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Lauren Bellfontaine crouched down, staring straight into Hana Solinger’s eyes, preparing for a faceoff inside the RIT zone. Bellefontaine’s stick was the first to the puck, flicking the puck toward the middle, where Terryn Mozes found a pocket of space. 

With nobody near her, Mozes fired a shot toward the net, only to be denied by the post. But Bellfontaine read the play the entire way, drifting away from the RIT defenders after winning the faceoff. She found herself alone on the left side of the net as the puck ricocheted off the post. Bellefontaine snuck by the defense, and was unmarked as she put her shot into the wide open net.

Bellfontaine’s third score of the season was the lone goal for Syracuse (3-7, 1-0 College Hockey America) in its 1-0 win over RIT (2-9, 0-1 CHA). SU has struggled to score in the first period all season long, recording five in the first nine games. Six times this season, the Orange have conceded the first goal, meaning that they have had to play with their backs against the wall for the majority of their games. But Bellefontaine got Syracuse on the board with less than five minutes gone, its second earliest goal this season.

“We’ve definitely struggled to score on five on five play, so going to the net was one of the biggest things we stressed before the game started.” Bellefontaine said. “Almost right off the bat we were able to get that lucky bounce, which took the weight off our shoulders.”

The Orange finished with eight shots on goal in the first period, getting multiple chances from their puck movement. SU was able to shift the puck from side to side, trying to find openings in the RIT defense. Despite dominating play in the opening period, the Orange were only able to find the net once.

“Kudos to them for coming out strong,” SU head coach Britni Smith said. “It’s been a theme of ours that we’ve been pretty inconsistent with our start, so that was something we challenged them with and I thought they definitely responded.”

SU built in transition, starting attacks with connecting passes. Syracuse connected passes in the RIT zone, moving it from side to side, trying to find an opening. When the Orange got the puck into the Tigers zone in the opening minutes, it stayed there. SU defenders Mik Todd and Hannah Johnson constantly recycled the puck.

Rayla Clemons collected a clearance by Johnson, flicking the puck up the boards to Marielle McHale, who darted towards the center of the ice. McHale tried to deke out the goalie, but lost control at the last second. The quick passing and movement from SU was crisp early on, combining to create situations where it outnumbered RIT in attack.

“We’ve been stressing a lot on maintaining possession making sure that we’re not a one and done, tonight, we were able to generate second and third opportunities,” Smith said.

SU’s aggressive combinations early on set the tone, with the Orange out shooting the Tigers 8-7 in the opening period. Bellefontaine looked for her opportunities to attack the net early, along with Clemens.

Throughout the season, Syracuse has tried to attack teams right from the start, but against tougher competition they struggled to get going. In the first ten minutes of each game, SU tries to bring good “energy from the bench” according to Bellfontaine, where  each line is bringing the same intensity when they’re one the ice. If a line underperforms, leading to miscues it can lead to goals for the other team, forcing Syracuse to play from behind.

Bellfontaine’s early goal allowed Syracuse to play with a lead, something that they’ve had little experience with this season, only leading in two games before their win on Thursday.

“For them to be able to have that opportunity to play with the lead from early on, gives them an opportunity to add that to their toolbox…learning how to play up and down and different situations is important.” Smith explained.

Published on October 27, 2022 at 10:21 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22