Orange Heads into Crucial CHA Weekend

SYRACUSE (6-12-8, 4-4-4 CHA) at PENN STATE (13-10-3, 7-5-1 CHA)
Date & Time	Friday/Saturday, Jan. 30/31 7/2 p.m.
Location	Pegula Ice Arena \| University Park, Pa.
Web Stream	BigTen2Go
Game Notes	Syracuse \| PSU
Live Stats	Cuse.com
Cuse Social Media	@Cuse
Hockey Social Media	@CuseIce

'Cuse Closes Out Road Stretch
- Following a loss to RIT in last weekend's lone contest, the Orange return to the road for the final two games of its eight-straight away from home this weekend in Happy Valley.
- The game is crucial for the Orange, which now sits in a tie with Robert Morris for third in the CHA standings, three points behind Penn State for second.
- Following this weekend, Syracus has just six games left in the regular season, with five of those taking place at Tennity Arena.

'Cuse vs. Penn State
- SU is 9-0-1 all-time against Penn State, with the Orange outscoring the Nittany Lions 32-10.
- Melissa Piacentini has been the best member of the Orange against Penn State, with seven goals and four assists in eight career games (1.4 points per game).
- Syracuse won and tied Penn State in the teams two earlier meetings this year. The Orange took the first contest 3-1 before Penn State rallied in game-two for a late goal with just over three minutes left to force a tie.
- Last season, Syracuse won all-four contests against the Nittany Lions, three of which were one-goal wins.
- In addition to Piacentini, nine other members of the Orange have recorded points against their CHA rival.
- Nicole Renault seven (2 goals, 5 assists), Kaillie Goodnough seven (2 goals , 6 assists), Jessica Sibley four (2 goals, 2 assists), Akane Hosoyamada three (1 goal, 2 assists), Allie LaCombe three (2 goals, 1 assist), Julie Knerr three (2 g, one assist), Heather Schwarz two (2 assists), Danielle Leslie two (1 goal, 1 assist), Stephanie Grossi two (2 assists), Alysha Burriss one (1 goal) and Emily Costales one (1 assist) .

Scouting the Nittany Lions
- Penn State currently sits in second in the CHA (15 points)
- The Nittany lions are led offensively by Laura Bowman, who ranks third in the league with 12 goals this season.
- In net, Penn State has a pair of solid options in Celine Whitlinger and Hannah Ehresmann, who rank third and fourth in goals against average respectively in the CHA.

Grossi Dishes Out the Assists
- Freshman Stephanie Grossi leads the Orange with 22 points on the year, with the main reason being her ability to set up her teammates.
- Grossi has 15 assists on the season (25 games) which ties for the league lead ranks fourth in the nation amongst rookies (44th overall).

Chasing the Century Mark
- SU has 98 wins in the seven-year history of the program.
- The Orange has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons.

LaCombe Dominating the Dot
- Winger Allie LaCombe has been a pleasant surprise since she began taking draws for the Orange.
- She leads the Orange and CHA with a .642 faceoff percentage.
- She has taken more faceoffs as the season has worn on, averaging more than 10 faceoffs taken per game over the last-six games after taking just nine faceoffs in the first-11 games of the season.
- LaCombe's .642 face off percentage ranks fifth nationally.
- She is winning more than 70 percent (.702) of her faceoffs in CHA games, which ranks second nationally in the most faceoffs won in league play.

Freshmen Phenoms
- Freshman forwards Stephanie Grossi, Alysha Burriss and Emily Costales have made an immediate impact on the Orange up front, while teammates Megan Quinn and Dakota Derrer have each played strong on the blue line for the Orange.
- Grossi and Burriss (who are first and second on the Orange with 22 and 18 points respectively) make 'Cuse one of three teams with a pair of freshmen leading the team in scoring (joining Colgate and Minnesota State).
- Additionally, Grossi and Burriss are one of only four freshmen tandems to combine for over 40 points. Joining Kenzie Kent and Tori Sullivan from Boston College (46 combined pts.), Wisconsin's Annie Pankowski and Emily Clark (41 combined points) and Minnesota's Kelly Pannek and Cara Piazza (40 combined points).

Not So Tini on the Power Play
- Junior forward Melissa Piacentini has been clutch in extra-man opportunities for the Orange so far this season.
- Piacentini is tied for both the NCAA and CHA lead with eight power play goals.
- Piacentini has accounted for 50-percent of Syracuse's power play goals this season.
- 57-percent of her total goals this season have come as part of the power play.

Syracuse University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Alysha Burriss

Emily Costales

Dakota Derrer

Kaillie Goodnough

Stephanie Grossi

Akane Hosoyamada

Julie Knerr

Allie LaCombe

Danielle Leslie

Melissa Piacentini

Megan Quinn

Nicole Renault

Heather Schwarz

Jessica Sibley

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