No. 4 Colgate hands Syracuse worst loss since Feb. 2022
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Just over two minutes into the contest, Colgate’s Neena Brick received the puck in Colgate’s defensive zone and skated up the ice into the left corner. Brick delivered a pass to the stick of a cutting Madeline Palumbo along the left goal post. Palumbo dodged Alexandria Weiss and fired past the blocker side of Syracuse goaltender Allie Kelley into the net.
It took fewer than three minutes for the Raiders to strike. Colgate fired the first seven shots of the game and used its strong start to take a 4-0 into the first intermission. In the first 20 minutes the Raiders outshot the Orange 23-1 in shots on goal.
Throughout the game, No. 4 Colgate (14-2-1, 8-0 ECAC Hockey) hounded Syracuse (4-14-2, 1-6-1 College Hockey America) in a crushing 9-0 defeat, its fourth shutout loss of the season. Over the entire game, the Raiders outshot the Orange 65-11. The loss marked Syracuse’s worst since a 9-0 defeat against Mercyhurst on Feb. 11, 2022.
The Orange were without defender Rachel Teslak, a two-time CHA Defenseman of the week. Teslak was a game-time decision and SU needed others to step up, associate head coach Heather Farrell said postgame.
Less than four minutes after its first goal, Colgate scored again. This time Brick and Palumbo switched roles, with Palumbo finding Brick on the left side for a one-time slap shot, lifting the Raiders to a 2-0 advantage.
Two minutes later, Avery Pickering fired a slap shot from inside the left face-off circle that squeezed through multiple Syracuse defenders into the net, giving the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
At the 10:25 mark of first period, Brick netted her second goal of the period and Colgate’s fourth on a wrist shot into the left side of the net.
Syracuse received a strong look from Maya D’Arcy three minutes later. D’Arcy attempted a shot from the blue line, however, it was blocked by Allyson Simpson, leading to another offensive possession for the Raiders. In the next seven minutes, the Orange tallied just one shot on goal. Syracuse trailed 4-0 20 minutes into the game, showing few signs of offensive attack.
Two minutes into the second frame, Sydney Bard fired off the body of Kelley, leading the puck to drop right in front of the goal. Brick was first to the rebound and tapped it past Kelley to secure the hat-trick and give the Raiders a 5-0 lead.
Tatum White fired a shot 30 seconds following the goal but Colgate goalkeeper Hannah Murphy made the easy save. Syracuse entered a nearly six-minute drought between shots before White took the puck the length of the ice, zig-zagging her way through the Raiders defense to fire a shot. Again, Murphy stopped the scoring chance.
After over 15 minutes without scoring for the Raiders’ offense, they netted two within 47 seconds to increase the lead to 7-0. At the 17:58 mark, Dara Greig slotted in a goal near the blue line that got past Kelley’s glove side. Seconds later, Kaitlyn O’Donohoe fired a shot at Kelley from the right side, causing the puck to bounce to the left side of the goal crease. Danielle Serdachny was first to it, tipping it in with just over a minute before the period concluded.
Through two periods, the Raiders led 7-0 and were outshooting the Orange 50-4 in shots on goal. To start the third, Amelia Van Vliet replaced Allie Kelley in net for the Orange. Kelley’s day was over after recording 43 saves, the most since Oct. 6 when she tallied 56 against Merrimack.
Early in the third, Syracuse was called for two penalties. During both penalty kills, the Raiders were held scoreless.
In the third, Syracuse created its most scoring opportunities, tallying seven shots on goal. At the 5:42 mark, Rayla Clemons led a breakaway for a one-on-one opportunity with Murphy, but the netminder stayed perfect. Two minutes later, Kate Holmes led a two-on-one with Haley Uliasz. Uliasz failed to convert with Murphy standing tall yet again.
The Orange allowed two goals in the final period and never found the back of the net themselves, ultimately losing 9-0.
“Unfortunately for us, when you give a team like that any time and space, they take advantage of your mistakes.” Farrell said. “We dug a hole pretty quickly. From there we just couldn’t catch back up.”
