Robert Morris’ Anjelica Diffendal raced up the ice, fired a cross-ice pass to teammate Sarah Lecavalier, who then passed the puck to Emilie Harley. Harley ripped the puck toward the net.

SU goalie Abbey Miller deflected the puck downward, but the puck bounced directly to Diffendal, who snuck the puck past Miller for a goal to put Robert Morris up 1-0.

Less than three minutes into the game, Syracuse (12-20-2, 11-8-1 College Hockey America) was down a goal to No. 9 Robert Morris (20-7-4, 14-3-3) in what would eventually result in a 4-0 loss for SU. Once again, the Orange played from behind. SU was shut out for the 10th time this season, the third time in its last four games. What has been a reoccurring theme throughout the season continued Saturday as Syracuse struggled after its opponent scored first and early.

“It’s always tough. We struggle playing from behind. We have to got to keep our heads up in those situations,” SU defender Lindsay Eastwood said, “We can’t get down after one goal.”

Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan said that playing from behind early in the game had a psychological effect on the Orange in tonight’s matchup. However, he believes SU exhibited a good amount of energy in the first period, something the Orange failed to show in its previous game.

“It (energy) seemed pretty good, the girls were ready to play, it was senior day, there’s all that energy,” Flanagan said, “But then we coughed up that first goal.”

The first goal SU gave up in tonight’s game was hard for the team to shake off. Flanagan believes it’s important to forget about early goals and pick heads up. RMU followed its first goal by scoring three second-period goals. After the second goal by the Colonials’ Brittany Howard, it seemed the Orange’s energy was deflating.

“I feel the second one was kind of a bad goal,” Flanagan said, “You could feel the bench sag.”

After being down early in the game, the game snowballed for the Orange. Syracuse has had success scoring first. SU defender Megan Quinn acknowledges that Syracuse performs much better after getting on the board before its opponents.

She believes that playing from behind, especially after giving up an early goal, has an effect on the team, even when it shouldn’t. It’s something the Orange must adjust before the start of the CHA tournament.

“It sucks to get behind from the start, when we do get our first goal we are always stronger,” SU defender Kristen Siermachesky said, “It is always tougher playing from behind.”

SU has had a tough time this season trying to reverse the momentum after an opposing teams scores first. Flanagan knows that once SU gets down early it becomes a psychological game, not something that has to do with tactics. SU must improve on answering opponent’s goals, he said, rather than allowing the games to unravel.

“All of us have the heart, it’s just things weren’t clicking for us,” Siermachesky said.

Published on February 24, 2018 at 6:55 pm

Contact Anthony: amkhelil@syr.edu