By Linc Zdancewicz and Jack DiNapoli
SYRACUSE, NY— The Syracuse Orange traded games against the RMU Colonials this past weekend in its season-opening series at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. Missed opportunities on the power play ultimately sealed SU’s fate with a crushing 4-2 loss on Friday night. The Orange channeled that frustration and bounced back in an explosive 10-3 win on Saturday afternoon.
Syracuse’s momentum rode high coming off an exhibition series sweep the previous weekend against Clarkson University. The program headed into this weekend with high hopes to carry its momentum from the preseason.
However, the regular season would not start according to plan. Even though SU outshot RMU 46-24, the Orange couldn’t convert on an overwhelming number of their chances in the offensive zone. At the other end, the Robert Morris group was opportunistic - capitalizing on almost every lapse that Syracuse had.
While the offense was dampened in the regular season opener, the goaltending also struggled in the first game for the Orange. Senior Chris Spano had 20 saves on 24 shots but defended breakaways well, keeping the Orange in the game.
There was a brief moment of hope in the second period when the ‘Cuse tied the game at two goals apiece on a goal by forward Anthony Larkin. However, that momentum would be diminished quickly. The Colonials added two more scores which would be too much for the Orange to overcome. Despite multiple penalties by Robert Morris in the latter half of the third period, Syracuse couldn't capitalize on its man-advantages, going 0/3 on the power play for the game.
“Overall I felt like we controlled the majority of the game, “ Syracuse head coach Chris Timmons said. “[We] couldn’t capitalize on our chances. Goals come at a premium in this league and we need to convert. If we bring the same pace of play and limit the mistakes to avoid allowing the odd man rushes, we will put ourselves in a position to win."
Going into Saturday’s game, capitalizing on opportunities and controlling the puck would be major points of emphasis for the Orange. It’s safe to say they did just that in a 10-3 bounce-back victory to even up the two-game series.
On Saturday afternoon, the Orange flipped the script, controlling play early. Two early Syracuse goals came within the first five minutes, coming from Evan Vassilovski and Brock Alvers respectively. The line of Alvers, Isaac Arnold and Connor Gaffney were clicking all game, picking up where they left off from the Clarkson series. After two responding goals from RMU’s Anthony Chiaramonte, Syracuse took off, outscoring their opponents 8-1 for the rest of the contest.
Arnold finished his monster day with two goals and two assists. His linemates Gaffney and Alvers each tallied a goal and an assist. The Nova Scotian now co-leads the team in points with his freshman linemate Gaffney, totaling eight. This line has been the team's strongest to start the year, showing signs of becoming catalysts for the rest of the season.
Arnold commented about the overall success alongside his linemates,
“Alvers, Gaffney and I all have a similar approach to the game. We love using our speed, we love to score, [finishing] our checks…,” Arnold said. “The team has great chemistry this year, and if we can keep that going, I think we have the potential to have a really strong season.”
Like the day prior, penalties decorated the game sheet with the Orange taking eight penalties yet again. However, the special teams kept on rolling with the punches, seeing its penalty kill unit stop four out of RMU’s five power plays. The power play saw some success as well, scoring twice on five-man advantages as opposed to scoring none on Friday.
The third period saw five unanswered goals to close out their weekend, with Carter Rugg and Kade Cook netting their first goals of the season. Syracuse outshot its opponents yet again Saturday afternoon, registering 56 shots to RMU’s 30. While the Orange haven’t been lacking in offensive firepower this season, goaltending can also be viewed as a strong point. Junior A.J. Finta established himself in the net with a .900 save percentage and made sprawling save after sprawling save to help Syracuse keep its lead.
Syracuse (1-1-0) will take on their Upstate NY rivals, Niagara University (3-0-0) this weekend. Niagara was ranked 15th in the country in the ACHA’s pre-season ranking poll. The Orange will swap home games with the Purple Eagles, playing in Lewiston, NY on Friday evening and returning home to Tennity Ice Pavilion on Saturday at 8 p.m.. SU showed perseverance to split their series with RMU but will take on a true offensive talent in Niagara this weekend.
You can catch the Orange with puck drops at 7 p.m. on Friday and 8 p.m. on Saturday. All home games are played at the Tennity Ice Pavilion on Syracuse University’s campus and are free to attend for students and the general public. Home games are also broadcast live for free on the SU Hockey Network.
Contact us:
X: @jackdinap
Email: jodinapo@syr.edu
X: @linczdancewicz
Email: zdancewiczlinc@gmail.com
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