After two games, six periods, 120 minutes of action, and 17 goals, the Syracuse women’s ice hockey team concluded an ideal first weekend at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

SU head coach Paul Flanagan could only muster up one complaint.

‘We have to get better with just not taking penalties and making smarter decisions,’ Flanagan said.

The most ironic aspect of the weekend was the fact that the Orange tallied its goals, including those of the shorthanded variety, despite committing more penalties than the Pioneers.

SU finished the weekend outscoring Sacred Heart, 17-3. But the Orange committed 23 penalties as opposed to Sacred Heart’s 16, a number Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan feels the team needs to improve on.

‘Particularly if you are already killing a penalty, you can’t come close to taking another penalty,’ Flanagan said.

And after four periods of shutout hockey, it was this exact situation that transpired for the Orange. As Rachel Tilford and Cheyenne Bojeski entered the box, the Pioneers tallied its first goal of the weekend, within the first minute of action for freshman goaltender Stephanie Jones.

For the weekend, Sacred Heart held a power play edge, having an advantage 19 times but only scoring two goals. Syracuse went 3-for-10 on power play opportunities.

‘It was tough, there were a lot of penalties these last couple days,’ senior defenseman Nicollette Leone said. ‘The calls didn’t necessarily go our way, but the penalty kill units went out there and did their job.’

All this on an otherwise pristine opening weekend at Tennity. Hundreds of fans filled the makeshift, frigid bleachers on South Campus. Chancellor Nancy Cantor dropped the first puck, Director of Athletics Daryl Gross strolled along the side of the rink, and the sound of ‘Zombie Nation’ resounded throughout the arena following each SU goal.

In fact, the penalties committed by the Orange provided the fans with some of the team’s most exciting goals of the series. The Orange found the back of the net three times Friday during Sacred Heart power plays.

‘We have been working on our breakout units a lot these past couple of weeks,’ Leone said. ‘We struggled with it a couple of weekends ago, but the chemistry on the ice improves every time we get out there.’

The short-handed goals were the first of the year for the Orange.

‘I haven’t seen that many shorthanded breakaways in a long time. The kids are working hard and making the best of their opportunities,’ Flanagan said.

There was also an abundance of unassisted goals for the Orange during the weekend, five in total. Two came off the stick of sophomore Julie Rising, including the highlight of the weekend at 14:10 of the first period Saturday, as the forward fooled several Pioneer defenders and hit the top right corner of the net.

Moving forward, the Orange won’t be able to play this recklessly, Flanagan said.

The statistics confirmed Flanagan’s concern. During a roughly 19-minute stretch spanning the majority of the second period Saturday, the Orange committed seven straight penalties. It was during this time period that SU conceded its first goal.

‘Teams like Mercyhurst and Wayne State, who have great power plays, will make us pay for it,’ Flanagan said. ‘We were able to get away with it tonight, but we have to be a lot more disciplined when it comes to not taking that first penalty.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm