On a two-on-one advantage with three minutes left, Syracuse had a chance to tie the game against Mercyhurst on Friday. But the shot by Margot Scharfe clanked off the post, and Syracuse was out of luck once again, falling by one goal.

It has been an all-too-familiar trend SU head coach Paul Flanagan has faced all season long.

‘A bounce here and there,’ Flanagan said. ‘I mean that’s kind of been the story of our season from start to finish. … That kind of sums things up. In a good year, those goals go in and you continue on and you get the ‘W.”

But wins and lucky breaks were hard to come by for Flanagan and his team in a disappointing campaign. And though SU’s season of misfortune was seen on the ice, it was noticed off the ice as well. Flanagan dealt with multiple injuries to key players and dealt with top-tier players transferring away before the season even began. Still, the players gained valuable experience, and the Orange returns its nucleus for next season.

Syracuse (10-22-3, 1-8-3 College Hockey America) earned just one conference win on the season. For the first time since the program’s first season in 2008, SU failed to advance to the CHA tournament finals. Syracuse scored a program-low 78 goals and allowed program-high goals against with 115.

‘That’s kind of how the whole year felt,’ senior defender Lisa Mullan said. ‘So like nothing could go our way, from the small things like little bounces on the ice to injuries and transfers. It seemed like nothing was going our way this year.’

The trouble for the Orange started before the season began. Star forward Isabel Menard, who led the team in scoring last year, left the program to play for Boston University. Kelsey Welch had a big year at Niagara, tallying 17 points for the Purple Eagles.

Syracuse also dealt with the losses of Mullan, Akane Hosoyamada, Allie LaCombe and Jenesica Drinkwater to injury at various points. Christina LaCombe also left midway through the season due to personal reasons.

That left holes in the lineup at times, and senior forward Megan Skelly said it made it hard to put together consistent performances.

‘It is a lot harder when people are missing, even if it’s for a couple of days, because it ultimately affects the lineup, the chemistry of the team, the line,’ Skelly said. ‘Not even having certain players, it affects everything.’

While the injuries complicated things for Flanagan, it also allowed him to insert other capable players. Underclassmen Margot Scharfe, Holly Carrie-Mattimoe, Nicole Ferrara and Shiann Darkangelo all showed flashes of being scoring threats.

Carrie-Mattiemoe and Scharfe were the top two goal scorers on the team. Darkangelo notched a hat trick in the final game of the season.

Flanagan said he wasn’t sure what to expect from Scharfe entering the season. But she surprised Flanagan with her production. Scharfe scored 13 goals and dished out 13 assists, tying Mattimoe for the team lead in points.

Flanagan pegged Ferrara as a player on the third or fourth line, but she worked her way onto the first line and was fourth on the team in scoring.

‘Our freshmen are really going to be a whole different squad,’ Mullan said. ‘The skills there now, I think they’re going to have the confidence.’

But this season, that confidence never developed. The losses piled up with each bad bounce.

Still, Skelly knows being a bottom-feeder in the CHA is not the standard Syracuse has to set for itself during her career. With the talent the Orange returns, the 2011-12 campaign is just a bump in the road for the young program.

‘Hopefully they can build on the positives of this season,’ Skelly said. ‘Although it might not be the most positive, you’ve got to take out what you can and prove this season didn’t reflect what this program’s about.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on March 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm