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Dating back to the 2022-23 campaign, SU has played at least three ranked games each October. Although the Orange have come out on the wrong side of most of these contests, they still reveal their standing compared to the nation’s best programs. Syracuse associate head coach Heather Farrell said her team welcomes the challenge.

“We want to play the best,” Farrell said. “We want to see where we match up and we’re really happy with where we have been the first couple weeks.”

Following a series sweep over Stonehill that was punctuated by an 8-2 blowout, Syracuse returned home to resume its October gauntlet with a matchup against No. 7 Quinnipiac.

When the two sides last met a year ago, the Orange were outclassed from the opening draw. Even with its haul of transfer portal talent at the forefront of its gameplan, SU failed to generate many high-quality scoring chances in both contests and was outshot 92-29. Goalie Allie Kelley did her best, but even her most heroic saves weren’t enough as SU ultimately fell 4-0 and 4-1.

Though it showed more fight this time around, Syracuse (2-3, 0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) still fell 3-0 to No. 7 Quinnipiac (5-0, 0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) Friday. Despite winning over 60% of its draws, Syracuse’s offense couldn’t finish chances at even strength and on the power play. The Bobcats also finished the contest with a 2-for-3 mark on the player-advantage, sealing SU’s fate.

A lot can change in one offseason. That’s why despite last year’s lopsided meetings, Friday’s matchup between the Orange and Bobcats seemed like it could’ve been more entertaining.

Since they last met, both teams underwent major roster changes. SU was forced to say goodbye to program pillars like Tatum White and Kelley. Quinnipiac also lost four of its top five point scorers from last season, including senior forward Maya Labad, who torched Syracuse with four goals last season.

Those changes were evident during the first half of the opening frame. Unlike at any point against the Bobcats last year, the Orange came out looking like the faster team.

One line change into the game, Syracuse gave itself a golden opportunity to strike first by drawing a tripping penalty 21 seconds in. Even though it failed to find the back of the net, SU’s power play group forced goalie Felicia Frank to make a timely save.

The Orange remained unfazed and continued to push for the opening tally. Pushing a strong forecheck onto the Bobcats in the neutral zone, Syracuse showed no hesitancy to put the puck on net from all angles. Though the shots on goal clock didn’t do it justice, Syracuse was the faster team through the first eight minutes.

At the other end, Quinnipiac didn’t register its first shot until nearly four minutes in. Making her third start of the campaign after sitting out the Stonehill series, Ava Drabyk returned between the pipes and denied the four shots the Bobcats mustered to open the matchup.

Despite SU’s strong start, all it took was one costly penalty for Quinnipiac to break the ice.

The Bobcats entered the matchup amid a power-play goal drought — notching zero tallies through their first four games — but it took less than a minute for their player-advantage unit to light the lamp. Given a sliver of open ice on the left side of the goal, Kahlen Lamarche opened the scoring with a wrist shot into the top left corner past Drabyk’s blocker.

While momentum was no longer on their bench, the Orange didn’t let the tally erase their strong start. They spent the rest of the frame relentlessly filling the front of the net with bodies and taking shots from distance in the hope that one of them would pinball in. Racking up 13 shot attempts in the period, it seemed like SU was one fortunate bounce away from drawing even.

In the second, the Orange returned with this same intensity. Fresh off being named the AHA’s Forward of the Week, Peyton Armstrong nearly capitalized just over a minute into the frame with a close-range backhand, but the bid was turned aside by Frank. Leaning on Armstrong & Co. to keep chipping away, SU forced the netminder to make three saves in the opening three minutes of the frame.

Still, the puck only wound up in the back of SU’s net. Following a blocked shot by Celia Wiegand, it bounced right onto Lamarche’s tape. With Drabyk still searching for the puck, the Bobcats’ leading point scorer last season made no mistake, picking the corner to grow their edge to two.

“I think we were right there,” Nea Tervonen said postgame. “We just needed that last push to actually put it in (the net).”

With plenty of hockey left, Syracuse bent but didn’t break. After struggling to put shots on target consistently in the first, the Bobcats’ offense found its rhythm in the second. Still, Drabyk remained composed.

Combined with a dominant showing in the faceoff circle by SU’s forwards — swiping 11-of-16 draws — and the freshman’s 12 saves, SU made it to the second intermission still trailing just 2-0.

“I like to be more in the game, so getting more shots helps me have a feel for the puck,” Drabyk said.

From there, Drabkyk continued to hold down the fort as the final 20 minutes of the contest fell into a goalie’s duel. While both sides exchanged chances, the Orange were given their third power play chance of the game thanks to an illegal hit along the boards by Zoe Uens. However, the unit was sloppy again, only mustering one shot on goal.

Where SU’s special teams floundered, Quinnipiac’s thrived. Following their third successful penalty kill of the night, the Bobcats converted on their second power play of the night midway through the third. Catching the Orange flat-footed, Emerson Jarvis was left wide open at the back door and tucked the puck into the gaping net, ballooning the cushion to 3-0.

From there, a fourth missed power play chance by SU in the final minutes epitomized another shutout loss for Syracuse — its third through five games.

“It’s about finding that connection between players,” Farrell said of the power play unit. “We have a lot of players that can play on the power play, and so you have to figure out what is a good group that works together and then give them some time to fine tune it.”

It’s hard to say Syracuse was expected to come out on top against an uber-talented Quinnipiac squad. Still, the Orange showed a level of fight that displayed they’re slowly getting closer to where they want to be.

“If we can continue to compete this way against top 10 teams, we’re only going to get better and we’re only going to learn from those mistakes,” Farrell said.

Published on October 10, 2025 at 10:53 pm
Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray