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Courtney Correia was first to the puck drop, beating Tatum White to it deep in the Syracuse zone. Correia dished it back to Rene Gangorosa, who drove toward the Syracuse net. Gangorosa fired a pass back out to the blue line to Kiara Zannon who whipped it behind the goal. Gangarosa looked back for Coreia in front, but was blocked twice by Arielle DeSmet.

Already down a player due to a power play, all four Syracuse defenders set up a wall in front of DeSmet, with none of them locating the puck. Olivia Wallin ended up with it, and with bodies in front of her, she didn’t have many options. Mallory Uihelen flashed open at the blue line with a clear look on net, but Wallin didn’t look her way. Instead, she scooped the puck, lifting it into the air, past the left shoulder of DeSmet.

Wallin’s goal was the first of two in the first period as Penn State (21-8-2, 11-1-1 CHA) defeated Syracuse (9-19-2, 6-6-1 CHA) 7-0. The Nittany Lions continued their dominance in the College Hockey America conference as the Orange continued to sputter. Syracuse couldn’t keep up with Penn State’s high powered offense, who came in leading the CHA in goals, averaging over three per game.

Kiara, who leads the NCAA in goals with 21, added her 22nd of the season and assisted another. The Orange knew they were going to be tested against a team that sits in the top 10 in the country but Saturday’s game was pure dominance from the start.

“There’s never a shift off,” Syracuse head coach Britni Smith said. “They have four lines that come out shift after shift. If you’re not consistent, they make you pay.”

Penn State outsourced the Orange 15-3 in a series earlier this season. Syracuse’s offense fell flat in the first period, with its first shot coming 12 minutes into the game. Mae Batherson swung a dangerous cross ice pass to White, just out of the reach of a Penn State defender. White wristed the puck high, allowing Josie Buthun to save with her pad.

Smith said that the team was “hesitant” in the first period, letting the Nittany Lions dictate play. Syracuse pushed forward, but was disconnected on offense, no attacks flowed and came together. The Orange couldn’t build out and when players got into the defensive zone, they were all by themselves, lacking options.

Penn State moved the puck well, keeping it away from the Orange, limiting them to just four shots on goal in the first period, compared to 10 for the Nittany Lions.

If there was a positive to take away from Syracuse’s performance, it was the second period. Captain Lauren Bellefontaine felt it was one of the best periods from the team this season in terms of its physicality and not letting Penn State get space to operate with.

“We’re gonna focus on our second period tonight,” Smith said. “That was the kind of hockey we need to play. So that’s what we’re looking at for tomorrow, just replicating that.”.

Consistency has plagued Syracuse throughout this season and it came back to bite them tonight. After a slow start, the Orange found themselves down 2-0, but grew into the game, having the better of the play in the second.

White flashed a pass across the goal for Mik Todd who got goalside of her defender, but lacked the finishing touches for Syracuse’s best chance of the game. The Orange pushed for a goal, but a defensive mistake by Charlotte Hallett led to a one on one for Correia, who made it 3-0 for the Nittany Lions.

Despite not scoring in the second period, the way Syracuse played was encouraging for Smith and her staff.

“We eliminated hesitation in our game,” Smith said “Whether that was in our D zone or offensive zone forecheck we just weren’t quick on pucks we made them have to work and they built some confidence for us as well.”

In the end it was simple, Syracuse didn’t finish its chances and Penn State did. The Nittany Lions were ruthless in the third period, scoring four goals in ten minutes. Similar to the 11-3 defeat earlier in the season, Penn State poured it on.

The Orange unraveled in the third. The Nittany Lions kept them pinned in, preventing the Orange from building and getting out in transition.

Similar to its 6-1 loss against Mercyhurst last weekend, Syracuse’s opponent was clinical. The Lakers scored six goals on 29 attempts on goal last weekend and against Penn State it was much of the same. The Lions scored seven goals on 25 shots on target, netting nearly 30% of their shots on target.

Batherson said that playing against Penn State it’s important to be aware of every shift because a lot of players can hurt teams in different ways. DeSmet was pulled, with a season low 71.4 save percentage, letting up six goals on 15 shots on net.

“They’re a talented team who knows how to play simple hockey,” Smith said. “Whether it’s you know, they get pucks deep or backtracking hard, they block shots. So when that comes with talent, again, it’s a good team.”

Published on February 3, 2023 at 10:40 pm

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