Stephanie Grossi and Emily Costales took the ice together two weekends ago. The two sophomores were reunited after Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan bumped Grossi down to the second line. The duo hadn’t spent much time together — on the ice at least.

“Emily’s my roommate too … we’re pretty close,” Grossi said. “It should carry over on the ice, we should have good chemistry, ‘cause we’re always together.”

Moving Grossi to the second line wasn’t because she was playing poorly. The first line for most of the season — Grossi at center with seniors Nicole Ferrara and Melissa Piacentini on the wings — has contributed 44 percent of the team’s points this year.

But Flanagan noticed in recent games, teams focused on negating the first line because they knew that Syracuse (8-9-2, 5-1-2 College Hockey America) lacked depth on the second. His decision to start Jessica Sibley in the past three games has paid off. The team hasn’t lost in that stretch, and Sibley, who’s now third on the team in total points after taking Grossi’s first-line spot, has been named the CHA player of the week twice in the past three weeks.

Flanagan hopes that Costales’ comfort level with Grossi will help her improve and also increase the team depth and consistency of the second line, something that’s been missing all year for the Orange.

“That’s one of the key ingredients I guess, is trying to find that right chemistry,” Flanagan said. “You’re trying to find that chemistry where the girls think similarly.”

Flanagan cited a lack of consistent depth as a reason his team has had such an up-and-down year, as the Orange hasn’t been able to string together more than two consecutive wins. But after Saturday’s game against Penn State, Flanagan named Costales as one of the players who’s progress he’s been encouraged by.

“I went in to talk to the coaches actually a few weeks ago just to see what I can work on,” Costales said. “They were saying that I need to work on consistency and using my body. And I think that I’ve been utilizing that in the past few games.”

Flanagan added that what he thinks sometimes holds Costales back is her lack of confidence. He said that as a high school senior she was the player that had to do everything for her team. He thinks her role change has taken away from her aggressiveness, something he would like to see her improve.

Costales said that her improvements have come from focusing on “all the little things,” and that just reviewing game tape to go over angles has been helpful.

She also admitted that there are some things she still needs to work on, like picking corners when she shoots so the puck won’t go directly into the goalie’s chest. To that end, she plans on working on her shot when she goes home for the team’s Winter Break. She said that her shot always feels best after she’s been practicing at home.

“Just after hitting the top corner and having that repetition,” Costales said of why she feels better after practicing at home. “… that just really helps your confidence mentally and you just know you can hit it in the games.”

Costales got to reunite with her roommate Grossi on the ice and will get to go home and practice soon.

And Flanagan is hoping that her increased comfort level will help a second line that could use it.

“Just try and get some consistency … just put a little bit of pressure on them and make them play D,” Flanagan said. “That’s what we’re trying to get.”

Published on December 9, 2015 at 5:14 am

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer