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Syracuse’s season has been filled with dominance from its upperclassmen. Bryn Saarela, a graduate student and SU’s leader in goals and points, had a career series against Robert Morris on Dec. 6-7, 2024. The seven-point weekend notched her December Atlantic Hockey America Forward of the Month honors.

Sami Gendron, a junior, scored against the Rochester Institute of Technology on Jan. 25 and again against Lindenwood in Friday’s win, helping propel the Orange to a two-game win streak. Gendron sits third on SU’s roster with 15 points. Alongside Saarela and Gendron, four of Syracuse’s top five point leaders are upperclassmen.

In SU’s final home game of the regular season, the upperclassmen were expected to play a starring role for the Orange.

However, in Syracuse’s (10-20-0, 8-8-0 AHA) 5-0 victory over Lindenwood (3-23-2, 2-13-1 AHA) Saturday, it was the underclassmen who did the heavy lifting, tallying nine of the Orange’s 14 points. The young group scored four of SU’s five goals, trouncing the Lions for the second straight day.

In Syracuse’s win over Lindenwood Friday, Jackson Kinsler was the X factor. The sophomore notched a career-high four points, scoring twice and adding two assists. Saturday proved to be a strong showing for Kinsler again, who got things going for the Orange just over five minutes into play.

Jessica Cheung, a freshman who hadn’t earned an assist since Nov. 16, 2024 at RIT, had the puck in possession, weaving toward Lindenwood’s net. On the right side of the ice, four defenders crowded Cheung, forcing her to find Kinsler near the crease. From a firm pass, Kinsler tried to slot the puck past Madison Bowtell but came up just short.

On the rebound, though, Stella Costabile tapped the puck home, putting Syracuse ahead for the fourth straight game.

“(Costabile’s) always someone we can look to bring those habits and details we speak about,” SU head coach Britni Smith said postgame. “She’s playing on a line that’s had some consistency. They know their identity as well.”

Not long after Costabile’s score, Nea Tervonen, a sophomore, joined in on the fun. Tervonen has been a force on the ice all season for the Orange, but her offensive production has been relatively minimal. She entered Saturday’s contest scoreless in her last seven games, but that skid quickly ended.

Jocelyn Fiala, a sophomore, calmly straddled the puck. Tervonen saw an outlet from the left side and hit the crease. It didn’t take long for Fiala to see her, setting her up for an easy tap-in goal to give the Orange a two-goal lead off a multi-score period.

A play that developed entirely by underclassmen was rare, but with Tervonen and Fiala both sophomores, the score instilled hope in Smith with her young core.

“It shows the standard that’s been set. Some of those goals are gritty goals and finding ways to get it done in situations we haven’t been,” Smith said.

In the second period, Syracuse began more passively, but the younger players still stuck out. Fiala and Cheung both tallied multiple blocks, silencing Lindenwood’s seven shots on goal. Meanwhile, Costabile, Cheung, Tervonen and Peyton Armstrong, a freshman, all put shots on target, though they came up empty.

With five minutes to play, though, freshman Carly Sardine scored her first career goal. Similar to SU’s other scores, pressure outside opened the middle for Syracuse to attack. Sardine took advantage of Lindenwood’s miscues, giving the Orange a three-goal cushion.

“(The underclassmen) battled hard for us. You can tell they really care about us on and off the ice,” Syracuse goaltender Allie Kelley said.

With a comfortable lead, Syracuse was entirely in the driver’s seat, but it wasn’t done pushing ahead. Forty-three seconds remained in the second period when Syracuse took a four-goal lead, again by an underclassmen.

Kinsler added to her emphatic weekend, notching a power-play score on a wraparound goal. The puck was unattended near the crease, and all Kinsler did was maneuver around her defender to extend the Orange’s lead.

With just 20 minutes to play, Syracuse’s young core had already done enough to solidify a dominant win. Gendron added a goal in the third to give SU its largest win of the season, but it was mainly the underclassmen who carried it to victory.

“Balanced point production is something that any coach would be pretty happy with, but to see it from some of our younger players… it’s very promising for our future,” Smith said. “We’re excited to see our underclassmen really stepping up.”

Published on February 1, 2025 at 6:13 pm

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