By Brooke Killgore, Head Beat Writer
WHEN: 7:20 p.m. EST
WHERE: Alpha Ice Center — Pittsburgh, PA
LISTEN: Syracuse Hockey Network (Play-By-Play: Arnav Pokhrel)
After splitting a road series against John Carroll University last weekend, Syracuse Men’s Hockey (7-6-1, ESCHL) travels to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to take on conference opponents University of Pittsburgh (8-7-0, ESCHL). This marks the first of two games in Pennsylvania for the Orange.
One-Timers
Syracuse forwards Cam Gaffney (23) and Jack Alecia (19) are in the top five in the ESCHL in points. If Gaffney records at least one more point, he will lead the ESCHL and enter the top ten in the ACHA.
Alecia is tied with University of Delaware’s Dominic Guido in the ESCHL for the most goals (12).
SU forward Evan Vassilovski has a chance to pass his career-high goals (7) if he scores tonight. The senior notched three goals against JCU last weekend.
After a split with JCU, the Orange can still take their first road sweep of the season this weekend.
SU announced the addition of freshman defenseman Omar Wang on Thursday. He joins the team in place of Dan McCarthy, who is out indefinitely due to injury.
SU defenseman Jake Brown leads the ESCHL in penalty minutes (55 PIM). He broke his streak of PIM each game this season on Friday, but returned to the box on Saturday.
Tonight’s Matchup
The Orange last faced the Panthers in October 2023 for SU’s Hall of Fame Weekend. The ‘Cuse dropped both of the games, 4-0 and 3-1.
The Panthers ended a dominant season in the ACHA Tournament last year as the No. 20 seed. Pitt made program history by upsetting No. 4 University of Jamestown to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time and setting ACHA records with the biggest upset. Pitt fell to No. 5 UNLV 5-1 to end its historic run.
Pitt is below SU in fourth place in the ESCHL rankings, with 17 points overall. Syracuse is in second place with 19 points, just under the University of Delaware (9-6-1 ESCHL).
Against JCU last weekend, the Orange had five different skaters contribute toward the six goals in Friday’s 6-5 win (Vassilovski, senior Anthony Larkin, freshman Ryan Thomas, Jake Brown and Brock Alvers).
In the crease, junior A.J. Finta turned away 31 of 36 shots and finished with a .861 SV%.
Saturday’s 4-2 loss brought freshman Aiden Emery’s first collegiate regular season goal alongside a score from Vassilovski.
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