Syracuse University
15-8-2
St. Anselm
9-15-3
SU Sends Off Seniors with Sixth Straight
2/21/2009 6:05:40 PM | Ice Hockey
Syracuse 4, St. Ansem 1 | Season Statistics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Seniors Nikki Leone and Rachel Tilford put an appropriate cap on Syracuse's inaugural ice hockey season as the two fourth-year members figured into SU's final goal of the regular season for the Orange's sixth consecutive victory against St. Anselm, 4-1, at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Sophomore co-captain Stefanie Marty netted her first-career two-goal game, notching her fourth tally in as many games to fuel the Orange in its program-best sixth straight win. The Nussbaumen, Switzerland's fifth two-point game of the season confirmed her as the regular-season point leader with 21 overall (9 G, 12 A). Marty charges into the playoffs riding her second four-game pointstreak of the season.
Syracuse's other captain, sophomore Julie Rising, coordinated both of Marty's goals for her first two-assist outing since Sacred Heart on Oct. 31. Rising finished fourth on the team with 17 points (6G, 11A) and attempted a team-high 84 shots through 27 games.
Sophomore Rebecca Gordon cinched her first-career game-winning goal at the War Memorial, fifth marker of the season, to keep the Orange's momentum in full-swing with the postseason approaching.
Sophomore Keeta Koalska recorded her third point in four games by aiding on Gordon's game-winner, including her first career pointstreak with a goal in the final showing at Tennity Ice Pavilion in the program's first season. Freshman Janelle Malcolm attained her third assist of the year on the same goal.
Leone potted Syracuse's second empty net goal in program history as Tilford enabled her with the open look as a proper regular-season sendoff. First-year winger Megan Skelly secured her eighth assist of the season, 19th point overall, on Leone's empty netter and finished in a second-place tie in team points with freshman Lisa Mullan.
Junior goaltender Lucy Schoedel started all 27 regular season games for the Orange, thwarting 17 shots in her final test. Schoedel has made 688 saves for Syracuse this season and lowered her goals against average to 2.88.
"I'm glad to see we've won these last six games," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "It's a great ending to our regular season and a proper way to send off our two seniors, but I just got finished up saying in the locker room that our team motto from here on out is 'We've got a long way to go'. If we want to make some noise in the playoffs, we have to be mentally prepared and hungry for what's ahead of us."
Syracuse had trouble putting together and sort of set offense in the first period and St. Anselm made the Orange pay for it at 8:09 of the first period. Kelsey Johnson blew by an SU defenseman and cradled the puck down the left side and made a shifty move in front of Schoedel to deliver a successful backhand for the 1-0 lead. Cierra Ronaldo orchestrated the Hawks initial goal.
The Orange offense was still failing to find its rhythm until Rising furnished Marty with the puck who then charged down the sheet and fired a shot on Carley Berry. St. A's netminder let the puck get away and Marty cashed in at 17:58 to knot the game at 1-1.
The second period proved to be an equal defensive standoff as the Orange recorded nine shots to St. Anselm's eight, yet no teams discovered the back of the net.
As overtime loomed with the score tied, Syracuse snapped out of its funk and scored two goals within 13 seconds apart. Syracuse worked the puck into St. A's zone as Koalska and Rising schemed together to connect with Gordon in front of the net. Gordon lifted the disc in backhand fashion past Berry for the 2-1 edge at 15:35 of the third. Marty wasted no time to put the nail in the coffin as the sophomore chipped in the puck in the midst of a scrum at 15:48 for the two-goal pad, 3-1.
As SU's two seniors final regular season minutes dwindled, Tilford linked up to put the game out of reach at 18:53. Gordon was whistled for a checking call at 18:35 to give the Hawks a man-advantage. St. A's called a timeout at 1:25 and pulled their goalie at the same time to enable St. Anselm with the 6-on-4 matchup. Skelly snagged the puck out of the neutral zone, dished it to Tilford who connected with Leone for her first shorthanded goal of the season to close SU's chapter of its inaugural season with a 4-1 victory in downtown Syracuse.
The Orange finished above .500 in the Salt City with a 6-5-1 overall mark this year.
Syracuse will be faced with one final test before embarking upon its first trip to the postseason. The Orange will travel to Montreal, Quebec to take on the No. 1 team in the country, McGill, on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Tuesday's international affair will be SU's final precursor to the CHA Tournament which starts on Thursday, March 5, in Erie, Pa. The conference tournament will be hosted by Mercyhurst College.
