Tessa Janecke has dominated college hockey. That didn’t change against SU.
Despite Syracuse’s valiant effort, it fell 3-2 to Penn State Saturday due to Tessa Janecke’s two goals. Janecke is PSU’s all-time goals leader. Peter Radosh | Asst. Copy Editor
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Two days ago, Penn State’s Tessa Janecke was selected to Team USA for the upcoming Olympic Games in February – the first player in PSU women’s ice hockey history to join the team. It was for good reason.
Janecke has conquered collegiate ice hockey. She recently broke the Nittany Lions’ all-time goals (75) record against then-No. 2 Ohio State on Jan. 3. Last season, she led the AHA with 24 goals. She’s leading the conference with 16 this season, and has propelled Penn State to a 21-4 record.
There are very few ways to slow her down. Syracuse has learned that the hard way over the years. As a freshman in 2022-23, Janecke scored two goals in four games to spearhead a season sweep over SU. The following year, she added two more to win the season series over the Orange.
Would Syracuse finally slow her down on Saturday, or would she continue dominating en route to a season sweep?
The answer was the latter. Despite a valiant effort, Syracuse (12-13-3, 8-8-2 AHA) fell 3-2 to No. 4 Penn State (21-4-0, 15-1-0 AHA) Saturday, largely due to Janecke’s two goals and second-period equalizer. Janecke also went 9-of-16 on faceoffs in the Nittany Lions’ victory.
“(Janecke and PSU’s Grace Outwater) are a threat every time they step on the ice,” SU head coach Britini Smith said. “That’s something you have to know and be aware of when they’re out there.”
Syracuse’s schedule has been a gauntlet this season. It started the year off against then-No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, losing both contests. Just two weeks later, it was swept by then-No. 7 Quinnipiac at home. SU also played a top-5 Cornell team twice, going 0-1-1 in the series.
But Penn State is in a league of its own. That was especially evident when it outscored SU 18-2 over two games in November. Friday’s 4-1 loss was a step in the right direction, but the Orange were still statistically dominated.
Simply put, Janecke is the engine driving PSU’s offensive locomotive.
Knotted at one midway through the first period, an Emma Gnade penalty gifted the Nittany Lions a power play, putting SU in a perilous spot. Even with a strong performance Friday, SU’s penalty kill is tied with Mercyhurst for the worst in the AHA at 77.6%.
Janecke exploited Syracuse’s most glaring weakness in just 23 seconds.
With ease, Janecke ripped through two Syracuse defenders and glided down the ice for a goal to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. Syracuse goalie Ava Drabyk contested PSU’s lightning-quick shots extremely well on Friday, but she couldn’t respond to Janecke quickly enough on Saturday.
Five minutes into the second period, a Maya D’Arcy power-play strike evened the score at two. For a Syracuse team that’s lost to PSU by seven, nine and three goals this season, being in a physical dogfight with the Nittany Lions was progress.
“I think we just played a really strong team game,” Smith said. “We stuck within our systems. We stuck within our game plan.”
But progress isn’t enough against a team of Penn State and Janecke’s caliber.
After Heidi Knoll nearly gave Syracuse the lead back on a power play and D’Arcy almost snuck one past PSU goalie Maddy Campbell, Janecke had her signature moment of the weekend.
Gliding down the right side of the ice, she changed direction before rifling one into the right corner of the net.
Boom. Just like that, Penn State regained the lead for good.
Janecke is no stranger to clutch moments. Even in PSU’s 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst on Jan. 10, her third-period goal put the Nittany Lions ahead for the moment. Three days later, she won AHA Forward of the Week for the eleventh time in her career.
Drabyk held her own for most of the weekend. Especially when considering she was pulled in two straight games against PSU in November, her last two outings showed clear signs of growth. But even Drabyk’s improvements couldn’t contain Janecke.
“I feel like each weekend in this second half we’ve really built our game … every weekend is an opportunity to take that next step toward playoff hockey,” Smith said.
