A tripping penalty by Rochester Institute of Technology’s Lauren Carroll 7:04 into the first period gave Syracuse its first power play of the game. The Orange was patiently passing the puck back and forth, trying to find the best angle to score. With two seconds left on the man advantage, sophomore center Stephanie Grossi scored, giving SU a 1-0 lead.

Sophomore wing Alysha Burriss scored just one minute and eight seconds later, opening the flood gates to an eventual blowout.

Syracuse (3-3-0, 1-0 College Hockey America) dismantled RIT (1-4-0, 0-1), 7-1, on Wednesday night at the Tennity Ice Pavilion in the first conference game of the year. It’s the first time that Syracuse has scored at least seven goals since January 2013, when it scored eight against Lindenwood.

This game served as a revenge game of sorts for the Orange. RIT defeated SU in last March’s CHA Championship game, which ended the team’s season and prevented Syracuse from competing in the NCAA tournament.

“Right after that game, I think all the returners were focusing on this game,” said senior wing Melissa Piacentini, who had four assists on the night. “…We kind of had that in the back of our mind that they took something away from us last year.”

Grossi, who recorded her first career hat trick in the game, came away with the highlight of the night. Just 10 seconds into the second period, she found herself one-on-one with the defender. A nifty double in-and-out move deked the defender – and the goalie – and she fired puck into the net to give SU a 3-0 lead.

Senior captain Nicole Ferrara got in on the action three minutes later. Skating down the left side of the ice on a one-on-one with the goalie, she backhanded the puck toward the top shelf. The puck snuck past the goalie, smacked off the left crossbar and in.

“We were very opportunistic,” said head coach Paul Flanagan. “…I just thought we were moving the puck well, we were springing well and we kind of exploited their defensemen.”

Grossi scored her third and final goal while Syracuse was shorthanded with 5:27 left in the second period . Grossi’s five points tied the single-game program record for most points in a game.

With 30 seconds left in the second period, RIT managed to score a goal, cutting the Syracuse lead to 5-1 right before the intermission.

But an RIT penalty gave Syracuse a power play and one minute and 29 seconds later, Nicole Renault rifled a shot from just in front of the blue line to give Syracuse a 6-1 lead. Three minutes later Emily Costales found a loose puck and poked into the back of the net, giving Syracuse the 7-1 lead that would eventually be the final score.

RIT Head Coach Scott McDonald told his team before the game that Syracuse was “a hungry team,” who was looking to make a statement after last year’s loss.

“This is why we voted them number one in the league. They went out and showed it,” McDonald said. “7-1 is proving a point. “

After the seventh goal was scored, the Syracuse players on the bench were still banging on the boards, yelling and congratulating their teammates.

The win gave SU a chance to empty its bench in the third period, giving the third- and fourth-line players significant ice time with a lengthy road stretch up next.

“Sometimes it’s feast or famine,” Flanagan said. “And tonight it was feast.”

Published on October 21, 2015 at 11:47 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer