Syracuse has had no problem this season getting shots off. Unfortunately for it, a high shot total hasn’t necessarily translated to wins.

“Of course, all that matters is the score,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “But when you’ve outshot a team … it’s pretty frustrating to go on and lose.”

Syracuse (6-12-8, 4-4-4 College Hockey America) has outshot its opponents 756-671 this season, but has been outscored 80-52. The Orange will look to convert those shots into goals against Penn State (13-10-3, 7-4-1 CHA) Friday and Saturday in University Park, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

In its six games since returning from a month-long break, the team has outshot opponents four times without registering a win. In fact, the Orange was outscored 10-6 in those four games.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” freshman forward Stephanie Grossi said. “You work hard to work on your shot and capitalize on your opportunities and it’s just not coming.”

Flanagan believes that opponent goalie play hasn’t been the sole reason for the shot-goal disparity, and that his team needs to take initiative in taking better shots.

“We’ve got to be a little more selective maybe with some of our shots. Our MO on many nights is to just put a lot of pucks on net and just get in and get rebounds,” Flanagan said. “I think we’re not getting the results we’re looking for because we’re not getting good looks and then not getting to enough rebounds.”

Flanagan stressed the importance of getting secondary shots. The team has no problem getting initial shots from the perimeter, but hasn’t been able to follow up on misses in front of the net.

The opponents’ goaltenders have been making some good first saves, but Flanagan said the Orange isn’t doing enough of getting into the “dirty areas” in front of the net. Once the team is able to get traffic in front of the net, the goals will follow.

“We’re missing out on a lot of shots where we’ll take a shot and there’s a rebound we’re not jumping on,” defender Nicole Renault said. “Those are the shots we’ll get, not the pretty shots from the top of the circles that are going to go right in.”

The team has been working in practice on scoring off initial offensive zone entries. In game action, if that doesn’t work, SU tries to cycle the puck among players and get open on the wings.

Renault said that the team has been focusing on crashing the net on missed shots, no matter the drill. If someone shoots on net, everyone participating in the drill goes for the rebound, regardless of who shot the puck.

It’s been a point of emphasis to improve its even-strength attack as well, as SU has only four even strength goals in the six games since semester break.

“Don’t be satisfied with taking a shot on net and getting off the ice with a line change,” Flanagan said. “We’ve got to do a better job and taking some pride in wanting to score goals.”

Published on January 29, 2015 at 12:03 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu