After Syracuse let up four third period goals to RIT on Nov. 1, head coach Paul Flanagan decided the Orange’s current lines weren’t working.

It was a wakeup call. They had to try something different.

Despite no opportunity to practice before traveling to RIT for a rematch the next day, lines that had remained largely untouched for the team’s first 11 games were shuffled. Starting centers moved to the wing, defensive pairings were swapped and a forward would be dropping back to join the blueliners.

The new-look Orange (2-11-1, 1-1 College Hockey America) shut out the Tigers, 3-0, the next day. Two weeks later, Syracuse nearly won again, falling to St. Lawrence 4-3 in overtime. But with injuries to key players and the search for ideal line combinations still ongoing, Flanagan said the Syracuse lineup shuffle may not be over.

“We’re not just frantic because of our record,” Flanagan said. “We’re just trying to find better combinations.”

Even though Kristen Siermachesky was recruited to Syracuse as a defender, an injury last season and the success of the defensive unit in her absence forced her to return as a forward. She began 2019-20 on offense again, but Flanagan said he felt she was “struggling a little bit up front.” So, he moved her back to defense again.

“The biggest challenge honestly has been just getting back to skating backward at full speed,” Siermachesky said. “Being a big body and watching other people’s bodies is something to get used to again.”

One constant during starting lineup introductions this season has been Lindsay Eastwood. Eastwood skates through the team’s defensive zone every home game, coming to a stop at the blueline when she’s announced as the team’s starting left defender.

Before the second contest against RIT, though, Eastwood’s defensive partner changed. Flanagan moved Logan Hicks into the top pairing with Eastwood, a position previously filled by senior Allie Olnowich to start the year. Olnowich’s new defensive partners change throughout the game, as the Orange play with seven defenders.

Hicks changed from forward to defense, the opposite of Siermachesky, last season and has continued to play that role since. Having paired together last season, Flanagan has noticed the Hicks-Eastwood pair have “a real comfort” together.

“Lindsay’s one of my best friends, and I’ve been here for four years with her,” Hicks said. “Definitely some extra chemistry, but I’m also really close with all the other D.”

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Last season, Lauren Bellefontaine scored seven goals and added 13 assists, while leading forwards in blocked shots with 50. In 2019-20, her shot blocking and defensive presence have remained, but through 13 games, the sophomore has just one goal and two assists.

Flanagan hoped moving Bellefontaine from center to right wing would spark her offensive production. While Flanagan said the team “had to get Lauren going,” he hinted the reigning CHA rookie of the year’s foray away from the faceoff dot may be short-term.

“She might be back to center before you know it,” Flanagan said after Tuesday’s practice. “She was there this morning.”

When Abby Moloughney was helped off the ice in Saturday’s loss to St. Lawrence, the Orange found themselves playing with only nine forwards and seven defenders in a game they had already started without a backup goalie. The lineup, and specifically forwards like Bellefontaine, remains in flux due to question marks surrounding player availability. While goaltender Ady Cohen returned to practice Tuesday, Flanagan said the return dates for Brynn Koocher, Marielle McHale and Moloughney are “totally up in the air.”

The Orange play three games in four days this weekend, a stretch that includes two conference matchups against Penn State and a nonconference game against No. 3 Cornell. The mixing and matching Flanagan and his coaching staff have done in recent weeks between, and even during games, will almost certainly continue.

Said Flanagan, “It’s just been a work in progress.”

Published on November 20, 2019 at 9:31 pm

Contact Mitchell: mbannon@syr.edu