SU ice hockey falls to Mercyhurst 5-2 for 1st loss of Brian Idalski era
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Syracuse had the better power play Saturday.
At least on paper.
SU scored once on six chances with the extra skater. Mercyhurst went 0-for-5. You’d think playing with an extra skater would make things easier. Instead, the Lakers found the net twice while shorthanded.
Syracuse (3-1-0, 1-1-0 Atlantic Hockey America) couldn’t turn its special-teams advantage into a second straight win, falling 5-2 to Mercyhurst (3-3-0, 1-1-0 AHA) at Mercyhurst Ice Center for its first loss under new head coach Brian Idalski. After Friday’s 3-1 victory, the Orange were outshot 36-22 Saturday and struggled to sustain the offensive pressure that fueled their win a night earlier.
For a while, the game looked like it might be decided by whichever team could finally take control.
Neither did.
The first five minutes were mostly a game of dump-and-chase, with both teams sending pucks deep and racing after them. Syracuse finally registered the first shot on goal nearly six minutes in, but Mercyhurst answered with something much more valuable on its first trip to the net.
Mariia Polozkova won the puck in the defensive end and bolted into Syracuse territory before finding Halle Duchene trailing the play. Duchene quickly moved it across to Zoe Cramer, who cut in front of the crease and beat Ava Drabyk.
The Orange had chances to erase the early deficit.
Jordan Blouin had a good look from the slot, Peyton Armstrong nearly finished a point-blank chance and Syracuse’s defense sacrificed itself repeatedly to keep Mercyhurst from extending its lead.
Jocelyn Fiala and Armstrong each went down blocking shots, while Rylee McLeod came up with two blocks late in the period that helped create a Syracuse two-on-one at the other end. But the Orange couldn’t turn those moments into goals.
Then came the power play.
Avery Norman went to the box for tripping Nea Tervonen with six minutes left in the first, giving Syracuse its first chance with an extra skater. The Orange settled into the offensive zone, moved the puck around and generated pressure, but only three of their shots reached Magdalena Luggin’s cage.
The opportunity disappeared without a goal. So did Syracuse’s second chance early in the next period.
The game returned to full strength after a four-on-four. Forty seconds later, Norman was called for roughing, giving Syracuse another power play. Seventeen seconds in, the extra skater became a liability.
Maryn Broderick recovered the puck near her own end after a clear, but her pass went straight to Julia Perjus in the high slot. Perjus glided into the left circle and beat Drabyk’s right shoulder for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0.
Syracuse had the numerical advantage. Mercyhurst had the advantage that mattered.
The Orange answered three minutes later, and the response came from a play that required no power play at all. Just a little bit of luck. Emma Gnade dumped the puck in from the blue line, and it ricocheted off the end boards right to Kinsler. She raced onto it and beat the Mercyhurst goalie five-hole, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
For a moment, Syracuse looked ready to flip the game. But Mercyhurst had other ideas.
Four and a half minutes later, SU had another power play. Another chance to make the extra skater count. Or, as Mercyhurst had already shown, another chance for the Lakers to turn Syracuse’s advantage into their own.
On the penalty kill, Berlin Lolacher launched the puck out of the Lakers’ zone and right into the path of Polozkova near the blue line. She had nobody between her and Drabyk. Polozkova went forehand to backhand, slipping the puck past Drabyk for Mercyhurst’s second shorthanded goal of the night.
The Orange nearly made it to the second intermission down by two. Nearly.
With nine seconds left, Mercyhurst’s power play expired. Syracuse had survived. Then Halle Duchene ripped a pass from the corner through the middle of the slot, where Polozkova was waiting. She buried it with just three seconds on the clock, scoring her second goal of the night and sending Mercyhurst into the third up 4-1.
Syracuse tried to make the third period interesting.
It took 20 seconds after Kate Donegan was sent to the box for the Orange to get back within two. Gnade found Kinsler at the back post, and Kinsler slammed the puck home for her second goal of the game.
This time, Syracuse actually made its power play count. But it was too little, too late.
Syracuse pulled Drabyk with two minutes remaining to create a six-on-five. But a defensive-zone turnover ended the final push. Duchene picked up the puck and found Lolacher, who buried it into the empty net with a minute left.
Syracuse spent Saturday searching for the advantage. It had the numbers. It had chances. It even had the better power-play numbers.
But Mercyhurst kept turning Syracuse’s best opportunities into its own. The Orange had the extra skater. The Lakers had the answers.
