By Isabella Apple
#16, Sophomore forward, Timothy Cook
Long Island, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Orange (3-10-0) dropped both games against the Stony Brook Seawolves (11-2-1) this weekend when they visited Long Island. On Saturday night, Syracuse was shut out 8-0 by Stony Brook, and in Sunday’s afternoon matchup the Seawolves beat the Orange 9-1.
In Saturday’s matchup, the Orange were unable to stay out of the penalty box, with sophomore Sam Hutchinson taking an elbowing penalty just 13 seconds into the game and setting the tone for the day. After Syracuse's penalty killers failed to clear the zone two times, Stony Brook's defenseman Brendan Pepe buried the puck and gave the Seawolves the early 1-0 lead.
The Orange would take three more penalties in the first period alone and gave an explosive Stony Brook powerplay unit all the opportunity they needed to score again. The Seawolves have been so productive on the powerplay in part because of their ability to possess and move the puck around the offensive zone with the man advantage. Syracuse, on the other hand, was unable to generate any offense or movement on the only powerplay opportunity they had late in the opening frame.
The Orange headed into the first intermission trailing the Seawolves 17-4 in shots on goal and down 2-0 where it matters most.
Junior Mackenzie Murphy knows how important Syracuse’s discipline is to be successful.
“Our team is young and we’re learning every game. We knew going into tonight’s game that we’d have to stay out of the box. It’s unfortunate that we had to bring out our penalty kill unit so soon and Stony Brook made us pay,” commented the defenseman. “We’re trying to limit the mistakes we make as a team and hold each other accountable. We need to have a short-term memory and build off of our shifts.”
Syracuse got an opportunity to get themselves back into the game just 10 seconds into the second period when the Seawolves took a cross-checking minor, giving the Orange a second powerplay chance. Again, the Orange were unable to generate anything on the man-advantage, and after killing the penalty, Stony Brook was back on their offensive attack.
The Seawolves forced a sloppy turnover in Syracuse’s offensive zone and went streaking down the ice in a 3-on-1 odd-man rush which resulted in a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal for Stony Brook.
Syracuse must clean up their game if they have any hopes of being a winning team this season. Before the halfway mark of the middle frame, the Orange were once again on the penalty kill, and once again giving up a powerplay goal to the Seawolves' top unit.
Assistant coach Jordan Alhart said they felt their penalty killing has been doing better as the season progresses, but they must stay vigilant to their fundamentals to remain successful.
“Our penalty kill had been trending in the right direction before this weekend,” he said - the Orange had only allowed a total of 1 powerplay goal in their last 3 games up until the most recent series against Stony Brook. Alhart continued, “I think it just goes to show how detail-oriented we have to be when playing a team like that. Their powerplay is so strong and any mistake or anytime they’re able to get us out of position, they’re going to capitalize.”
With 12:57 remaining in the second period and trailing 4-0, Syracuse’s head coach Chris Timmons used the team's timeout in hopes of taking some momentum from the red-hot Stony Brook team.
Coming out of the break, the Orange were visibly trying to play with more passion and aggression, but an indirect pass on the dump-and-chase led to a Stony Brook goal. Less than a minute later, the Seawolves were at the Orange’s throat again, scoring off of a 2-on-1 opportunity. At that point, Syracuse needed something to change, and they chose to swap starting goalie Cal Stewart for backup Nik Manousos.
A consistent problem throughout the weekend was Stony Brook’s ability to pick apart Syracuse in the neutral zone, and with the Orange struggling in the transition game, way too many odd-man rushes were going the wrong way for Syracuse.
The Orange entered the 3rd period down 6-0 on the scoresheet and were outplayed in all phases of the game.
Although the Orange played their best hockey of the game in the final frame, it was all too little too late. Their aggressive decisions resulted in avoidable penalties, their transition game resulted in several odd-man rushes, and they failed to possess the puck for any significant time.
Syracuse allowed another two goals in the last period, one of which came on the - you guessed it - Stony Brook powerplay. The Orange allowed four of Stony Brook’s eight goals to come on the powerplay… clearly, the penalty-killing unit needs to continue to work at it, but a way to avoid allowing powerplay goals is to take fewer penalties.
Freshman Max Gargurevich said limiting penalties is always a focus for the Orange.
“The biggest thing we need to do is stay out of the box and keep the game at 5-on-5 and not let them run away with it. We need a lot to go right, score first, stay disciplined, string together good shifts, but I have no doubt that we can do it,” said the forward.
Unfortunately, staying out of the box would not be in the cards for the Orange in Sunday’s matinee either. Syracuse started strong, not taking any penalties in the first frame, and even found themselves on the powerplay twice throughout the opening 20-minutes.
Syracuse again was down early in the second matchup against Stony Brook, with the Seawolves scoring twice in under five minutes to take a 2-0 lead. The Orange kept fighting, and on their second powerplay chance of the day, with under a minute left in the period, sophomore Timothy Cook buried a powerplay goal, his first for the Orange.
Cook said getting a bounce to go his way was a relief.
“It was great to finally get one after quite a few chances. I expected myself to get a few this season so I’m hoping to get momentum and score a few in our upcoming games,” said the forward. “We’ll all be working hard in practice this week to bounce back from this weekend and we all want to go home for Thanksgiving with a couple of wins.”
Syracuse’s good fortune would run out as time expired in the first period. The Orange allowed five goals in the middle frame and fell into penalty trouble once again. Syracuse gave up two powerplay goals in the second period and was dejected down 7-1 by the time the second period came to a close.
Attempting to give his team a spark, or perhaps just letting out the frustration that seemingly everyone on the Syracuse roster had, junior Austin Ricker’s day was cut short after being disqualified for fighting as time ticked down in the second.
Syracuse would give up two more goals - one of which another powerplay score - and the game ended with a final of 9-1. Stony Brook’s powerplay proved to be much more than the young Syracuse team could handle. The Orange allowed eight powerplay goals over the course of the weekend.
The Orange were also once again severely outplayed, out-worked, and out-scored by this Stony Brook team who has seemingly had Syracuse’s number over the past few seasons.
Stony Brook is now ranked #5 overall in the Division I Men’s ACHA rankings and sits comfortably atop the ESCHL division with 16 points - the next closest team having 10 points in the Rhode Island Rams. The Orange may not see a team of the Seawolves caliber for the rest of the season now that their home and away series against Stony Brook have passed.
Alhart said all the team can do is look towards the future now.
“I think it will be nice to put the Stony Brook season series behind us. If we play the right way and bring the effort that I know we can bring I think we have some very winnable games left on our schedule,” said the first-year assistant. “I think the focus now is getting back in the win column in our four remaining games this semester and heading into the break on a high note, and hopefully regaining a little bit of that confidence [as well].”
The Orange will look to turn things around ahead of Syracuse University's Thanksgiving break when they face off against the West Chester University Golden Rams this weekend from Tennity Ice Pavilion. Syracuse will also be celebrating those who have served and honoring Veterans Day with Military Appreciation Night on Saturday, November 20th, at 7:30 pm.
Contact me:
By e-mail: iengeha@syr,edu
By Twitter: @isabella_skye23
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