SU’s backup goalie Amelia Van Vliet shines despite 4-3 loss to Lindenwood

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It took Lindenwood’s Morgan Neitzke mere seconds to streak down the left side of the rink and fire past Syracuse goalkeeper Allie Kelley.

The score marked Neitzke’s 11th goal of the year — the most in the College Hockey America conference — but it also was the last shot Kelley faced.

Despite starting in net for Syracuse throughout the first 13 games of the season, Kelley was pulled for senior Amelia Van Vliet seven-and-a-half minutes into the second period. The last time Van Vliet played for the Orange was on Feb. 3 against Penn State.

And though Van Vliet notched 14 saves, going 30 minutes without conceding, Lindenwood (5-8, 2-3 CHA) had built up a big enough lead, against Kelley, to clinch a 4-3 victory over Syracuse (3-10-1, 0-5 CHA).

After the game, Syracuse head coach Britni Smith said that it was “just not (Kelley’s) night”.

Prior to Van Vliet’s entry into the contest, SU’s defense held strong. It allowed just seven Lindenwood shots while notching 17. However, the Lions were far more efficient, registering two goals within seven minutes of each other from Sarah Davies and Rachel Goff.

By the end of opening period, Lindenwood had a 2-1 lead, and had scored on 29% of its shots on goal. Syracuse, on the other hand, held a 6% conversion rate. The start of the second period went even worse for the Orange.

“​​We’ve talked about our second period being the one that has been our worst period and they showed it again tonight,” Smith said.

Kelley faced six shots on goal in the first eight minutes of the second period. Though she palmed away four, two Lindenwood attempts scored, including ones from Davies and Neitzke.

By the time Kelley exited, she had given up four goals on 13 shots faced, uncharacteristic numbers for the St. Anselm transfer who won CHA Goalkeeper of the Week during the first two weeks of the season.

Despite this change, defenseman Alexandria Weiss said postgame that there wasn’t much of a difference between playing in front of the two goalies.

“Both goalies are great goalies,” Weiss said. “They make big saves for us when we need them. And I think Amelia did great today and made some saves when we needed her to.”

Van Vliet had plenty of work to do. Throughout the remainder of the second, Syracuse resorted to its defensive zone. With the puck often in SU territory, Van Vliet finished with 14 saves.

A late goal by SU’s Rachel Teslak gave Syracuse a chance with 2:30 remaining in the game. Van Vliet’s double-digit save performance had kept it at a two-goal game until that point.

“She did exactly what she needed for us,” Smith said. “Kept us in and gave us a chance at the end.”

Two breakaway saves in particular stood out in the final minutes of the third period. Lindenwood had late runs by Goff and Neitzke, both of whom had scored earlier in the night.

This time though, Van Vliet was able to hold strong in the net.

“You kind of just go with reaction, to be honest,” Van Vliet postgame. “After so many years of playing your body knows what it needs to do, just get in front of the puck and hopefully, it hits you.”

While Syracuse couldn’t get another late goal, keeping the team winless in conference play, Van Vliet’s late saves kept the Orange in the game.

“I think you just gotta know that everyone’s a valuable player on the team whether you’re fourth line, first line, third line, second line, and with me like you just got to prepare as if you are a starter,” Van Vliet said.