Syracuse reverts to working on fundamentals after blowout loss in preparation for pair of home matchups
/ The Daily Orange
In Syracuse’s first game of the season, it outlasted Colgate 2-1, but barely.
“Well, we got through it,” head coach Paul Flanagan said after the game.
But against Boston College, two days later, the Orange lost 10-2 in a game in which it was outmatched in nearly every aspect.
The team was unprepared for Colgate, Flanagan said, and unprepared for Boston College, too.
SU has gone back to basics since, working on fundamentals ahead of its two games this weekend. The Orange (1-1) hosts Northeastern (0-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and New Hampshire (0-3) at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. In practice this week, the team has focused on the simple skills it needs to improve on the most, Flanagan said: passing, puck handling, one-on-ones and crashing the net.
The early-season problems haven’t been systematic, Flanagan said. Instead, each player needs to improve her in-game production, starting with the upperclassmen.
The Orange was penalized eight times against Colgate and six times against Boston College.
“We’ve been playing the body a lot, which is what we need to do in women’s hockey, but we just need to keep moving our feet,” said SU defender Nicole Renault. “That way we don’t get called for those penalties.”
The players need to take better paths to the puck, Flanagan said, so they don’t have to use their bodies and take penalties.
Against Colgate, the constant penalties ruined any chance the team had of maintaining possession and creating momentum in the offensive zone. Against Boston College, two of the Orange’s six penalties led to goals.
The team has also struggled with turnovers and winning one-on-one puck battles.
“They got to pucks that we had,” Flanagan said about the Boston College game. “We had pucks and they just took it away from us.”
The players need to get more shots off instead of trying to be fancy with the puck, Flanagan said. SU was outshot 41-17 by Boston College.
Some of the players Flanagan hoped to rely on early in the year were the team’s upperclassmen. But against Boston College, the freshmen generated most of Syracuse’s offense.
“They all played last year when we beat BC here, 4-1, and upset them and really didn’t carry any of that experience with them,” Flanagan said of the older players on the team.
Stephanie Grossi, a freshman forward, scored one of SU’s two goals and led the team in shots.
The only senior to find the back of the net for the Orange so far this year is senior forward Julie Knerr, who scored on her only shot of the season — the game-winner against Colgate.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” said senior forward Allie LaCombe. “It’s early in the season. We only have two games under our belt so it’s nice to … come back from summer and start playing again. Hopefully we can start producing like we should be.”
Published on October 9, 2014 at 12:10 am
Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus