As Syracuse continued its fight against Mercyhurst, the opportunity to push the game into overtime slowly slipped away.

The task in the final sixty seconds of play was clear for Syracuse — get one goal to keep its season alive.

But as the Orange launched shot after shot toward Mercyhurst goalie Amanda Makela in the final minute, SU couldn’t convert and its season came to an end.

“It was a back-and-forth, high-tempo game,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “We had a couple big shots that we missed in the final seconds. It was literally a game of inches.”

The Orange (20-14-3, 9-8-3 College Hockey America) lost 2-1 to the No. 8 Lakers (23-7-4, 15-3-2) in the CHA semifinals in Erie, Pa. It marked the end of a 20-win season for a team that has failed to record a win against Mercyhurst in program history.

Syracuse fell into a hole early in the game when Kaleigh Chippy soared a shot past Jenesica Drinkwater in the second period to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.

But the Orange was resilient late in the second period. With a one-goal deficit looming large, Allie LaCombe continued her consistency on offense for SU. She delivered the game-tying goal with three minutes left in the frame to keep Syracuse in the game.

“She came off the boards and just fired it through that net,” Flanagan said. “She had a well-placed shot on net. It was a huge goal that tied up the game.”

But as it turned out, LaCombe scored the last goal of SU’s season. Chippy scored her second goal of the game for Mercyhurst that propelled the Lakers out in front. The Orange was unable to manufacture any late-game heroics against a conference foe that has been impossible to one-up in recent years.

Flanagan said that power plays, an Achilles’ heel for Syracuse all season, were a problem again today.

“My kids have a lot to be proud of. We played tough against a tough team but I give them a ton of credit, they pulled it out,” he said. “They converted on some power plays and that was the difference.”

After the game, Flanagan reflected on how this team would find its place in program history. He was appreciative of his team’s resilience and the camaraderie his players built with one another.

While the end goal of a CHA championship didn’t come to fruition, Flanagan believes the program is in a great position because of this year’s team.

“The senior class have provided a tremendous amount of stability to this program,” he said. “They are the first big class where people stayed from the start.

“The stability has filtered down to the rest of the team, and has created a great culture. And I give them a ton of credit.”

Published on March 7, 2014 at 10:50 pm