Syracuse held a 6-1 lead over Robert Morris as the second period entered its final minute. The Orange were in perfect shape to seal a first-round bye for the College Hockey America tournament. SU head coach Paul Flanagan wanted only one thing from his team: stay out of the penalty box.

Robert Morris has scored on 24 percent of its power plays this season, and Flanagan thought his team would struggle the conference’s best power-play units.

“We wanted to stay disciplined,” Flanagan said. “Play smart and get it out of the box. Not back off offensively, but be smart.

“And of course, we got in penalty trouble.”

Dakota Derrer was charged with a holding penalty with 1:10 remaining in the second period, giving Robert Morris a chance to get back into the game.

Instead, the Orange (15-13-3, 11-4-2 CHA) maintained its ground defensively against Robert Morris (14-12-5, 6-7-4), holding the Colonials to eight shots in four power-play opportunities. Syracuse clinched a first-round bye in the CHA tournament and remains one game behind Mercyhurst for first place in the conference.

SU’s penalty kill set the tone after Melissa Piacentini was called for checking midway into the first period. Center Stephanie Grossi stole the puck from RMU’s Maeve Garvey as the Colonial was aiming her shot. A board battle for the puck behind the goal killed 20 seconds off the penalty. And defender Megan Quinn cleared the puck past SU’s blue line to wrap up Robert Morris’ first power-play opportunity.

Syracuse’s defense allowed only two shots in its first penalty kill, which defender Nicole Renault credits to her defense’s ability to predict RMU’s attacks.

“They use their backdoor a lot, but we took away their options that they usually depended on,” SU defender Nicole Renault said. “They weren’t able to get those chances.”

Syracuse committed three penalties in the final period of action but held on to stop RMU on each opportunity.

A checking penalty on Morgan Blank and Derrer’s violation at the end of the second period put the Orange on the penalty kill for the first three minutes of the third period. Freshman goalie Maddie Welch, who replaced starting goaltender Jenn Gilligan in the third period, made three stops to help stymie RMU.

Just a minute and a half after SU killed those two penalties, Allie Munroe was called for roughing near the crease. Flanagan screamed at the nearest referee until play resumed after the penalty.

“I was a little disappointed with some of the calls,” Flanagan said. “… I don’t know how we got some of those penalties.”

That penalty didn’t matter, as Quinn and Renault constantly cleared the puck past the blue line in that two-minute stretch, and the Colonials didn’t register a shot.

In SU’s last penalty kill with six minutes left in regulation, Welch made three more crucial saves. The freshman had 13 saves in the game’s final 20 minutes, while the defense in front of her pressured RMU into poor passes and decisions.

“We didn’t want to give them anything going into tomorrow,” Munroe said. “It’s a huge game. We want to get the sweep.”

Published on February 13, 2016 at 12:23 am

Contact Chris: cfthomse@syr.edu