Breaking down Syracuse’s 2-5-2 start to the 2021-22 season

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Last season, Syracuse faced several postponements and losses to commence the 2020-21 season. The Orange only secured two wins, dropped six and tied one in their first nine matchups. But most of its losses were close games as SU never lost by more than two goals.

This season, similar patterns emerged. Within their first nine games, the Orange have only won twice. The losses, however, have been much more lopsided. Despite an overtime loss to Clarkson, Syracuse fell to its opponent by more than two goals in each loss this year. The Orange have had several power-play opportunities and have three top-20 conference scorers on their roster, but they have been unable to capitalize enough to string together wins. 

Here are the statistics that breakdown Syracuse ice hockey’s 2-5-2 record: 

Five games allowing three or more goals

In the Orange’s season opener against St. Lawrence, they conceded three unanswered goals in the first two periods. After a 3-2 loss to Clarkson on Oct. 7, Syracuse’s goal against average through the first three games was 2.85. But after a tie in the latter Clarkson game and a dominant five-goal win against Union, SU’s GAA decreased to 1.46. 

But Syracuse’s GAA jumped to over three goals after then-No. 3 Colgate scored seven goals against the Orange in a 7-1 loss. It was the most goals the Orange have surrendered since a November 2019 7-4 loss to RIT. Colgate’s Dara Greig scored within the first 40 seconds of the game, setting the tone for a blowout.

In the series split against Lindenwood this season, SU allowed five goals in the second game. The Orange have now given up 18 goals in their last four games. LU’s Rachel Goff scored twice, and the Lady Lions scored two goals late in the third period to break the 3-3 tie. Lindenwood is the only team in the College Hockey America conference to give up more goals in its last four games.

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

Power-Play Struggles

Syracuse has had 43 power-play attempts, the second most out of any Division I school. But the Orange have only capitalized on those attempts five times, giving them a power-play percentage of .116. Even though nine games is a small sample size, this would put the Orange on pace to have their worst conversion percentage since the 2008-09 season. That year they finished with a rate of .108. 

The number also places SU 26th in power-play percentage nationally. The last time Syracuse scored fewer power-play goals through its first nine games was in 2017-18, when it scored four. 

In the first five games this season, SU was able to score at least one goal off a power play in four out of five games. But since then, the Orange have only been able to muster one power-play goal. This included having six failed power-play attempts against Colgate on Oct. 16. Syracuse had 14 shots on the six opportunities, but none of the shots were able to get past Raider goalie Kayle Osborne. 

“(What) we were trying to emphasize when we were not having success early on was just get pucks on net,” Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan said after the Colgate loss. “Take away the goalie’s eyes, try and get rebounds.”

But on the Orange’s last power-play attempt of the game, the only shots came from defenders Jessica DiGirolamo and Mae Batherson. Syracuse was too slow to get rebounds off the shots.

Against Lindenwood, SU had a combined seven power-play chances and only scored once. The sole score came from Abby Moloughney in the second period of the first matchup against the Lady Lions. It was the Orange’s first power-play goal in 10 days, even though they had 11 opportunities in that span of time. 

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

Lack of scorers

Syracuse currently has three players (Moloughney, Sarah Marchand and Lauren Bellefontaine) in CHA’s top-20 point scorers. The only team in the conference with fewer players in the top 20 is RIT. 

Moloughney leads the Orange with nine points (fourth in CHA), which helped her win CHA Offensive Player of the Week during the first week of October. Marchand and Bellefontaine are not too far behind, both totaling six points (12th and 13th in CHA). 

But outside of these three players, Syracuse hasn’t had any other top-scoring options. This issue was especially apparent in the Orange’s first four games. Out of the six goals they scored against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, only one goal wasn’t scored by the top three scorers as Tatum White scored against the Golden Knights on Oct. 7. 

The Orange have had many chances for other scoring options, however. Syracuse registered 105 shots in those first four games as defenseman DiGirolamo led the team in shots in three of those games. Forward Rayla Clemons also had multiple shots in three of those four games.

“I think in our first four games, we’ve had a lot of grade-A chances,” Flanagan said. “We just haven’t cashed in that often.”

In the last five games, Syracuse has found more scoring options. DiGirolamo scored a game-winning goal against Lindenwood on Friday, and White added a second goal to her season total. Freshman Madison Primeau has also emerged as a potential fourth option recently. She has scored three goals in her last five games, including her first collegiate goal against Union on Oct. 12. 

“Having different players score for our team is good for our morale,” Bellefontaine said after the 5-1 win over Union, where Primeau scored her first goal. “I think the energy was much better that way.”