Megan Quinn shuffled to her left, stepping in front of goalie Ady Cohen. Mirroring Cohen, Quinn prepared for the oncoming Clarkson shot, absorbing the attempt with her chest pad and gathering the puck with her hands. She dropped it to the ice and skated away to spark a breakout. The block helped her goalie, who “stood on her head,” Tuesday night.

Cohen had her best college performance despite Syracuse (5-9-2, 4-1-1 College Hockey America) losing 5-0 to reigning national champion and No. 3 Clarkson (15-3-1, 5-2-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference). The sophomore replaced starter and recently crowned CHA goalie of the month Abbey Miller in the second period, following a three-goal first period onslaught from Clarkson. After entering the game with 16 career saves in three games, Cohen tallied 23 saves and held the Golden Knights to just two goals over the final two frames.

“She played great,” Stephanie Grossi said. “It could’ve been 12-0 if it wasn’t for Ady.”

Cohen was tested 35 seconds into the second period, but she corralled a Clarkson breakaway shot against her chest. Four seconds later, the Golden Knights responded by scoring following a small skirmish for the puck in front of the net.

But the Boynton Beach, Florida, native rebounded strong, allowing just one goal during the last 39 minutes of the contest. It was a confidence boost for Cohen, she said, tying her career-high in minutes played.

“I always try to keep myself level-headed and calm, no matter the situation,” Cohen said. “I felt good going in there, I felt good about the saves I was making.”

Her best stretch of the night came during a four-minute stint in the third period, when Clarkson earned its second and third power play opportunities of the game. The Golden Knights went on the offensive and battered Cohen with shots from all over the Syracuse zone. In total, Clarkson attempted nine shots during the man-up advantage. Cohen, however stopped each shot sent at her, holding the Golden Knights scoreless on its second consecutive power play.

Fourteen seconds after the Orange killed Clarkson’s advantage, it committed another penalty, giving the Golden Knights another man-up. This time, Cohen faced six total shots and stopped all four on target.

The barrage of stopped shots marked the most important moment of the night for Cohen, who thought that the final stanza was SU’s best.

“They have a lot of individually skilled players,” Cohen said. “(In order to stop them) we have to stay true to our game, which we did in the third period. We held on for a while.”

Cohen’s quickness in goal was the key to her success, Grossi said, allowing her the ability to respond to shots off rebounds and deflections on passes in front of the net. It’s an attribute that she uses in practice as well, Grossi added, and frustrates her teammates in drills.

While she has impressed her teammates with her performance, Cohen is still firmly locked into the second-string goalie role for Syracuse. Miller remains the starter, but will have to shake off her performance on Tuesday if she wants it to stay that way, head coach Paul Flanagan said.

“I don’t think she played well at all,” Flanagan said. “It’s like a pitcher not throwing strikes. It wasn’t her night. Does it get Abbey some rest and get her ready for the weekend? Potentially. But at the same time, I thought Ady did a really good job.”

Published on December 5, 2017 at 10:55 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34