Syracuse sneaks past Delaware 1-0 for weekend sweep
SU took down Delaware 1-0 Saturday behind Rylee McLeod's goal. The Orange had 31 shots, but Mattie Robitzer kept the Blue Hens in the game. Keenan Sawada | Contributing Photographer
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Delaware goaltender Mattie Robitzer could only hold her head in her hands as she watched her teammates struggle to put together a goal in the dying moments of their game against Syracuse on Saturday.
In just 17 hours, the Blue Hens’ goaltender, alongside her teammate Charlotte Payne, logged a combined 78 saves over two games against the Orange, yet SU swept the weekend series.
Even though Payne logged 48 saves in Syracuse’s 2-1 overtime win over Delaware on Friday, and Robitzer nearly beat Allie Kelley’s single-game save record with her 62 save performance against Penn State on Oct.11, head coach Britni Smith stuck with her system.
“Nothing was different from the past,” Smith said of her approach. “We did a good job generating offensive chances yesterday. I don’t feel like we did as good a job today, but there was no change to our structure plan.”
On a day where the attack wasn’t at its best — compared to its 50 shot performance on Friday — Syracuse (4-4, 2-0 Atlantic Hockey America) still downed Delaware (1-7, 0-4 AHA) 1-0 on Saturday. The Orange outshot the Blue Hens 31-22, but relentless defensive effort from the latter — including 30 team blocks and 30 saves from Robitzer — held the game scoreless for 51 minutes. Rylee McLeod’s backhanded score through Robitzer’s legs lifted the Orange to victory.
Yet for Syracuse, the puck frequented the defensive end of the ice, with UD unleashing 11 shots to SU’s eight in the first period.
Despite just being a freshman, goaltender Ava Drabyk is already familiar with making saves at the college level. The Canadian goaltender went into Saturday’s bout with 164 saves in five career starts. She posted a season-high 96.2% save percentage on Friday, only letting in one of 26 Delaware shots.
“She’s been pretty steady in the net for us,” Smith said of Drabyk. “She’s faced some tough opponents, so she has been tested really early in her career.”
Drabyk immediately stepped up to the challenge, saving all 11 shots, including seven in the final five minutes of the period as Delaware piled on the pressure.
Those five minutes were the last Delaware seemed to be in control of the game.
As soon as the second period began, Jessica Cheung tested Robitzer. Her long-range wrist shot headed directly for the top right corner, making the Blue Hens goaltender scramble across the face of the goal to get to the puck in time.
Then, just two minutes after Cheung’s attempt, Jackson Kinsler forced the best out of Robitzer. SU’s Stella Costabile took advantage of a Delaware mistake with possession deep in Blue Hens territory. Costabile’s pass caught Kinsler skating across the face of the goal — 1-on-1 with Robitzer.
The Blue Hens goaltender quickly switched sides of the net to cut off Kinsler’s angle on the one-timer and point-blank denied the Orange’s best look of the game so far.
Despite being gifted three power plays after Robitzer saved Kinsler’s look, the Orange hadn’t truly threatened the Blue Hens goal until six minutes into the third period, when Kinsler rattled the crossbar with her second point-blank chance of the game. The Orange have consistently struggled with turning player advantages into goals, going 0-for-3 on power plays Friday, then 0-for-5 on Saturday.
But McLeod didn’t need a power play to make a difference. She took the game’s fate into her own hands Saturday. With eight minutes remaining, McLeod picked the pocket of Danica Mark, wrestling off the UD forward’s arms as she tried to regain possession by pulling her back. With a clear path to the goal, McLeod drove forward before flicking a backhand between Robitzer’s legs and into the back of the net.
The Blue Hens had no response.
McLeod’s second goal of the season sealed the win in Drabyk’s first career shutout. Although the starting goaltender job is still up for grabs, it’s always a joy for Smith to see her players achieve milestones.
“It was nice to see her get her first win yesterday and her first shutout of her career today,” Smith said. “Kudos to her, I’m always happy when our athletes can find their individual accolades.”
