SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Allie LaCombe scored her fifth game-winning goal of the season in the Orange ice hockey team’s (19-13-3) 4-1 rout of Lindenwood (5-25-3) on Friday night at Tennity Ice Pavilion in the first round of the College Hockey America Tournament.
Syracuse is just one win away from moving on to the semifinal round against Mercyhurst, the host of the final rounds of the CHA Tournament. SU and Lindenwood rematch tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in Tennity in the second contest of the best-of-three series.
“We had to frustrate them in the third period by getting our feet moving and making plays,” head coach Paul Flanagan said. “We needed to play at our level and in our style. I give our team credit for a good third period not only on the scoreboard but in a lot of little areas on the ice.”
Four different Orange scored a goal in the contest and seven SU skaters notched a point in the win. Jessica Sibley and Nicole Renault each had a goal and an assist in the game.
Jenesica Drinkwater made 20 stops throughout the game to shut out the Lady Lions for 56:27. Nicole Hensley saved 36 of the Syracuse’s 40 attempts on net.
Neither team was able to get on the board in the first period despite three total power play opportunities. The Orange put nine tries on target and held Lindenwood to just four but some exceptional saves on both ends kept the score at 0-0 going into the second stanza.
Freshman Heather Schwarz was the first to score, shooting one top shelf from the left side to open scoring near the end of the second period. Renault passed the puck from the top of the faceoff circle to Schwarz, who was able to get it past Hensley to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead 17:23 into the second stanza.
The Orange didn’t waste much time getting its second tally on the scoreboard at the beginning of the third period. LaCombe stole the puck at center ice and worked it up the left side to the faceoff circle. She passed to Caitlin Roach and skated to the goalies far side to receive the puck and easily shoot it past the Lion net minder to give SU a 2-0 lead 3:06 into the period.
Syracuse scored again just 27 seconds later, winning the faceoff at center ice and getting the puck to Renault in the left circle, who fired a shot at Hensley and increased the Orange advantage to 3-0 with 16:27 left in the game. Sibley scored with 5:32 remaining to pad the Syracuse lead, now at 4-0.
Lindenwood ended the shutout with just 3:33 left on the clock when Alyssa West tipped in a shot on Drinkwater’s far side, bringing the score to 4-1 but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Orange.
Overall, Syracuse outshot Lindenwood 65-40, monopolizing the puck in the final 20 minutes. The Orange also edged the Lions in the faceoff circle 21-18.
