Julie Knerr saw open ice in front of her from her own defensive zone.

There was a scrum in SU’s zone, but Heather Schwarz won the battle for the puck and flipped it ahead to Knerr skating down the ice. Knerr made a move to the right past Colgate’s lone defender, and sent a shot past Colgate goalie Ashlynne Rando’s glove and into the top-right corner of the net.

“I saw that Heather could have the puck so I just sprinted out,” Knerr said. “I got the puck and I saw that her glove side was wide open so I just shot it there.”

Knerr’s goal put the Orange up 2-0 with 13:20 left in the third period. It proved to be the deciding tally as Syracuse (1-0-0) beat Colgate (0-1-0), 2-1, in its season opener at Tennity Ice Pavilion on Thursday. The Orange won despite being marred by early penalties and missed opportunities.

“If we were able to do a better job converting who knows what the score might have been,” head coach Paul Flanagan said.

Not even three minutes into the game, SU’s two captains, Knerr and Akane Hosoyamada, were both in the box, leaving the team with a five-on-three situation.

Syracuse killed it off and with just 10 seconds left on the second penalty, freshman Stephanie Grossi managed a breakaway. She deked left then brought the puck back right, but Rando got the pad over in time.

Grossi had two more chances in the first when the Orange went on a power play, but couldn’t get either to go.

“Offensively we need to be more creative and put more pucks on net,” Flanagan said. “We didn’t really get good cycling going tonight.”

The second period began much like the first with SU being forced to kill off a penalty just 11 seconds in.

Five minutes later, Syracuse was defending a five-on-three again. Colgate’s Miriam Drubel struck a one-timer in front of the net, but SU goalie Jenn Gilligan was able to make the save on the near post.

“Whether it’s five-on-five, four-on-five or five-on-three, I’m just trying to stop the puck,” Gilligan said.

The junior stopped 20 shots between the pipes in her first game for Syracuse since transferring from New Hampshire.

SU finally broke through with 4:44 left in the second period. After a battle along the boards, Eleanor Haines found the puck on the end of her stick in front of the crease and put it home to put the Orange up 1-0.

“I saw the goalie was looking for it on the other side so I kind of just tucked it in,” Haines said.

As the second period winded down following another Colgate penalty, Grossi received a pass just inches outside of the crease and found the back of the net for what appeared to be SU’s second goal of the game.

But the referees ruled that a Colgate defender touched the puck before it got to Grossi and blew the play dead because of two delayed penalties.

With three players in the box for Colgate and an extended five-on-three opportunity, the Orange failed to capitalize again.

“We had some good bits, we just didn’t convert,” Flanagan said. “It’ll come.”

Colgate’s only goal of the game came less than three minutes after Knerr put the Orange up by two. Breanne Wilson-Bennett picked up the puck outside the right circle, spun around and took a shot the beat Gilligan for her only blemish of the night.

But the Orange had done enough to win, and will look to rectify its inconsistent play at Boston College on Saturday.

“It’ll be a little bit different atmosphere on Saturday,” Flanagan said. “In a short amount of time we have a lot of work to do.”

Published on October 3, 2014 at 1:17 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus