Piacentini, Orange Battles #10 Northeastern To Final Whistle

Friday, October 9

Boston, MA

2 p.m.

Syracuse University

0-2-0

Northeastern

2-0-1

Syracuse

Northeastern

Piacentini, Orange Battles #10 Northeastern To Final Whistle

10/9/2015 5:09:00 PM | Ice Hockey

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass.- Despite senior Melissa Piacentini scoring twice in the third frame to pull the Orange within one goal, the Syracuse women's ice hockey team lost to #10 Northeastern on the road by a final score of 5-4.

Syracuse (0-2-0) outshot the Huskies 37-28 in the contest and were one early whistle away from overtime. In the second frame, sophomore Alysha Burriss should have had her first goal of the season, but the referees waved it off. After going to replay, it was evident that the puck crossed the goal line, but due to an early whistle on the play, the goal was waved off.

No. 10 Northeastern (2-0-1) remains undefeated after the stellar play from Kendall Coyne and Shelby Herrington. Coyne and Herrington each registered two goals, but it was Taytum Clairmont coming up big on a Huskies' power play by scoring the game-winning goal at the 14:15 mark in the third period.

"We were too little, too late after a tough start to the game," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "I thought we responded well and had our chances, but we just couldn't be as consistent as we would have liked. There was a span where we dominated, but some early miscues were the difference."

Piacentini, the Orange's all-time leading scorer, put together a strong overall performance on the ice by tallying an assist and two goals. After assisting on the Orange's first goal, Piacentini had a big third period. Just seven seconds into the third, Piacentini pulled Syracuse within a goal by going top shelf on Northeastern goaltender Sarah Foss. After the Clairmont goal, the senior then brought the Orange back within a goal again as just over three minutes remained, but the scoring for Syracuse would end there.

Coyne got the scoring going quickly for Northeastern, finding the back of the net twice in the first five minutes of play to put the Huskies up by two. Syracuse senior goaltender Jenn Gilligan started to settle in after the two Coyne goals by making 23 saves in the contest. The senior had some help from her classmates to keep the Orange within a goal for majority of the afternoon.

Senior captain Nicole Ferrara brought Syracuse within a goal exactly seven minutes into the first period after accepting a pass from Piacentini to score the Orange's first goal of the game. Every time Syracuse found an answer, Northeastern eventually did too. Herrington put the Huskies back up by two at the 12:05 mark before sophomore Megan Quinn scored her first collegiate goal, sending the Orange into the locker room down 3-2 after the first.

Both sides were scoreless for majority of the second frame until Herrington broke through for her second goal of the game with under three minutes left in the period. Two penalties, including a five-minute major called against the Huskies, gave the Orange a 5-3 man advantage to start the third period. Piacentini and Syracuse made the most out of it, starting off the third frame just seven seconds in by ripping a shot past Foss to make it 4-3. Despite the Orange pulling within a goal, Northeastern continued to find an answer.

As sophomore Dakota Derrer went to the box on a checking penalty, Northeastern made due as Clairmont gave the Huskies back a two-goal lead with six minutes left. Piacentini scored two minutes later to make it 5-4, but it would not be enough as the Huskies prevailed on their home ice.

"It's very early in the season and hopefully we can learn some lessons after today's game," Flanagan said. "We are excited about tomorrow and another opportunity to come away with a win against New Hampshire."

Syracuse will stay on the road for its next game as the Orange take on New Hampshire tomorrow at 2 p.m. Both live video and live stats are available via Cuse.com.