By Kevin Dorr
Syracuse Hockey Class of 2022, (left to right) #13 Tim Kalinowski, #33 Cal Stewart, #12 Lucas Prestamo and #23 Colin Morrow © David Herman
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Orange (6-20-0) dropped two games against the Delaware Blue Hens (17-11-0) at the Tennity Ice Pavilion this past weekend. The Orange fell 8-1 on Friday night before putting up a better fight in Saturday’s 5-2 loss.
In Friday’s game, Delaware jumped out to an early lead, scoring 68 seconds into the game, and adding a powerplay goal midway through the period. Captain Lucas Prestamo cut the deficit in half when he lasered a shot coming off the rush. Sam Hutchinson made a nifty indirect pass to get the puck to Prestamo, who tallied his team-leading 13th goal of the season. The Blue Hens added another power-play goal in the first period to take a 3-1 lead.
Delaware converted twice on the powerplay in the first period and outshot the Orange 19-9. The Blue Hens are a team with size, skill, and physicality, which made it difficult for the Orange to break pucks out efficiently. The Blue Hens fed off turnovers, including one for their fourth goal in the middle of the second frame.
The Blue Hens added four goals in the third period, for a final score of 8-1. Shots were 44-20 in favor of the visitors.
Saturday’s “Senior Night” was a more competitive showing for the Orange. Sam Hutchinson explained why.
“Our energy and pace of play was at a higher level than on Friday,” said the forward. “We were a much harder team to play against than we showed the night before”.
The Orange found themselves down 2-0 after a period of play. Senior Colin Morrow got Syracuse on the board when he cleaned up a rebound for his 4th goal of the year. Delaware would respond with a goal of their own about three minutes later.
Heading into the third frame down 3-1, the Orange knew they would have to capitalize on whatever chances they got. With a powerplay opportunity at the start of the first, senior Lucas Prestamo found senior Tim Kalinowski backdoor on a pretty passing play. Kalinowski buried it, bringing the Orange deficit to one.
The Orange drew another penalty shortly after Kalinowski’s goal and were awarded a 5-on-3 from the Blue Hens coaching staff for a bench misconduct. With two minutes of a 5-on-3, the Orange only shot the puck once. They were waiting for the perfect opportunity that never materialized, and that ended up costing them.
Delaware would go on to score on the powerplay midway through the third, before adding an empty netter to seal the game. Although coming up short, the Orange outshot the Blue Hens 13-10 in the final period. This can be attributed to tighter defensive zone coverage, hard backchecking, and blocked shots.
The line of Hutchinson, Prestamo, and Kalinowski was able to generate chances and draw penalties to ignite the offense. When on the ice, they produced offense and played steady defense.
“Playing with ‘Stamo and Tim this last stretch of the season was very fun for me,” said Hutchinson. “They move and transition fast and handle the puck better than anyone”.
Their contributions will certainly be missed, as will the contributions of the two other seniors, Colin Morrow and Cal Stewart. Morrow, Prestamo, and Kalinowski all scored this weekend and Stewart started Saturday’s matchup.
Although the Orange finished the season at 6-20, there were many memorable moments for the players and there are high expectations for the future. Tony Larkin provided some memories that he had and explains how that will help the team grow into an ESCHL and ACHA contender.
“A bunch of us rented a house to stay at for the two weeks before school started and it was great to really spend time and get to know a lot of my teammates” For some context, the Orange started their second half of the season before Syracuse University students moved in for the second semester, leaving them without housing.
Larkin also noted that bonding with the team can help bring future successes.
“I’m looking forward to the steps that the team is going to take,” said Larkin. “We really started to gel as the season ended and hopefully we can ride that into next season and beyond and bring a winning culture back to Syracuse Hockey.”
With Saturday's loss the Orange season has officially come to an end. Syracuse did not finish in the top 4 in the ESCHL and therefore did not qualify for this year's conference tournament in West Chester, PA.
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By Email: kcdorr@syr.edu