Senior Allie Munroe flipped her gaze from the reporters to the ice behind them. From that angle, you could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she came to terms with the reality that this was her last game at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

“It’s bittersweet,” Munroe said, “I’m gonna miss it so much.”

Munroe tallied one assist in a 5-1 win over Lindenwood (7-20-3, 3-13-2 College Hockey America), bringing her team-leading point total to 24 points on the season. The Orange (10-19-3, 10-6-2) scored four of those five goals in the second period, in which they also committed both of their penalties. Four different players scored in the middle 20 minutes of the game, and the game’s slow first period quickly turned into a blowout.

The Orange came out flat, junior Logan Hicks said. Head coach Paul Flanagan was not on the bench due to illness, so assistant coach Brendon Knight took over. Neither Hicks nor Munroe said the decision affected them, but the news was given to them close enough to game time that it remained in the back of their minds.

While the Orange outshot the Lions 10-3 in the first period, their only quality chance was a wrist shot by Anonda Hoppner with 13 minutes to play that Lindenwood’s goaltender got just enough of to redirect the puck.

With just 1:34 to play in the period, the Lions were called for body checking, so SU was either scoring now or going in the second period on the player-advantage. A futile couple of possessions made that decision for them.

“Coming in from the first period,” sophomore Victoria Klimek said, “We needed to get the energy up. We could really tell that there was not a lot of talking on the bench or on the ice, and we just didn’t feel excited.”

In the second period, the Orange played excited. At first, it hurt them, as Klimek was assessed a penalty for tripping just over two minutes in. A characteristically good penalty kill unit — which struggled at times last weekend — found their form and allowed just one shot during the Lindenwood power play.

SU kept the pressure on the Lions and with 15:01 to play in the second period, it resulted in a goal for Kelli Rowswell. After a series of shots had gotten the goaltender out of position, Rowswell took the puck and wrapped around the net to backhand a shot into the vacant right side of the net.

Just as the PA announcer had finished crediting players for the goal and assists, SU had a 3-on-1, and LWU’s lone defender was reeling. Sophomore Emma Polaski took the initial shot straight on, and the puck was block to the right of the net where Klimek could gather in stride and rip one home.

One minute and 30 seconds later, Lindenwood halved the deficit by five-holing senior goaltender Maddi Welch. It would be the last time the Lions beat Welch on the afternoon.

After a brief five-minute lull in scoring, the Orange created another scrum in front of the LWU net. This time Abby Moloughney was the beneficiary of a loose puck by an open net, making it 3-1 Orange.

Hicks notched her first goal of the season four minutes later, ending the day early for Lindenwood’s goaltender after having faced only 18 shots. This was the fourth different goal scorer in the period, an encouraging sign for a team trying to make a tournament run in less than two weeks.

“To win a championship you need everyone,” Munroe said, “You need three lines, all the defense, the goalie, everyone really.”

Munroe was especially impressed with Molougney, who finished the scoring with her second goal of the game late in the third period. The freshman now has eight goals on the season, third on the team.

But ultimately it comes back to Munroe and the seniors, who leave Tennity Ice Pavilion on one last high note.

“I’m so thankful for everyone here and the coaches to give me the opportunity,” Munroe said, “I’ll never be able to repay them and all the relationships I made here are special for life, so bleed Orange forever.”

Published on February 23, 2019 at 7:21 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu