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Mercyhurst’s Sara Boucher recorded a five-point hat trick against Syracuse on Sunday. Over eight minutes in, Boucher battled Kambel Beacom for the puck near SU’s blue line. Winning possession, Boucher headed to the net.

Terryn Mozes looked to cut her off from the left side, but Boucher crossed over and controlled the bounce, eventually chipping a backhand past Arielle DeSmet near the crease to tie the contest in the early going.

The Lions poured on three more goals in the second period before Boucher scored another unassisted goal in the final one, exposing SU’s biggest weakness so far this season: a failure to halt momentum defensively.

“We are a team that relies on our defensive play to fuel our offense,” head coach Britni Smith said after the 6-1 loss, per a cuse.com recap. “Our defensive game wasn’t where it needed to be today.”

All season long, when the opposing team starts scoring, SU has had trouble stopping it. The Orange (9-18-2, 6-5-1 College Hockey America) are 3-17-1 when the opposing team scores in the first period. Smith has stressed the importance of “starting fast” throughout the year, but the Orange have failed to dictate from the jump. Since its first matchup against Penn State on Dec. 3 — a series it lost with a -12 goal differential — SU has produced a 2-9-1 record.

Syracuse gave RIT, which ranks last in the conference, its sole CHA victory. In that game, SU allowed four opening-period goals to a conference opponent for the second time this season.

Conceding two goals within a minute of each other deflated the Orange, but two power-play goals in the latter half of the period crushed them completely.

After the first score, RIT won the faceoff. Bouncing around the perimeter, the puck found Kylie Aquaro in the corner, who shoveled it inside to Emma Roland. Roland sent the puck past DeSmet from the left circle and in off the right goal post.

“We continue to talk about having quick starts,” Smith said after a win over Lindenwood early in the season. “It’s something we’ve been pretty inconsistent with.”

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The very next day, also against Lindenwood on Nov. 3, SU won on a last-second long-range goal from Tatum White to sweep the series. Syracuse held two separate two-goal leads in that game, but let the Lions back in it late.

“Most losses, that’s what we struggle with, getting a quick start,” White said after her game-winning goal. “Getting the first goal puts the other team on their heels and gives us the momentum going forward.”

Smith said this game could have been won easier. Lindenwood had too many shot opportunities, resulting in two late goals in the span of six minutes to tie it.

“I think we are just going to have to focus on playing a really tough and aggressive game going into CHA play,” Sarah Thompson said after a loss to then-No. 5 Colgate on Jan. 10. “That’s how we will get wins there.”

A month after the sweep of Lindenwood, SU visited Penn State for back-to-back games. The Nittany Lions dominated the Orange, winning 4-0 and 11-3, the latter of which SU allowed four goals in the opening period.

Tessa Janecke drew the eyes of all five SU skaters as she skated behind the net and passed to Eleri Mackay, who had a gaping hole between the circles. DeSmet kicked her leg out for the save, but Olivia Wallin cleaned it up on an uncontested net.

Penn State scored again 51 seconds later. And although SU scored to make it 2-1, Penn State’s offensive momentum could not be stopped. SU pulled within one for a second time in the next period, but two late goals in the second gave Penn State a comfortable lead before SU crumbled in the final period, allowing five unanswered goals in its worst loss of the season.

Earlier this season, Thompson said playing against top-ranked teams in non conference play would give the Orange an advantage in the CHA. However, Syracuse has already eclipsed last season’s conference loss total with four games to play.

During the 2021-22 campaign, the Orange were 9-1 against Lindenwood and RIT, the conference’s bottom two teams, after sweeping both in the first series this season. But during the second ones, which occurred during the 2-9-1 skid, SU split with both teams, providing the only two victories during the last 12 games.

The Orange have now suffered two separate six-game losing streaks that began with a shutout and culminated with at least two scores given up in every game. Syracuse’s next opponent is Penn State. Two games behind Mercyhurst for second in the conference, Syracuse will likely need at least one win against the Nittany Lions to stay in the hunt for the regular-season title.

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Smith has repeatedly said that SU’s offense stems from its defense. However, Syracuse ranks last in the CHA in blocked shots and has produced fewer offensive opportunities than its opponents. As a result, SU has allowed 0.69 more goals than they score this season while producing 2.6 less shots than opponents.

“Whether it’s from the offensive zone backchecking or from the defensive zone staying underneath, our offense will come from our defense,” Smith said after the first win against Lindenwood.

Published on February 1, 2023 at 12:33 am

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu