The Syracuse ice hockey team has struggled with penalty trouble all season. On Jan. 17 against a red-hot Robert Morris power play, the Orange just could not keep the puck out of the net.

Robert Morris (13-8-2, 7-2 College Hockey America) scored in the first five minutes of each period on Friday night en route to a 5-1 win over Syracuse (6-15-1, 5-3-1). SU, on the other hand, took a similar amount of shots but couldn’t find the back of the net.In total, Robert Morris converted on two power plays in addition to a a six-on-five score. 

An early penalty on Brynn Koocher sent Robert Morris to the power play. The Colonials have the fourth-best power play in the nation (26.4% conversation rate) and wasted no time scoring and taking an early lead over the Orange. The rest of the first played out to a draw as SU went into the first intermission down only one goal.

The second period started just like the first as Robert Morris scored a goal less than five minutes in. However, this time Syracuse responded within 40 seconds to make the score 2-1. That was the closest SU came to mounting a comeback as penalty trouble came back to hurt the Orange. Midway through the second period, a delayed penalty call on Lindsay Eastwood allowed the Colonials a brief six-on-five advantage which they did not waste.

Going into the third period, it was a repeat of previous games as penalty troubles handicapped an Orange team with the sixth-most penalty minutes in the nation.

SU entered the final period trailing 3-1, but another quick goal from the Colonials put the game out of reach.  A late power-play goal from Robert Morris on a second Koocher penalty ended the scoring and handed SU a resounding 5-1 loss.