For nearly 58 minutes Friday, Syracuse held the country’s leader in assists per game in check. But with just more than two minutes to play in regulation of a tie game, Clarkson’s Jamie Lee Rattray broke loose.

‘I think when you’re a good player like that and you don’t have enough space to skate and go around you get a little frustrated,’ SU forward Margot Scharfe said.

Rattray entered the game with eight assists and her two per game average were best in the nation. Ultimately, though, she was the beneficiary of a well-placed feed from a teammate and beat the Orange with a rare goal.

After being shut down for 57 minutes and 19 seconds, Rattray, a sophomore, took a pass from Brittany Styner behind the Syracuse (2-4, 0-0 College Hockey America) defense to beat SU goalkeeper Kallie Billadeau for the game-winner. Though the Orange contained Rattray for nearly the entire game, it was a late momentary lapse that left SU on the short end of a 3-2 loss to Clarkson in front of 311 people at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

On Sunday, Syracuse lost 4-2 to Clarkson on the road to finish out the weekend series.

The Orange came out of the locker room a little flat on Friday but avoided falling behind. Clarkson hit the post three times in the first period, but SU was the first to score by way of Scharfe’s first goal of the season in the 12th minute.

Though the Golden Knights answered six minutes later on a putback by Gabrielle Kosziwka, they failed to cash in on a power play with less than 40 seconds left in the first period.

SU was able to kill off the penalty, leaving the Golden Knights — the fourth best power-play team in the country — visibly frustrated.

‘If you’re on a penalty kill, if you kill it you energize the team,’ SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. ‘It energizes the bench and builds our momentum.’

Especially frustrated was Clarkson’s star forward Rattray. With just more than 14 minutes remaining in the second period, Rattray collided with Billadeau and was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for interference. Later in the period, Rattray appeared to have beaten Billadeau for a go-ahead goal when the goal light went off, but the officials waved it off. After missing another opportunity, an exasperated Rattray threw her hands in the air.

It appeared to be that kind of day for Rattray.

Syracuse’s momentum continued to grow in the waning minutes of the second period when Nicole Ferrara and Shiann Darkangelo committed penalties within nine seconds of each other. This left the Golden Knights with a five-on-three advantage for 1:51.

But the Orange penalty kill again stepped up, killing off the two-man disadvantage and keeping the score tied going into the third period.

SU appeared to have successfully capitalized on its momentum throughout much of the third period. After outshooting Clarkson 15-8 in the second period, the margin stretched to 14-4 in the third.

But despite outshooting the Golden Knights, Kosziwa again found the back of the net for Clarkson, this time on a slap shot that flipped over Billadeau and across the goal line.

As the puck flipped up and over the goaltender, Kallie Goodnough was there trying to knock the puck out of the air. Though unsuccessful, the SU defender would redeem herself shortly thereafter.

Less than seven minutes later, Goodnough gathered a loose puck and beat Erica Howe for a game-tying goal.

‘That’s probably the most consistent effort we’ve put forth all year,’ Flanagan said.

In the end, the Orange defense that had been steady had lost sight of Rattray. She couldn’t be held in check in the game’s closing moments and defeated Syracuse with her scoring ability as opposed to her well-respected passing.

‘It was a great play,’ Flanagan said. ‘It was a beautiful pass, and we just didn’t have the coverage. We have to tighten up a bit.

‘ … All in all, we can’t hang our heads. A lot of positives.’

dbwilson@syr.edu