Sophomore defender Dakota Derrer was called for a slashing penalty 13:26 into the second period. And it only took Queens University 22 seconds to make the power play pay off, as Katrina Manoukarakis put the puck in the back of the net, giving Queens a 1-0 lead. It was the only goal of the game.

When Manoukarakis scored the goal, the Golden Gaels bench erupted in applause and started banging on the side of the rink. On the Syracuse bench, head coach Paul Flanagan smirked and shook his head.

This was the Orange’s first, and only, exhibition game of the season before it opens up the season Oct. 6 against Clarkson.

“This game, I think, shows us what we need to work on,” Nicole Ferrara said, “and obviously I think that’s finishing putting the puck in the net.”

SU had 37 shots compared to just 10 from QU. The Orange’s inability to score goals dates back to last season. SU only scored 75 goals last year on 1,119 shots, which resulted in a 6.7 shooting percentage.

Flanagan said that it appeared as though QU played a great game defensively, adding that his team’s offensive struggles might have contributed to that.

“I thought their goalie played well. I think at times we made her look good … we shot a lot of pucks right into her,” Flanagan said. “I didn’t see too many times when she really had to pull out a great stop.”

Syracuse struggled on all facets of offense, including its abilities to connect off rebounds. It’s something that Flanagan addressed with his team after the first period because of three instances in which the Orange put the puck on net but failed to come up with a good shot after a deflection.

“If she’s just made a save, she’s most likely if not flat on her back, she’s on her knees,” Flanagan said. “…We’ve got to get the puck up. What were we doing? Shoveling it right back on the ice.”

Flanagan attributed those struggles to lack of reps. The Orange has only had six practices so far.

SU also had two power plays throughout the game but never came close to scoring on either of them.

Senior and captain Melissa Piacentini recognized that power play’s was an area that the team could definitely improve on.

“I think we can always improve on the power plays,” Piacentini said. “It comes down to little details and we just gotta be prepared for everything that’s coming our way.”

The Orange was recently picked as the favorite to win the College Hockey America regular season championship this year. So far the Orange is using the preseason to help make that become a reality.

“We had maybe a dozen quality shots and we have to be better than that,” Flanagan said, “or else, it could be a long year.”

Published on September 27, 2015 at 7:34 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer