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When Syracuse’s Jan. 17 clash against then-No. 9 Penn State was abruptly interrupted in the third period, it wasn’t due to an injury timeout. It also wasn’t due to a video review. It was because goalie Allie Kelley made a historic save.

Kelley, SU’s goalkeeper from 2023-25, broke the NCAA all-time saves record amid SU’s battle versus the Nittany Lions. Her 4,168th career save pushed her over Lovisa Selander’s previous record.

The goalie’s 33rd save of the match was the crowning moment of her illustrious Syracuse career. She also achieved a school record for saves in a single game (65), claimed All-Atlantic Hockey America Second Team honors in 2024-25 and notched a program record 2,371 total saves.

But with Kelley’s graduation after last season, it begged one critical question: Who would replace her? Would it be an in-house option like Bella Gould or Maïka Paquin, or a freshman?

Through six games, the answer is all of the above. While Gould, Paquin and freshman Ava Drabyk haven’t filled Kelley’s shoes perfectly, they’ve remained solid despite SU’s offensive inconsistencies. The unit’s 90.1% save rate ranks fifth among seven teams in the AHA, but it has been one of the team’s biggest strengths through six games.

Drabyk recorded 139 saves across four games against then-No. 6 Minnesota Duluth and No. 7 Quinnipiac. Gould saved 24/26 shots in her lone outing against Stonehill on Oct. 3 and Paquin saved 19/21 against the Skyhawks the following day.

Over the last two seasons, Kelley often bailed out Syracuse’s sputtering offense. Against then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 3 last season, SU was outshot a whopping 56-17 by the Bulldogs.

Despite the lopsided shot disparity, the Orange fell just 2-1. Kelley’s 54 saves and .964 save rate kept them in a game that shouldn’t have been remotely close.

But when Syracuse opened its season on Sept. 25 against Minnesota Duluth, it didn’t have Kelley to keep the game as competitive. Drabyk performed admirably in her first collegiate start, recording 44 saves on 48 attempts, but it wasn’t enough for SU to produce a comeback.

“(She had) a tough first goal against. A two-on-one first puck to face in your college career isn’t great, so I thought she rebounded really well and shut it down from there. I have a lot of confidence in her ability,” SU head coach Britni Smith said after the Sept. 25 loss.

It was a similar story the following day in SU’s second-straight 4-0 loss. Drabyk held the Bulldogs scoreless until the 5:14 mark in the second period with several diving saves, but allowed three late goals. The freshman goaltender was far from the main reason for the loss.

“She’s amazing. Obviously she’s got big shoes to fill coming from Allie Kelley, but she stepped in really great, ” SU forward Jackson Kinsler said.

Ava Drabyk extends for a save against Minnesota Duluth. In her freshman year, Drabyk is one of three goalies competing for SU’s starting spot. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer

Syracuse’s probable starter heading into the season, however, was Gould. In eight games last season, she tallied 38 saves and didn’t allow a goal in 115 minutes. After Kelley was ejected late in the first period of SU’s 4-1 win over Robert Morris due to misconduct, Gould entered and held the Colonials scoreless for two periods with 17 saves.

She made her season debut against Stonehill on Oct. 3, and picked up her second career win as a starter. Gracie Sacca put Gould in a perilous position with a goal just 11 seconds into the game, but she saved 24 out of the proceeding 25 shots en route to a 3-2 victory.

Even with Gould’s strong performance, Smith continued to experiment with her options. Unlike last year, when Syracuse had the luxury of relying on Kelley to start all but one game, Smith is employing a three-goalie rotation to determine who’ll be the Orange’s long-term keeper.

It was Paquin’s turn in SU’s Oct. 4 clash with the Skyhawks. While Syracuse’s attack recorded its most goals since Nov. 25, 2022, with eight, the Canadian netminder prevented the game from becoming a shootout.

Paquin had a much simpler job compared to Gould and Drabyk, but she made few mistakes in her first career start. The senior kept the Skyhawks off the board until the third period, when Maddie Bibeau and Summer Combe notched their only two goals of the game.

After respectable showings from both Gould and Paquin in a two-game sweep over Stonehill, who would Smith turn to when Syracuse hosted Quinnipiac last weekend?

In search of SU’s first-ranked win since Mar. 5, 2021, Smith went back to Drabyk, the third consecutive game in which she started a different goalie.

Drabyk, who led all AHA freshmen with a .918 save rate after opening weekend, delivered a performance similar to those in her series against UMD — not enough to mask Syracuse’s offensive struggles, but still solid.

The freshman saved 29/32 shots (90.6%) in SU’s 3-0 loss to Quinnipiac. Despite SU’s attack going 0-for-4 on power plays, the goalie held her ground against everyone except Kahlen Lamarche, who scored two goals in the contest.

It was a struggle for Drabyk on Saturday, as Quinnipiac pounced early and often. Drabyk surrendered four goals through the first two periods in the Orange’s 5-1 defeat.

Syracuse’s goalkeeping trio needs to be near-perfect for it to have a realistic shot at competing in the AHA playoffs.

Many factors are often out of a goalkeeper’s control. The netminder can’t control how a team fares defensively in transition, nor can it control how effectively it takes advantage of power play opportunities. It’s hard to place much blame on the trio for SU’s disappointing 2-4 record.

In many ways, SU’s current goalies have shown progression through six games, though nobody has emerged as the true favorite to be the team’s long-term answer.

Drabyk allowed a goal 27 seconds into her first-ever start, but she responded with 44 saves on 47 shots throughout the remainder of the game. Gould surrendered a goal 11 seconds into her first start of the season, but she responded with a 96% save rate throughout the rest of the contest. At this juncture, picking out a definitive starter is utterly impossible to do.

“Everyone’s competing for a spot right now … it’s anyone’s job,” SU associate coach Heather Farrell said.

Published on October 15, 2025 at 9:32 pm
sabrod@syr.edu