Syracuse ice hockey downs Stonehill 4-1 to open Brian Idalski era 2-0
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Syracuse ice hockey head coach Brian Idalski had an explanation for Syracuse’s 63 shots on goal Saturday after firing 60 the night before.
Stonehill was shorthanded, he said. Some illness had gone through the Skyhawks’ roster, and SU knew it.
Fair enough; that’s one way of putting it.
Another: The Orange spent the weekend making Stonehill look like it couldn’t escape the Matrix. Syracuse outshot the Skyhawks 123-37 and outscored them 7-1 across the two games, sweeping its opening weekend under Idalski.
With a 4-1 win over Stonehill (0-2-0, 0-0-0 New England Women’s Hockey), Syracuse (2-0-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) finished its weekend-long sweep Saturday, giving Idalski a 2-0 start to his SU term. After Friday’s 3-0 win, the Orange showed a sharper version of the pressure-heavy identity Idalski spent the offseason building.
“The execution of some of the structure (was higher), and being relentless on pucks,” Idalski said. “I thought we played a pretty solid 60 minutes of hockey.”
It was the Matrix in hockey form: Stonehill could clear the puck out of the zone, only for the Orange to send it back in.
Seven minutes into the game, Syracuse’s early pressure turned into a 1-0 lead.
Jordan Blouin collected a pass off the boards in the far corner. She needed an outlet. Somehow the 6-foot-1 Maryn Broderick had a three-foot radius of open ice. She fired a one-timer, and the crowd held its breath for a moment as the puck appeared to go in. Play carried on, and the rebound fell to Stella Costabile right in front, who cleaned up the scraps.
It was the kind of sequence Idalski spent the offseason asking for. Get pucks to the net. Crash the crease. Make the next play.
SU’s pressure kept creating chances. After Syracuse won three straight offensive-zone faceoffs, Stonehill finally broke down on the fourth, winning the draw but sending the puck blindly through the middle. Emma Gnade intercepted it in the high slot and immediately challenged Alexsa Caron’s glove.
But early in the second period, Stonehill, in what seemed like its only dangerous chance of the game, found a way through.
About four minutes in, a Jessica Cheung turnover at the Syracuse blue line gave the Skyhawks an opening. Julie Morrison crossed into the offensive zone and slid the puck beneath a Syracuse stick to Peyton Wise. She took advantage with a finish across the body of SU goalie Ava Drabyk to tie the game 1-1.
For the first time all weekend, the Orange had to respond to a game that they weren’t in total control of. They did so swiftly.
“Well, there’s no reason to panic,” Idalski said. “I thought we were playing pretty well, and we were creating a ton of scoring opportunities.”
Just over two minutes later, SU turned a two-on-one into another chance. Kerttu Lehmus found Peyton Armstrong on her backhand. She got a shot off, testing Caron’s far pad. Caron turned it away, but the rebound trickled right to Jackson Kinsler. She skated into a slap shot, putting the Orange back in front 2-1.
“Put your head down, go back to work a little bit, have faith in what we’re doing,” Idalski said.
Syracuse did exactly that. With about two and a half minutes left in the second, Rylee McLeod’s pressure forced another Stonehill turnover, gifting Kinsler the puck at the top of the slot. The forward couldn’t get a clean shot off, but the Orange kept coming.
Kinsler’s first goal gave Syracuse the lead. Less than three minutes into the third, she was in the right place again.
Gnade peeled across the middle with the puck on her backhand and fired a low attempt. It deflected off a stick, but the puck once again fell to Kinsler’s lap, who dropped to one knee and fired into the open cage before the Stonehill goaltender could readjust to put SU up 3-1.
And then came the cherry on top.
With 19 seconds left, Cheung regained possession in the neutral zone after Kendra Raypholtz’s press forced a Skyhawks clear. The defender found herself with open ice in front of her. Nobody stepped up as she carried the puck past the blue line and into the slot. She fired to Caron’s right, adding Syracuse’s fourth goal of the night.
It was another example of the Orange turning pressure into an opponent’s mistake. Stonehill had spent most of the night trying to get out of its own end. This time, it never had the chance to set up defensively.
The Orange left Tennity Ice Pavilion this weekend with two wins, seven goals and 123 shots on goal, including 63 Saturday — the fifth-highest total in a single game in program history.
“We’re able to grind down teams with speed and relentlessness,” Kinsler said. “Putting them away one shift at a time, one period at a time.”
The Matrix had nothing on Tennity Ice Pavilion.
Stonehill spent Saturday trying to escape.
Syracuse spent Saturday making sure it couldn’t.
