Just 37 seconds into the third period, forward Emma Polaski was sent to the box for interference. Then, Kristen Siermachesky joined her in the box a minute later. Going into the second intermission, Syracuse was down a goal. But the moment the third period began, Northeastern started pulling away. 

Gifted with a five-on-three powerplay, Northeastern punished Syracuse with a quick goal. The Orange were left chasing shadows for the rest of the game and were handed their fifth straight loss.

“The third period was pretty ugly hockey,” said SU head coach Paul Flanagan. “It was like watching paint dry.”

In front of a packed crowd for alumni weekend, Syracuse (0-5) faced off against No. 3 Northeastern (3-0) for the second time in two days. In the first two periods, both the Huskies and Orange went back-and-forth, leading to a 4-3 Northeastern advantage heading into the final period. But in the third, the Huskies extended their lead as the Orange scrambled to keep players out of the penalty box.

Flanagan likened his team’s play in the third period to figure skaters — his team was slow and a step behind Northeastern for the entire third period. “We have to condition ourselves to play back-to-back games,” Flanagan said.

Its sluggishness played a part in the seven penalties committed by the Orange. Most were minor stick penalties, like hooking and tripping, leading Syracuse to playing a large chunk of the game with four players on the ice. 

“You really don’t want to get into that type of play,” said Flanagan. “It’s like a broken record so far this year.”

With just under five minutes remaining in the second period, the Huskies scored on a power play and took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission. Sophomore Lauren Bellefontaine tied the game 3-3 in the second, but succumbed along with her teammates to the Huskies third period onslaught. 

“I think once we got down 4-3 we just stopped skating and we stopped working,” said Bellefontaine. “If we just kept it up I think it would’ve been a totally different game.”

This season, the Orange haven’t been overpowered by ranked opponents in the early stages of games. Then, fatigue kicks in, Syracuse commits penalties and struggles to keep pace.

Against Clarkson, Boston College, and Northeastern — all top programs out of their conference — Syracuse couldn’t keep up with them at the end of their matchups. They start with penalties, and a lack of energy from load management lead to the close losses, and Syracuse’s early losing streak. 

The scoring started early in Saturday’s game as SU jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal just three minutes into the game. Five minutes later, Northeastern had the lead after scoring two goals in three minutes. Halfway through the first, the Orange tied it at two. However, with just two minutes remaining in the first period, Chloe Aurard scored on the powerplay to give the Huskies the lead going into the intermission.

Friday’s game between the two was scoreless until the third period where Northeastern scored the game-winner in the final minutes. Saturday afternoon, the game was again tied. But the high scoring affair to start became one sided, and Syracuse couldn’t hang with the speed and skill of the Huskies in the third period.

“The difference from yesterday and today is just the momentum,” said Eastwood. “We had a lot of energy yesterday and once they got up on us in the third period we lost that energy and we lost our legs.”

Flanagan said SU needs to find a balance this season or it’ll continue to face the cumulative effect of its problems. Despite the never ending cycle of a season that the players face, Flanagan believes that his team can find a way to get it together.

“At the end of the day we’re better for it, so you can’t get disappointed right now,” said Flanagan. “You look at our record you want to get down, but we turn our focus to next Friday night.”

Published on October 12, 2019 at 8:13 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu