BUFFALO, N.Y. — Amy Petersen had already been stuffed on one breakaway and Jenn Gilligan was not going to let the Penn State junior forward convert on another opportunity. Gilligan prepared for a breakaway, glove-side shot, but Petersen faked the shot and tried to tuck the puck behind Gilligan.

Like many of the shots Gilligan would face Friday night, she had an answer for it. Gilligan sprawled onto her stomach and kicked her left pad out, getting just enough of the puck to inch it away from the net.

As the players tired and shifts shortened, that save in the third overtime proved to be the most important of the game. Syracuse eventually scored on a goal by Stephanie Grossi with 3:50 left in the third overtime to propel Syracuse (19-13-3,14-4-2 College Hockey America) to a 3-2 win over Penn State (12-19-6, 6-8-6) in the longest game in CHA tournament history. The Orange will face Mercyhurst at 3 p.m. in the CHA championship on Saturday.

“It’s one of those things where you just react to it, it’s a little bit of a desperation save,” Gilligan said. “I felt it there at the side of the post, so I kinda just wrapped my other leg around the back of the net and hoped that the ref would blow the whistle.”

Sometimes, Gilligan tapped her stick on both posts and appeared nervous. But she was able to keep her team in the first half, when Syracuse was sloppy and timid with the puck. And then she kept SU in all three overtime periods when the Orange was finally able to score.

Gilligan did take responsibility for both Penn State goals, including a squeaker on the second that trickled under her arm. The goal flipped the game’s momentum. Less than three minutes earlier, Syracuse had a built a 2-0 lead on goals by defenders Megan Quinn and Allie Munroe. But her performance was key to Syracuse moving on.

“I felt that she was fairly confident,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “In the first period she made three great saves. They had some grade-A chances. Hopefully that gets her better prepared and ready to go for tomorrow.”

Gilligan, like Flanagan was also happy she could play a solid 60 minutes after having given up two goals. Nicole Renault, who played defense in front of Gilligan, felt SU didn’t helped Gilligan enough in the third period, when Penn State scored two goals in less than five minutes.

“I just told her, ‘Stay in the game, you’re doing great,’” Renault said. “ I knew it wasn’t her fault whatsoever. It was a team breakdown. We weren’t thinking out there, we let them skate around us.”

Renault knew the end of the season could be closing in and SU had to improve in front of Gilligan for the Orange to advance. The SU defender said she wanted to stay smart and not take any “stupid” chances.

When the game finished, Gilligan, like the rest of the team, exploded down the ice and into the dog pile that surrounded Grossi. If not for her keeping PSU off the scoreboard in each overtime, the celebration would not have happened.

“I think a lot of (the emotion) was relief,” Gilligan said. “I don’t necessarily know how my body would have held up with another overtime period.”

Published on March 5, 2016 at 12:11 am

Contact Jake: jafalk@syr.edu