Junior forward Stephanie Grossi said it was only a matter of time before the results would come. By crashing the net and focusing on rebounds, Syracuse has won four straight to put itself two points away from first place in the conference.

“If you’re getting shots on net, you’re doing something right,” Grossi said. “The goals should be coming with the shots. … It’s one of the most frustrating things ever (not scoring on chances) and I think that happens to us a lot. … The little details are going to make a difference in finishing those plays.”

Since a 7-2 loss to Cornell on Jan. 10, Syracuse (9-10-5, 8-2-2 College Hockey America) has outscored opponents 15-2. Save the occasional penalty, SU has dominated possession for most of the games and found scoring from a more balanced attack. In the last four games, SU has outshot opponents 142-59, peppering goalies from the blue line in.

After scoring only 41 goals in the 20 games before the streak, SU is executing and putting shots on net. It’s now capitalizing on chances that were once missed. The team now sits at 2.3 goals and 27.3 shots per game.

Better body positioning has helped. Anticipation on picking shot location rather than just shooting blindly and taking accurate shots has helped Syracuse’s scoring opportunities, too. With a power play that has scored only 13 times in 109 tries, a 11.9 percent clip, SU is sharper on the ice.

“If you actually look and pick corners and shoot to score, … it can make a big difference,” Laurence Porlier said. “It means we were all over them during the whole game.

“You can outshoot a team and still lose.”

Future opponent and conference leader Robert Morris (16-2-6, 9-1-2 CHA) visits this weekend. The Colonials give up only 2.2 goals and 27.3 shots per game, so Syracuse will have to keep up its current pace to have a shot at claiming first place in the conference.

“It’s psychological, and we’ve really been working on it,” head coach Paul Flanagan said of the team’s goal to stay consistent. “We might have a good first period, a bad second period, good third period … you got to put 120 minutes together (on back-to-backs). It might be 180 to win a championship.”

Published on January 23, 2017 at 10:59 pm

Contact Jake: jafalk@syr.edu