Clarkson’s Rhyen McGill took the puck following a missed shot from Syracuse’s Melissa Piacentini and started skating furiously toward SU goalie Jenn Gilligan. Gilligan deflected McGill’s shot on the right side of the net. With no Clarkson players nearby, Gilligan looked safe from a rebound.

But one came from Syracuse’s Megan Quinn, who accidentally tipped the puck toward her own goal. The Orange, now down 1-0 midway through the first period in its season opener, had begun the 2015-16 campaign in the worst way possible.

“It’s not the way we want to start the season,” Gilligan said. “I think Quinn felt worse about it than I did.”

Two minutes later, Clarkson’s Shannon MacAulay scored on a power-play goal. For a brief moment, the flood gates that led to a 9-1 Clarkson win last year inched open again on Tuesday night. But Syracuse held them shut, only allowing one more goal.

“It would have been easy to lay back and fold a little bit,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “But I thought our kids came back hard.”

The Orange defense not only held up for the remainder of the first period, but also improved as the game went on. Though the end result was a 3-1 loss to No. 5 Clarkson (3-0), Syracuse (0-1) was in a position to compete in the third period.

Syracuse’s prevented Clarkson from scoring in the second period after the two-goal first. Larissa Martyniuk, along with Quinn and freshman Allie Munroe, were instrumental in breaking up Clarkson passes in transition. Gilligan had 34 saves, with 16 coming in the third period.

Syracuse’s defense flashed its potential during a third-period penalty kill, stopping seven shots while shorthanded, with four saves from Gilligan and four blocks from defenders.

“I can’t even think about it,” Gilligan said about the sequence. “Once it’s done, you’re gasping for air. The team did a great job, and obviously, Clarkson has one heck of a power play.”

But with just over two minutes left to play and the Orange trailing by one, Martyniuk was called for tripping. Clarkson’s Cayley Mercer scored just 24 seconds into the power play, preventing any chance of a Syracuse comeback.

But for the Orange, especially with its defensive miscues at the start, a 3-1 loss may not be as bad as the scoreboard lead on.

“It’s not great to lose to them, but we kept with them and dominated them in the second,” Martyniuk said. “We took it to them in the third and gave them a little run. It’s not horrible.”

Published on October 6, 2015 at 11:30 pm

Contact Chris: cfthomse@syr.edu