Entering the Penn State zone, Syracuse defender Shelby Calof dropped the puck off behind her, but there was no one there. Nittany Lion Rachel Weiss chipped the loose puck up to her teammate Shea Nelson, with only Allison Small to beat, Nelson stick-handled back and forth, hoping the Orange goaltender would commit either way, before pulling it to her forehand and firing toward the top corner. Small’s glove quickly filled the hole that Nelson had shot for, maintaining Syracuse’s 2-1 lead.

For the second time in as many nights, Small held the Nittany Lions to one goal. Unlike Friday, when the Orange lost 1-0, tonight it was enough. Small stopped 39 of Penn State’s (10-10-6, 5-4-3 College Hockey America) 40 shots as Syracuse (8-16-1, 7-4-1) rode a strong second period to a 3-1 victory. 

“Allison was called on to make some big saves,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “She made some good saves last night, but she really had to step up tonight.”

Small’s save percentage has been as low as .828 this season. After a string of strong performances, including allowing only two goals in her last three starts, Small’s save percentage has risen to .913.

On Friday, Penn State’s Chantal Burke — fourth in the nation in save percentage — extended her shutout streak to over 105 minutes. Small took the loss despite allowing just one goal. While the Orange have often split their back-to-backs equally between the goaltending tandem of Small and Ady Cohen, Flanagan turned back to Small on Saturday. She didn’t let her coach down.

“I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen coming into today,” Small said. “To know that Paul has faith in me to come out and try again today and get that win for us, it’s great knowing that a coach is behind your back.”

Syracuse defender Jessica DiGirolamo said the team “owes [Small] the game.” DiGirolamo estimated that the contest would have been 6-0 for the Nittany Lions after the first period if not for Small. In addition to her game-changing saves, Small also impacts SU by directing the defense, DiGirolamo said. 

Six and a half minutes into the second period, Calof tried to corral a puck near the Syracuse blue line. As the puck slid past her, Penn State’s Mikayla Lantto blew by Calof and was in alone on Small. More than three strides ahead of any Orange player chasing her, Lantto deked to her backhand before stopping and cutting back to expose the wide-open net. Lantto roofed the puck into the open net, but it would be her team’s only goal.

A Savannah Rennie empty-net goal with 18 seconds left sealed the Orange victory, but when the buzzer sounded Small kicked her left leg in the air and pumped both of her arms as her teammates swarmed her.

“When the team plays well in front of me,” Small said. “I feel like I can play well.”

Saturday was more of an outlier for SU than the expected performance. Both Small and Cohen have allowed five-plus goals multiple times. Cohen, a senior, started in the semi-finals and finals of the CHA playoffs last season, but Small has now won four of her last six starts, posting .966 save percentage during that stretch. Flanagan finally has a tough decision about who he will play in net every game, “as opposed to flipping a coin,” he said.

While Flanagan was unwilling to say who would start in net for Syracuse in their next game, he did say that given her recent performance, Small would “have the edge” if the playoffs were to start next week.

Published on January 25, 2020 at 8:20 pm

Contact Mitchell: mbannon@syr.edu