Orange Hit the Road for #6 Princeton

SYRACUSE AT #6 PRINCETON
Game Details: Fri: 6 p.m. | Sat: Noon
Location: Princeton, N.J. | Hobey Baker Rink
Game Links: Game one watch | Game two watch | Live stats
Television: ESPN+
Twitter: @Cuseice
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)
Princeton Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Time to pack the bags and hit the road for the first road trip of the year. Syracuse heads to Princeton, N.J. this weekend for a two-game series against No. 6 Princeton in Hobey Baker Rink. Puck drop on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Saturday's game kicking off at noon. Both contests can be seen on ESPN+.

Early season grind
Syracuse has been grinding against some of the nation's top team's since the year opened. The Orange opened the year against No. 3 Clarkson before taking on No. 7 Boston College and No. 3 Northeastern. While Colgate was unranked, they were the runner-up in last season's NCAA Championship, and Princeton enters the weekend ranked sixth in the nation.

The Orange are in the midst of arguably their toughest season opener ever. There was a similar situation in 2010-11 when they opened against No. 8 New Hampshire, No. 9 Boston College, and No. 10 Providence. Syracuse went on to be the runner-up in the College Hockey America (CHA) Tournament that year, losing, 5-4, to No. 4 Mercyhurst.

Series History
The Tigers lead the all-time series 3-2-1 and have never lost to Syracuse at home. The Orange's last win against Princeton came on Dec. 12, 2009 in the second game of the series; SU won 1-0 at Tennity. The two programs played twice in Syracuse last year. Game one ended in a 1-1 tie, Princeton then took game two 5-3. Prior to last season, Princeton and Syracuse hadn't played since Dec. 11, 2010.

Scouting Princeton
The No. 6 Tigers open their season against Syracuse this weekend. Princeton was picked to finish second in the ECAC after coming off a record-breaking season where the Tigers claimed the Ivy League Championship, made an NCAA appearance, and established the nation's longest unbeaten streak. The Tigers had the nation's best power-play scorer (10 goals) in Maggie Connors (26-17-43) as well.

Forward Sarah Fillier and defender Claire Thompson were selected to the ECAC Hockey Preseason All-League team, claiming two of the six spots. Both are coming off of Hockey Canada National Development Team experience and both have been invited to Hockey Canada's Fall Festival in Nova Scotia.

Orange faceoffs
Syracuse has been dominant at the face off dot this year, having seen at least one center in five games earn double-digit wins. Pacing the team is sophomore Lauren Bellefontaine and her team-high 78 face off wins. Behind her are seniors Kelli Rowswell and Savannah Rennie who each have 34, followed by freshman Brynn Koocher (30).

            - Game 1 vs. Clarkson: Lauren Bellefontaine (18)
            - Game 3 vs. Boston College: Lauren Bellefontaine (12)
            - Game 5 vs. Northeastern: Kelli Rowswell (10)
            - Game 6 at Colgate: Lauren Bellefontaine (14)
            - Game 7 vs. Colgate: Lauren Bellefontaine (12)

Syracuse Rankings
            - Kelli Rowswell is one of 17 skaters in the nation to score a short-handed goal thus far.
            - Anonda Hoppner's two power-play goals are tied for seventh in the nation.
            - Syracuse is tied for 20th-best scoring offense. The Orange offense has recorded 14 goals through seven games (two/game).
            - Going into Friday night, the Orange ranked 14th the NCAA in power-play goals (5) and 16th in team saves (179).

Looking Ahead
Following Princeton, Syracuse travels to Schenectady, N.Y. on Oct. 29 for a game against Union. The Orange then return home to host RIT in the conference opener on Nov. 1.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Bellefontaine

Anonda Hoppner

Brynn Koocher

Savannah Rennie

Kelli Rowswell

Syracuse University Athletics