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Entering Friday’s matchup, it would’ve been an understatement to say both Syracuse and Lindenwood needed a win.

While they narrowly won their last game, the Orange were still on the mend after a disastrous eight-game losing streak where they allowed 27 combined goals. This season hasn’t been kind to the Lions as well, winners of just three games heading into their series against the Orange.

Still, after watching her team fall 4-1 in its last meeting with Lindenwood on Nov. 23, SU head coach Britni Smith refused to take the Atlantic Hockey America’s basement dweller lightly.

”(One of their wins) was against us, and they’re a team that consistently plays us tough. We don’t believe there’s ever an easy night against Lindenwood, so there was no difference in the way we prepared for this weekend,” Smith said.

In its penultimate home game of the season, Syracuse (9-20-0, 7-8-0 AHA) stormed past Lindenwood (3-22-2, 2-12-1 AHA) 5-2 with a season-high five goals. Forward Jackson Kinsler led the charge with a career-high four points (two goals, two assists) as seven different Orange players found their way onto the scoresheet.

Following a 3-2 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology last weekend where SU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period, the Orange continued to fill the net early on against the Lions, who held a conference-worst 119 goals against.

Just 1:01 into play, Stella Costabile combined with Jackson Kinsler and Nea Tervonen on a wraparound tally to put SU in front on its first shot of the contest. The goal marked Syracuse’s fastest of the season after scoring just 1:08 into its season-opener against Stonehill on Oct. 4, 2024.

Despite their overall struggles this year, the Lions still possess an offensive front that can hurt teams that underestimate them.

One such player, Sidney Jackel, nearly scored early on. At her own blue line, Jackel quickly stripped Sami Gendron of the puck and worked her way down the left-wing boards into Syracuse’s end. Cutting toward the slot, she released a shot that whipped past the left ear of SU goalie Allie Kelley, but missed the mark.

Following SU’s quick start, the Lions controlled the puck for much of the following 10 minutes, testing Kelley with seven unanswered shots. Lindenwood fired pucks on net from all across SU’s zone in hopes one would eventually find the net.

As the Lions continued to rattle off shots, the Orange received a chance to respond with their inaugural power play chance of the contest. Throughout the two-minute window, Syracuse showed hesitancy to shoot the puck, and it cost it. Despite six shot attempts during the player-up opportunity, just two of them tested Lions goalie Anna Larose.

By the end of the opening frame, Syracuse still maintained its slim 1-0 lead, but fell behind 10-4 in shots on goal and 15-6 in the faceoff dot.

”I thought we had a really slow start although we were up 1-0 after the first. We really used the rest button between the first and the second period,” Smith said.

To start the second frame, both teams appeared to settle in. Through the first five minutes of play, both sides combined for 14 shot attempts, but both Kelley and Larose stood strong. Despite Syracuse’s offense coming alive to start the second period, the Lions’ attack found the back of the net to even the contest in unique fashion.

Just over seven minutes into the period, Gigi Pora drove toward the top of Kelley’s crease and pushed the puck across the goal line, knocking the goalie over in the process. Originally called off for goalie interference, the Lions challenged the play and were rewarded a goal upon further review.

“It was hard to say (what happened), but with the views they have, I would imagine that they saw what they needed to from that review. Whether it was a goal or not, that next shift we really wanted to have momentum, and I thought we did a good job with that,” Smith said.

Following Pora’s unorthodox tally, Lindenwood’s Quinn McLaren’s tripping penalty gave the Orange a second crack on the power play. This time, the unit cashed in.

With time at the top of the right circle, Tatum White wired one past Larose on the blocker side on Syracuse’s first shot of the power play. The marker brought her up to two points in her last two games on the heels of SU’s latest eight-game spiral.

Moments after killing off Lindenwood’s first power play chance, Syracuse took advantage again. Positioning herself directly in front of the net, Kinsler perfectly deflected Gendron’s shot from the point past Larose to put the Orange up 3-1.

“(Smith) has been emphasizing that the special teams game is really going to get wins for us. We also wanted to get our (penalty kill) at a 100% tonight, which it was,” Kinsler said.

Although trailing 3-1, the Lions wouldn’t go quietly. Lindenwood forward Chloe Corbin worked her way into open space atop the SU zone, and sent a weak shot toward Kelley that looked to be an easy save. But the puck deflected off Kelley’s shoulder and floated past her to give the Lions hope going into the final stretch.

While its advantage had been cut to one, the Orange still had many positives to take into the locker room at the second intermission. Syracuse had taken the majority of shots on goal and face off wins in the middle frame. To cap it off, it had also taken care of business against the AHA’s worst penalty killing team by going two-for-two on the player advantage.

The final frame continued to be a back-and-forth affair, but the Orange received contributions from across the lineup in both the offensive and defensive end to hold the Lions scoreless for the final 20 minutes.

As for Syracuse’s attack, it continued to hum down the stretch.

At the 15:34 mark, Sami Gendron put the cherry on top of her career-best three-point outing. Just 35 seconds later, Kinsler boosted SU’s advantage to 5-2, bringing the sophomore to four points in a game for the first time ever.

By securing its second win in three games against the Lions, the Orange put themselves in prime position to take the season series from their divisional foe on Saturday.

“I thought we did a really good job of finding our game for the last 40 (minutes). Big night for us to put five in, and our power play went two-for-five and our penalty kill was perfect tonight. A lot of positives and obviously a big game tomorrow to finish the series against Lindenwood,” said Smith.

Published on January 31, 2025 at 8:48 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu