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Syracuse has stomached plenty of tough losses to Penn State, but none like its two-game set in State College in mid-November 2025.

After its offense was muted in a 7-0 shutout on Nov. 15, things spiraled further out of control for SU when it was bludgeoned 11-2 the next day. Usually an anchor between the pipes, rookie phenom Ava Drabyk was chased from the net in both contests.

With a chance to make a statement by staining PSU’s undefeated record, the Orange didn’t come close. The 16-goal margin of defeat marked SU’s most lopsided conference series loss in program history. When Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal took the podium, he succinctly summarized SU’s current status while lauding his team’s near-flawless performance.

“(Syracuse) is going to have a long bus ride home thinking about this weekend,” Kampersal said.

But with the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear those two days of embarrassment were exactly what SU’s roster needed. Since those shellackings, the Orange (14-15-3, 10-10-2 Atlantic Hockey America) have altered the course of their season, consistently delivering impressive performances in both conference and nonconference play.

Syracuse has claimed points in 11 of its last 17 games behind an improved power-play unit, newcomers stepping up and frequent brilliance from Drabyk. It’s now just one point removed from the AHA’s No. 3 seed with two regular-season games left.

After that long bus ride back to campus, SU began its hot streak against Mercyhurst — the squads’ first meetings since last year’s AHA Semifinals.

Trailing 2-1 with just 1:31 remaining in the first game, Celia Wiegand forced overtime with her third goal of the season. After a scoreless extra frame, a Heidi Knoll shootout tally secured two crucial AHA points for the Orange. Syracuse almost pulled off similar late-game heroics the next day in a narrow 3-2 defeat.

The following weekend, the Orange again found themselves in a nail-biter. In its final ranked nonconference clash of the campaign, SU avenged its previous loss to then-No. 5 Cornell, also snapping its 17-game losing streak to the Big Red. Pushed by Stella Costabile’s game-tying goal with under five minutes left, Syracuse won the ensuing shootout to snatch an extra point from one of the NCAA’s juggernauts.

From there, Syracuse’s newfound confidence only continued to grow. From Nov. 28, 2025 to Jan. 10, 2026, the Orange enjoyed a 6-1-1 stretch — opening 2026 with a four-game win streak that saw it jump from one of the AHA’s basement dwellers to a top-four seed in the conference.

Given a chance for revenge on Penn State, Syracuse was brought back down to Earth with 4-1 and 3-2 losses. The setback was only temporary though, as SU got back on track by splitting its next two series with Lindenwood and RIT.

With many new players entering the lineup and veterans Tatum White, Bryn Saarela and Charli Kettyle departing, Syracuse was forced to retool its power-play unit. Initially, the change in personnel was glaring. The Orange’s player-up unit rarely made an impact, scoring in four of SU’s first 21 games.

Now, the group has finally found the consistency SU head coach Britni Smith demands. In its past six series dating back to Dec. 5, 2025, Syracuse has scored at least once on the power play.

“We challenged our power-play players to take ownership of (the unit) and to make sure that’s something that gives us a spark,” Smith said after SU’s 3-0 shutout of Robert Morris on Jan. 9. “Our goal is to make sure that each weekend we’ve had a power play goal, and they’ve one-upped it.”

Returners Nea Tervonen and Peyton Armstrong lead the Orange with three power-play tallies apiece, but the unit has thrived by spreading the wealth. Eight SU players have found the back of the net in player-up situations, including three freshmen.

Two of those newcomers — Jordan Blouin and Emma Gnade — have sparked SU’s offense since the beginning. In Syracuse’s matchup with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Gnade’s hat trick singlehandedly pushed the Orange to a win on Nov. 29, 2025. Four games later, Blouin shined with a goal and an assist to help lift Syracuse past Delaware 3-1. The duo has combined for 15 points (six goals, nine assists) since SU’s dreadful weekend at State College.

“It just takes time to incorporate new players into the team. Once they start to learn our systems, play our structure and how to play our game, it comes together for us,” associate head coach Heather Farrell said following SU’s game at RIT on Feb. 7.

Though Gnade and Blouin have been valuable additions for the Orange, no rookie has been more instrumental to SU’s success this campaign than Drabyk. Originally competing for playing time in SU’s goaltending carousel, the former Team Canada puck stopper won the starting job with her poise between the pipes early in the campaign.

During Syracuse’s recent resurgence, she’s continued to cement herself in that role. Drabyk has recorded a .900 save percentage in all but one of her past 17 games, a stretch highlighted by three straight shutouts from Jan. 3-10. Her .929% overall save percentage ranks second in the AHA and 22nd in the nation.

But Drabyk can’t do it all. The young netminder will need all the help she can get as Syracuse looks to translate its recent success into the program’s third conference championship appearance since 2019.

With the AHA’s top two seeds already locked up, the Orange are well aware the climb ahead will be steep. But if they continue to play how they have since mid-November, they might just wind up making history.

“Down the stretch here we’ve continued to get better, we’ve continued to play our game for 60 minutes,” Farrell said. “I think we’ll be excited about the end result.”

Published on February 9, 2026 at 10:11 pm
Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray