After defeating Mercyhurst on Jan. 10, Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan was one win away from his 400th-career women’s collegiate hockey victory. But for the past two games, Syracuse losses – a last-second overtime loss to Mercyhurst and a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Robert Morris – prevented him from reaching the mark.

Saturday afternoon, Flanagan and the Orange had another opportunity against the Colonials in Pennsylvania. Syracuse (7-15-1, 6-3-1 College Hockey America) outlasted Robert Morris (13-9-2, 7-3-0), earning Flanagan his 400th win in a 1-0 victory.

After two periods the Orange and Colonials were in a scoreless deadlock. But, three-and-a-half minutes into the third frame, freshman forward Brynn Koocher slotted the puck past the Colonials goalie to break the draw. With over sixteen minutes left to play, the Orange needed an insurance goal or would be forced to rely on their defensive play to lock out Robert Morris for the win. Unable to add an additional score, Syracuse secured the win by shutting out the Colonials. Allison Small stopped all 32 shots she faced, including 15 in the third period. The shutout was Small’s second of the season – she held Lindenwood scoreless in a 7-0 Syracuse win in early December.

Syracuse’s ability to kill penalties was put to the test in the second period, as Emma Polaski, Mae Batherson and Kristen Siermachesky were all sent to the box. This season, the Orange have been able to kill nearly 80% of their penalties, holding opponents to 20 power-play goals. SU’s penalty killing contained the Colonials to only six shots.

Robert Morris’s desperation led to two late penalties in the third period that Syracuse was unable to score on. This season, SU has only scored 15 goals on the man advantage – a 15.3% power-play rate.

Paul Flanagan was the seventh women’s college hockey coach to reach the 400 win mark. Of those wins, 230 came during his career behind the bench at St. Lawrence University, where he coached from 1999 to 2008.

After Flanagan’s 399th win, he told the media that reaching the 400 mark wasn’t at the top of his mind.

“”It’s just another sign that I’m old,” Flanagan said.

Published on January 18, 2020 at 8:07 pm

Contact Will: wrhentsc@syr.edu