Brian Idalski starts Syracuse ice hockey tenure with 3-0 win over Stonehill
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Syracuse Athletic Director Bryan Blair watched from the stands of Tennity Ice Pavilion. So did Atlantic Hockey America Commissioner Michelle Morgan.
For Blair, it was a chance to watch his second head coaching hire begin his tenure at Syracuse. For Morgan, it was a chance to see the newest coach in her conference make his debut. For Brian Idalski, it was the first game of a new era.
And it started with a dominant win.
Syracuse (1-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) gave Idalski his first win as SU ice hockey’s head coach Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Stonehill (0-1-0, 0-0-0 New England Women’s Hockey). The Orange overwhelmed the Skyhawks with 60 shots on goal and held them to 17. It was the first glimpse of the intense, pressure-heavy identity Idalski has spent the offseason building with a new coaching staff and seven new players.
“We want to be aggressive,” Idalski said. “That starts in the D zone, but we were able to do that offensively a fair amount.”
The Orange spent the night making Stonehill feel that pressure. SU swarmed the Skyhawks from the opening minutes, turning loose pucks into possessions and those possessions into shots. By the time the first period neared its end, Syracuse had 16 shots on goal. Stonehill had three.
Idalski’s only problem: the scoreboard still read 0-0.
Skyhawks goalie Alexsa Caron kept Syracuse at bay, turning away chances from the slot and along the boards as the Orange searched for the finishing touch. Syracuse had the territorial advantage but couldn’t cash it in.
Then, with its final shot of the period, Syracuse scored to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The puck found Maryn Broderick at the point, and she wasted no time unloading a one-timer. The shot sailed high and wide, but Syracuse wasn’t done. It ricocheted off the boards and landed in Jocelyn Fiala’s path. Fiala swung at it and whiffed, but the puck kept sliding — straight to Emma Gnade.
Last season’s leading scorer didn’t waste a second. Gnade snapped the loose puck into the right side of the net. After 19 minutes of pressure without a breakthrough, Syracuse needed only one more chance to finally cash in.
Ava Drabyk ensured the other end of the ice stayed quiet, too. Four minutes into the opening period, Stonehill stole the puck on a power play and suddenly had a point-blank chance. Drabyk got big in the crease and corralled the shot into her body, gobbling up the chance before the Skyhawks could pounce on the rebound.
Then, with under a minute left, she did it again — this time sprawling across the crease to keep the puck from sneaking through.
“After the first, we did a much better job of managing pucks, getting pucks deep,” Idalski said.
Syracuse’s first goal didn’t slow it down. The Orange kept their foot on the gas, continuing to win possession in the offensive zone and force Stonehill into mistakes. The Skyhawks struggled to escape their own end, while SU kept feeding shots toward Caron.
After going scoreless on their first three power play opportunities, the Orange finally capitalized. Jessica Cheung collected the puck at the blue line, settled into the middle of the ice and started conducting traffic like a point guard. Jordan Blouin found her with a pass, and Cheung settled it with a quick stick handle before letting a shot go from the point.
Spencer Vaccari got in the way, swelling up to block the first attempt. But the puck trickled right back to Cheung. She didn’t need another invitation. Cheung unloaded a one-timer before Caron could resist, catching the Stonehill goalie off guard and doubling SU’s lead to 2-0.
The Orange carried their pressure into the third, turning the game into a shooting gallery.
Syracuse outshot the Skyhawks 23-5 in the final period, repeatedly winning pucks back and keeping Stonehill pinned in its own zone. Eight minutes into the period, Syracuse had 10 shots. Stonehill still had none.
With nine minutes left and Stonehill on the power play, the Skyhawks finally had a chance to make things interesting. Rachel Walsh blocked the initial shot, but the puck spilled to Vaccari, who let it bounce off the wall before firing toward Drabyk.
The shot kicked off Drabyk’s pad and landed right in front of the net, where Summer Combe pounced on the rebound. Drabyk got there first, smothering the chance before Stonehill could cut into Syracuse’s lead. She finished with 17 saves and her sixth-career shutout.
With just over five minutes left, Syracuse added another. Kerttu Lehmus found Blouin alone near the blue line, and she turned up ice before beating Caron one-on-one with a top-corner finish to make it 3-0.
Syracuse finished with 60 shots on goal, its most in a game since it recorded 63 against Post on Nov. 26, 2022. For 60 minutes, Idalski’s team looked less like a group learning a new system and more like one already comfortable applying it.
Afterward, Blair handed Idalski the game puck, a small reminder of what the night represented: his first win behind Syracuse’s bench.
For Idalski, though, Friday was only the beginning.
“It’s a process,” Idalski said post-game. “It’s a good start … there’s a lot of things that can be better.”
