Emma Muchnick, Caroline Trinkaus ignite for hat tricks in win over UAlbany
Emma Muchnick scored a hat trick in Syracuse's 10-8 win over UAlbany, helping power the Orange's offense alongside Caroline Trinkaus. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse could make all the excuses it wanted. Quick turnaround from Saturday. Matchup on opponent soil. Playing outside, something SU had done just three times this season. It could be as complacent as it wanted — and likely still steal a win from UAlbany.
But when you play an inferior squad like the Great Danes, new opportunities arise. Maybe try some nifty tricks, as Emma Muchnick did with a behind-the-back goal in the second quarter. Get some players involved who hadn’t been. Release your wrath when you’ve kept it hidden.
For Muchnick and Caroline Trinkaus — the Orange’s expected leading scorers — some would view this campaign as a disappointment. Through 10 games this season, they’d done well enough for Syracuse to win seven straight. Tuesday, however, was their chance to unload.
And boy, did they.
Muchnick and Trinkaus each recorded their first hat tricks of the season, propelling No. 5 SU (8-3, 4-2 ACC) to a narrow 10-8 victory over UAlbany (7-3, 2-0 America East). Trinkaus’ three goals materialized in just 15 minutes and 36 seconds, Syracuse’s fastest hat trick this season. Although Muchnick took a bit longer — 39 minutes and three seconds to be exact — her goals proved to be the dagger, avoiding a deflating upset defeat.
“We made a few shots,” SU head coach Regy Thorpe said. “We’re fortunate to get the goals we did tonight. We needed every one of them.”
It’s concerning that the Great Danes hung around as late as they did. The Orange’s lead never grew to more than three. Their pristine defense, which held their last five opponents to six or fewer goals, continued to terrorize opposing attacks. So, what went wrong?
Molly Guzik, for one, was outmatched in the draw circle by Paisley Cook, who entered the game with 99 draw wins, the sixth-most in the nation. Daniella Guyette finished with a putrid 33.3% save percentage, her second-worst mark when facing more than two shots on goal. The Orange failed three clears.
But when Syracuse needed a liberator, of course, it looked to Muchnick and Trinkaus.
“You gotta show up,” Thorpe said. “This year, it’s a week-to-week league.”
This week, the pairing immediately stepped up. Trinkaus scored the Orange’s first goal of the afternoon, receiving a pass from Molly Guzik before pulling her stick from left to right to evade two UAlbany defenders. From there, Trinkaus rushed the crease, cranked back and released a shot into the net’s upper right corner past a tardy Grace Cincebox.
It seemed Syracuse would follow with an offensive onslaught, but instead, SU’s offense dozed off. The Great Danes tied the game at 1-1, setting up a brand new ballgame.
Thorpe said Syracuse had a few flashes of being a complete 60-minute team. Those prior moments were the few that lacked. The next, however, were the ones that gave Thorpe hope that the Orange can execute for a full 60 in the future.
Syracuse went on a 3-1 run to end the first quarter, Trinkaus’ second goal sandwiched between scores from Guzik and Annie Parker. She did this one on her own. Beyond the 12-meter fan, Trinkaus pushed Great Danes defender Kimaura Schindler toward the goalie box. When Trinkaus wrapped around Schindler, she rapidly tried a right-handed overhand shot, this one slipping into the bottom left corner.
After Parker scored with 4:58 to go in the first quarter, the Orange were silenced for the next five and a half minutes. UAlbany had worked its deficit to an attainable two goals.
But to start the second, Trinkaus added her third. Four white jerseys lay in front of her, yet Trinkaus, sporting Syracuse’s road blue, didn’t hesitate. She crept into the eight-meter arc, firing the ball into the back of the net. For the third time in just over 15 minutes, her teammates swarmed her in excitement.
“(This is) a gritty group,” Thorpe said.
Who knows where SU would’ve been without Trinkaus? It got a taste of that when she disappeared.
Muchnick, however, emerged in her stead. With 4:35 left in the second quarter, Muchnick, who stood mere feet in front of Cincebox, collected a pass from Joely Caramelli. She faked forward with her right hand, forcing both Cincebox and defender Emma Torkoff to flinch forward.
Muchnick had the open net. She swung her stick behind her neck, ripping a shot straight into the top right corner. She then threw her stick in celebration, hands in the air, as UAlbany’s defense gazed forward in exhaustion — and awe.
Her next two goals didn’t come close to beating her first, but as UAlbany inched back in, Muchnick helped the Orange separate.
A loss to the Great Danes would’ve been detrimental to the Orange’s rising program. As ranked matchups loom ahead, Muchnick and Trinkaus — as they showed Tuesday — alongside leading scorer Guzik may be the key to Syracuse finishing its fantastic season on the right foot.
