A day after Syracuse couldn’t keep up with a high-octane Mercyhurst offense, the Orange settled down and skated to an impressive tie.

The SU women’s ice hockey team (8-13-2, 0-2-2 College Hockey America) played the Lakers (15-4-1, 1-0-1 CHA) to a 1-1 draw Saturday afternoon at Tennity Ice Pavilion in front of 238 fans. The tie was a vast improvement for head coach Paul Flanagan’s squad after losing to Mercyhurst in an 8-4 laugher Friday night.

Syracuse received a great effort from Kallie Billadeau, who had been having an inconsistent season. The sophomore goaltender registered 33 saves, including 13 in the third period and one stop in overtime.

SU got ahead late in the first period when senior forward Lisa Mullan backhanded the puck past Mercyhurst goaltender Hillary Pattendon who already committed to one side of the cage. The goal put SU up 1-0.

That lead didn’t last long. A little more than a minute into the second period, Mercyhurst struck back when Christina Bestland took advantage of her team’s man-up advantage. Bestland knocked home a shot in front of the crease; the only blemish Billadeau had to her name all game.

The two teams played to a scoreless third period and overtime period with Syracuse not getting one shot off in the extra frame.

After the game, Flanagan was pleased from what he saw from his team against the No. 5 team in the country.

‘It’s a big strive for us, a big step in the right direction,’ Flanagan said in a postgame interview posted by SU Athletics.

Next up for the Orange is a date with Cornell on Jan. 17 on the road.

– Compiled by David Propper, staff writer, dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on January 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm