Syracuse was its own worst enemy on Saturday. The Orange were forced to kill 20 minutes worth of penalties against Mercyhurst.

Senior forward Brooke Avery served two of those penalties, including a hooking call with 6:27 left in the third. That was one of two penalties 15 seconds apart that reduced a 5-on-3 SU advantage to 3-on-3 even strength.

“Every year, penalties are an issue,” Avery said. “…To be honest, it slows the pace of the game. It’s very difficult to get a good rhythm going, especially when you have things going on like power plays.”

Syracuse (0-3, 0-2 College Hockey America) killed all 10 of the Mercyhurst (2-4, 2-0) power-play chances. It didn’t matter, though, as the Orange offense didn’t score in a 1-0 shutout loss on Saturday.

Avery, a forward, explained that avoiding most of SU’s penalties is a matter of moving their feet and getting in proper position. That being said, she liked the discipline her teammates showed in picking each other up and killing all 10 penalties.

“A lot of times when those things happen people are barking at each other but we held it together,” said Avery, “We battled hard and we killed as best as we could. In the end, it is what it is.”

Mercyhurst had their own troubles staying on the ice. The Lakers committed seven penalties but were only on the penalty kill for three of them because the other four came in tandem with a Syracuse penalty.

The excess of penalties forced SU head coach Paul Flanagan to get creative to save his core penalty kill unit from exhausting themselves. The Orange used eight different forwards, mixed and matched with every defender at one point or another. By comparison, a conventional penalty kill features at most two pairs of defensemen and two pairs of forwards.

“It’s good to know that everybody’s buying in, and in a game like that it’s not the same kids doing it every time,” Flanagan said.

Syracuse goaltender Ady Cohen did her part, recording 23 saves in her first collegiate start. The junior had nothing but praise for the penalty kill and her defense in general for keeping the deficit at one.

“You love to see your players making sacrifices: blocking shots, taking away passes,” Cohen said. “It’s really good to have that support, knowing that they’re going to be going 100 percent to help you out and make your job easier.”

Being on the penalty kill also handicapped an SU offensive attack that flows through redshirt junior Lindsay Eastwood. This included the evaporation of that 5-on-3 in the third period, which would’ve been a golden opportunity for the Orange to equalize. The Syracuse captain reiterated Avery’s philosophy on the importance of body positioning, which she says will help the Orange on both ends of the ice.

Avery continued to look at the positives following the loss, the Orange’s third straight to start the season.

“It’s frustrating, but at the same time we know what we have to work on,” Avery said. “So we just have to keep grinding and keep moving and make sure that we’re always going 100 percent.”

Published on October 13, 2018 at 8:13 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu