Arielle DeSmet, Sarah Marchand win weekly CHA honors
Photo/Mark Nash
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Senior Arielle DeSmet and freshman Sarah Marchand earned weekly College Hockey America honors. DeSmet won CHA Goalie of the Week, while Marchand won CHA Rookie of the Week.
These awards come after Syracuse went undefeated in a weekend series against Penn State that propelled the Orange to first place in the CHA standings. It is the 10th week of the season where at least one SU player won a weekly award.
DeSmet won the award for the fifth time this season after totaling a combined 99 saves in the 1-1 tie and 2-1 victory against the Nittany Lions. It was the most saves DeSmet has made in a two-game span this season. In Friday’s game, the senior goaltender faced at least 10 shots on goal in all three regulation periods.
The game started with Penn State controlling the game, as it outshot SU 8-1 in the first six minutes. Despite the Nittany Lions’ early dominance, DeSmet didn’t let a shot in. In the third period, the Orange held on to a 1-0 lead and DeSmet was less than 10 minutes away from her third shutout of the season. But a shot from Alyssa Machado got past the goaltender and tied the score at 1-1. DeSmet stopped the remaining six shots on goal to seal the game as a draw.
On Saturday, DeSmet faced even more shots from the Nittany Lions. Penn State took 55 shots on goal throughout the game. DeSmet gave up a goal to Rachel Weiss in the third period, but that was the only shot the senior would give up as she finished with 54 saves. It was the second-most saves in a single game in program history. The game was over a minute away from ending in a tie for the second straight day. But after Mae Batherson got the puck loose at the boards, Marchand collected it near center ice.
Marchand was Syracuse’s assist leader on the season and already assisted on SU’s first goal of the game. But she declined to pass it to Victoria Klimek on the two-on-one breakaway and opted to take the shot herself. The freshman sent a wrist shot toward the top right of the net, and Penn State goaltender Josie Bothun could not stop the shot. The goal gave Marchand her eighth multi-point game of the season and helped her win CHA Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.
