments to keep up with Clarkson. But not before Senior Darcie Lappen scored seventy-nine seconds into the period to put Clarkson up 3-0.

Then things got chaotic. Seven minutes into the second period, Clarkson forward Sara Swinderiski was given a penalty for cross checking, but a brief scuffle ensued in front of the Syracuse goal, which resulted in Sara Thompson and Madison Primeau going to the penalty box as well for roughing, giving Clarkson a 4-3 advantage. Syracuse would use this to their advantage 46 seconds later, as forward Tatum White scored the first home goals of the season for Syracuse, giving the Orange a fighting chance as they now trailed 3-1.

Two minutes later, Clarkson forward Florence Lessard and Syracuse defender Kambrel Beacom would get a separate scuffle, which resulted in both players getting roughing penalties. Syracuse would have two more penalties in the quarter, having a combined 5 penalties in the second quarter alone, but still trailed 3-1.

The third quarter would be Syracuse’s strongest of the game, as they Outshot Clarkson 9-6 in goal. But some untimely penalties cost Syracuse a chance at a comeback. First, teams would play for four consecutive minutes which would result in Clarkson forward Gretchen Branton taking the deficit up to 4-1 with less than seven minutes left in the game. Syracuse Sara Thompson would score three minutes later on a power play goal to cut the deficit back down to two.

Then, with less than one minute left in the game, and an empty net, Syracuse forward Sarah Marchand would go to the penalty box for tripping. Clarkson’s Anna Cherkowski would score her second goal of the game with less than 10 second to go in the game to put the game away 5-2.

The loss marks Syracuse’s 12th loss to Clarkson at home, and 21st loss in 24 games in the lifetime series. This would also mark a season high in penalties for the Orange with seven.

There were positives in the game. Syracuse goalie Arielle Desmet would take sole possession of fourth place on the all-time save leaderboard, and with two assists in the game, forward Lauren Bellefontane would break into the top ten in all time points. Additionally, after a rocky first period, the Orange would only be out shot 16-14 from the second period onwards. Head coach Britni Smith looks to use this to gain traction.

“We’re definitely gonna have to figure out our consistency. We’ve been having slow starts overall. So, it’s finding a way to come out like we did in the third period right from puck drop,” Smith said.

Syracuse will travel to Potsdam for a Friday evening game, as they look to split the mini-series against Clarkson. The puck drops at 6:00 p.m. eastern.

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