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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Not for this Syracuse team.

Based on all it accomplished throughout the 2025-26 campaign, it seemed like SU was poised to embark on an Atlantic Hockey America postseason run much deeper than last year’s. Despite possessing a schedule filled with 12 ranked matchups, the Orange found a way to close the season as one of the conference’s hottest teams.

It proved itself as a real threat in the AHA on multiple occasions, namely when it stunned Mercyhurst and then-No. 5 Cornell with shootout victories in late November.

Even though SU didn’t play well enough to secure home ice advantage come playoff time, it didn’t matter. The Orange made a statement by coming into the Rochester Institute of Technology and knocking off the Tigers in a double-overtime thriller — even without Olympic-bound head coach Britni Smith behind its bench.

With those feats in the rearview, there was reason to believe the Orange could exorcise their demons from State College Saturday, even after an ugly loss to open the series. But for the sixth and final time this season, the Orange couldn’t solve the Nittany Lions.

For the second straight year, No. 5 seed Syracuse’s (15-18-4, 10-12-3 AHA) conference championship aspirations were shattered in the AHA Semifinals with a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of No. 1 seed Penn State (31-5, 23-2 AHA) Saturday.

After being silenced in the first period and surrendering the opening goal, Syracuse struck back with an improved performance in the middle frame to draw even. Still, a late Abby Stonehouse tally before the second intermission became the game-winner, as the Nittany Lions held on to oust the Orange.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to get our goalie out at the end and had a couple chances 6-on-5. Really proud of our efforts. I think we left everything out on the ice tonight,” Smith said.

Coming off a hectic Game 1 where both the Orange’s goaltenders were completely overwhelmed by the Nittany Lions’ offensive firepower, SU hoped to set the pace this time around by winning puck battles and getting as many shots on net as possible early on. That didn’t happen.

In fact, Syracuse failed to register a single shot on net throughout the opening 20 minutes — not exactly a recipe for success against one of the nation’s top netminders in Katie DeSa, who sat bored in her crease for minutes on end. Each time SU’s forwards even made their way close to the Penn State blue line, they were almost instantly met with a well-timed PSU poke check.

At the other end, Penn State’s offense went to work from the moment the puck dropped. Boosted by an early penalty call on Jocelyn Fiala, the Nittany Lions swarmed goalie Ava Drabyk with shot attempts and possessed the puck for most of the two-minute stretch. But thanks to Jessica Cheung’s efforts, the netminder didn’t have to make a single save.

As she’s done all year, Cheung didn’t hesitate to put her body on the line to make a play. She came up with a crucial shot block on Leah Stecker’s bid to help snuff out PSU’s power-play opportunity — the first of her game-high five that evening.

Still, Cheung couldn’t do it all. Luckily, Drabyk managed to pick up the slack when she was finally tested. Faced with a seven-shot flurry over the first 11 minutes, SU’s freshman phenom kept the game level as SU’s offense remained nonexistent.

When Penn State managed to break through for the game’s first goal late in the period, it took a snipe from its all-time points leader to do so.

Accepting a pass from Katelyn Roberts as she crossed the blue line, Tessa Janecke made the most of the little open ice in front of her. Even with Celia Wiegand right in her face, she showed off her Olympic-level release with a quick wrist shot that beat Drabyk cleanly on the glove side.

“As much as we didn’t generate a ton of offense in the first period, we also kept them to eight shots, and we were really stingy defensively. After that period, we were in a good spot,” Smith said.

With Syracuse down 1-0 to open the second, the pressure to score was at its peak. SU took the ice with a new sense of urgency. Further timely blocks in front of Drabyk and tight neutral zone defense from the Orange gave the Nittany Lions’ forwards fits, which forced them to repeatedly dump the puck into SU’s zone and regroup.

A few minutes into the middle frame, SU’s relentless defense finally allowed it to find some offense. With 17:47 remaining, Jordan Blouin broke through for SU’s first shot on net from the left side. Heidi Knoll narrowly missed on another chance from close range shortly after, signaling Syracuse’s stagnant offense had woken up.

Those close chances came to a head thanks to Jackson Kinsler. Following Stella Costabile’s wraparound try, the speedy winger collected the puck before anyone else saw it and backhanded it into the gaping net for her first goal of the postseason.

With their offense energized, the Orange continued to match the Nittany Lions at both ends of the ice. They even came within inches of jumping in front at times, with the closest bid coming off the stick of Rylee McLeod, who snuck past two PSU defenders and nearly beat DeSa on the ensuing breakaway.

All season, one of Syracuse’s biggest weaknesses was its inability to stay out of the box, as it racked up six or more penalty minutes in 27 of its 34 regular-season contests. Just as it’d done in Game 1 against the Nittany Lions, that trend showed itself at the worst possible time again Saturday, when Syracuse committed back-to-back penalties in the second period.

The Orange barely managed to kill off the first of the two but doing so only delayed the inevitable. Handed another 5-on-4 chance in the final few minutes of the period — their third of the game — the Nittany Lions didn’t miss.

Receiving the puck from the top of the left circle, Grace Outwater fired a wrist shot on net that found its way through a partially screened Drabyk. The miscue ultimately cost SU its season, because despite throwing everything it had at PSU throughout the third period that followed, its tying goal never came.

“We gave up one on the penalty kill, but I thought we also killed probably a couple more minutes than we would have liked tonight. They handled it well,” Smith said.

When Smith stepped into the locker room after the game, she didn’t give her team much of a postgame speech. She knew there was nothing she could say to remedy the sting. Instead, she allowed her players to sit in silence for a moment and reflect on the season. Then, one by one, multiple players stood up and said a few words to the room before leaving.

The moment reflected the tight-knit bond that’s defined Syracuse since it first dropped the puck on the 2025-26 season, a campaign that — despite ending without a banner — gives the program good reason to be optimistic going forward. Need proof? Just ask Smith.

“Each year, I feel like we’ve continued to grow,” Smith said. “When you look at the start of the season this year (compared) to where we ended, there’s just so much positivity. There’s so much to look forward to with this group as well.

“There’s a lot of things you look back on and remember, and to pick a certain thing that makes this group different, I think you saw it tonight in terms of the heart we had in our last game.”

Published on February 28, 2026 at 8:32 pm
Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu | @ma77hew_gray