Orange Open Second Half With Loss; Look Forward to URI Matchup

By Kevin Dorr

Captain, Senior Forward, #12, Lucas Prestamo

Syracuse, N.Y.-- The Syracuse Orange (3-15-0) dropped an 8-3 decision to the Niagara Purple Eagles (18-3-0) on Saturday at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

The Orange, who are winless since October 29, failed to string together three complete periods yet again, making too many costly mistakes.

After an Orange power play expired midway through the first period, Niagara’s Carson Andreoli came out of the penalty box on a breakaway opportunity. Andreoli converted, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Purple Eagles doubled their lead at the end of the period on a fluke goal scored on Nik Manousos from behind the goal line.

The Purple Eagles soared to a 4-0 lead just 71 seconds into the second frame. Both goals were results of poor defensive zone coverage, with shots beating Manousos from the slot. Niagara then added to their lead with another breakaway goal.

Despite trailing 5-0, Manousos made big saves on odd-man rushes, rebounds, and shots from point-blank range for both personal and team pride. However, the Purple Eagles jammed in a rebound near the end of the second period to take a 6-0 lead to the second intermission.

The Orange got on the scoreboard early in the third period, with Evan Vassilovski finishing a 2 on 1. Tim Kalinowski moved two Purple Eagles out of position with his body language, like a quarterback moving a safety with his eyes, to set up a 1 on 1, then went to the outside, and Vassilovski flew down the right side and tapped in Kalinowski’s back door pass.

Niagara was not done scoring, as they found the back of the net twice in the third period. The Orange battled back, scoring two. Lucas Prestamo scored on the penalty kill (assisted by Nik Manousos) and Anthony Larkin ripped a shot top left at 18:31 of the third period.

Sloppy play killed the Orange. The Purple Eagles capitalized on turnovers and lapses in defensive coverage. To win games, the Orange must limit their turnovers and mistakes, as well as protect the slot area in the defensive zone. Niagara had too many scoring chances in close, forcing Manousos to make tough saves.

A bright spot was the offensive play of Syracuse defensemen. The Orange need as much help as they can get in the offense department since they average just two goals per game. Mackenzie Murphy joined the rush on multiple occasions, which adds a new dimension to the Orange attack.

“We’ve worked a lot lately on defensemen moving their feet to help make plays and I think it’s paying off,” said Murphy. “It gives us another option on the breakout and set up in the offensive zone”.

Creating quality chances has been difficult for the Orange. Most Syracuse shots come from outside the “slot” area, which is a high percentage save for goalies. Forward Sam Hutchinson understands the importance of getting shots off closer to the net.

“We’ve been getting more opportunities from the outside,” said the sophomore. “We need to create scoring chances by getting more shots off in the slot”.

With more offensive needs recognized, the Orange should increase the offensive output in the back half of the season.

The second leg of the home-and-home with Niagara had been postponed to a date that is to be determined.

The Orange will be back on the ice when they travel to Rhode Island University this upcoming weekend to battle it out with ACHA rival the Rams. They will play a 2-game series on Friday, January 21st at 7 pm and Saturday the 22nd at 4 pm. You can find the action here.

The Orange will look to mitigate the early mistakes they've made and get the second half of the season underway with wins under their belt. This will happen if they can play a full 60 minutes of mistake-free hockey.

Contact me:

By e-mail: kcdorr@syr.edu