Jessica DiGirolamo, Allison Small earn CHA weekly honors
Photo/Mark Nash
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College Hockey America on Wednesday named Syracuse seniors Jessica DiGirolamo and Allison Small its player and goaltender of the week, respectively. The awards come after a weekend sweep of Lindenwood that brought the Orange (6-8-1, 6-6-1 CHA) to .500 in conference play.
Through 15 games, DiGirolamo is leading the team with eight goals and is third in points with 12. In the series against Lindenwood, the defender notched five goals, including a hat-trick performance in Syracuse’s 4-1 victory on Feb. 12. The three goals are the most any SU player has scored in a single game this season.
Last season, DiGirolamo was named CHA Player of the Week on Oct. 7, 2019 after a three-point game against then-No. 7 Boston College. This season, however, it took her until Dec. 11 to score a goal, and she only tallied three points before the team’s 41 day hiatus. Since returning to play, DiGirolamo has recorded a point in all but one of SU’s victories.
“(DiGirolamo) can be dominating at times, and that just brings everyone else’s levels up,” head coach Paul Flanagan said after her two-goal performance against RIT on Feb. 3.
In front of the net, Small saved 64 shots across the three-game sweep. She made her 1,000th career save in a Syracuse uniform on Saturday. She’s the sixth goalie in Orange history to reach that milestone, and she did so in 38 games after transferring from Quinnipiac midway through her sophomore season.
Small has started each game this season and has only been pulled once this season, in Syracuse’s 5-2 loss to Mercyhurst. She saves 93.2% of shots on goal, which currently places her third in Syracuse’s single-season record list for save percentage.
Last season, Small earned the CHA Goaltending Trophy after finishing 6-4-2 in conference play. Her goals against average this year sits at 2.15, 0.09 goals lower than last season’s award-winning performance.
“Allison’s going to want to shut out every night,” Flanagan said. “That’s what we’re striving for.”
Syracuse returns to the ice at Tennity Ice Pavilion this weekend with a two-game series against Long Island University. The two games mark SU’s first matchup with a nonconference opponent since Colgate on Nov. 20 and 21.
