Goalie Jenn Gilligan called it a blatant penalty.

After the game, Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan went straight to the referee to ask why a trip was not called on Vermont on the deciding play of the overtime period.

“It was a breakdown in the offensive zone,” SU defender Kaillie Goodnough said, “we hustled back and it was just a crappy play.

“Not much to be said, it happened.”

After a long SU possession to open the overtime session, the puck came out of the SU zone and into Vermont’s possession. While fighting the Orange’s Akane Hosoyamada for the puck in her offensive zone, a Vermont player appeared to dive down and trip Hosoyamada.

No penalty was called and UV forward Brittany Zuback grabbed the puck. She sent a shot wide but gathered her own rebound and jammed home a wraparound goal 1:42 into overtime to push Vermont (7-4-1, 1-2-0 Hockey East) past the Orange (3-5-5, 2-1-1 College Hockey America), 6-5, on Friday night before a crowd of 198 at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

“I lost it behind the net and now it’s in the back of my net,” Gilligan said. “Just a fluke goal.”

After matching three-goal periods to open the game, Syracuse played a tightly contested, physical game into overtime against Vermont. SU played its best offensive game of the season but faced an aggressive Vermont team that matched Syracuse’s offensive intensity.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight in the third period, we felt that coming,” Flanagan said.

He was right. Less than 40 seconds into the period, SU was on the power play.

For the first time since injuring her head in the second period, Goodnough was back on the ice to start SU’s advantage. Thirty-two seconds later, she proved valuable.

Goodnough received a pass at the right point and sent the puck through the center of the ice to a cutting Jesscia Sibley who gave SU a 4-3 lead.

“It was a nice shot from the point and I got a tip on it, straight in,” Sibley said.

Flanagan said Goodnough’s return was “an infusion of energy” for the team. The defender said it felt good to be able to come back and make a difference so quickly.

With less than 14 minutes remaining, Vermont’s Bridget Baker beat SU center Stephanie Grossi on a faceoff in the UV zone and sent the puck straight up to a streaking Zuback. The play caught Goodnough off guard and Gilligan was left to face Zuback one-on-one.

With a toe drag and a wrist shot, Zuback tied the game.

“I hadn’t seen that play before and it happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to react and they beat me,” Goodnough said. “That was crappy.”

Though Goodnough was unfamiliar with the play, Flanagan called it “older than the hills” and said his defenders need to be more aware.

Vermont struck again just three minutes later when Vermont’s Amanda Pelkey fired a shot from the right circle into Gilligan, who tried to deflect the puck up and away.

The puck went up in the air and center Dayna Colang batted it out of the air and into the net.

Vermont gave the Orange a chance to tie it up with eight minutes remaining when forward Klara Myren was called for interference.

Grossi sent a pass to defender Nicole Renault who was coming in from the left point. The Vermont defender went to the ice to try for a block, but Renault shot high and beat goalie Madison Litchfield, tying the game at five.

The remaining seven minutes and 45 seconds were back and forth, leading to the overtime winner for Vermont.

“We played well down the stretch in the third and into overtime,” Flanagan said. “It was kind of a broken play, to lose it like that is very deflating.”

Published on November 15, 2014 at 12:18 am