When Nicole Ferrara received a pass from Margot Scharfe on the doorstep to score the game-winning goal for Syracuse in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win over Lindenwood, it was an exclamation point on an impressive weekend performance.

Ferrara earned College Hockey America Co-Rookie of the Week honors, but she is not letting the honor go to her head.

‘I actually didn’t know until one of my teammates told me,’ the freshman forward said. ‘It’s kind of cool, I guess.’

Ferrara’s game-winner, which was also her first career goal, followed a two-assist outing in Friday’s 6-2 victory over the Lions. Ferrara is just one role player for the Orange (8-10) that has taken on an expanded role with conference play on the horizon. Shiann Darkangelo scored her first career goal Friday as SU got six goals from six different scorers, and Stephanie Jones made her first start of the season in net.

Eighteen games into the season, the Orange is starting to get production from its younger players who have settled into their roles in the rotation.

Darkangelo has spent plenty of time on the ice this season as one of the team’s top defensive forwards and faceoff specialists. Although the freshman leads the team with 56 shots, Darkangelo didn’t find the back of the net until scoring on Friday. 

‘Hopefully, and we talked about this Friday night, with her game, score a goal and just start to believe in yourself,’ SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. ‘ … She’s a big strong player, she skates well, she’s got excellent skills, now she’s just got to start producing.’

Darkangelo’s breakout performance was something that should have been expected, though. After more than two months with the team, the freshmen know what’s expected of them at this point in the season.

With a better understanding of the system, freshmen Julie Knerr and Jordyn Burns showed they’re also ready to contribute as conference play begins.

Knerr and Burns got in the scoring column early in the season but had been relatively quiet since. But the two played critical roles in a pair of SU wins last weekend.

‘A lot of the younger girls are starting to step up more,’ SU defender Jacquie Greco said. ‘We knew it would take them a little time. We wanted it to happen earlier, them stepping up, but it’s OK with them stepping up now when we need it most.’

Knerr scored her fourth goal of the season, and Burns quietly made plays in the defensive zone all weekend.

But Burns wasn’t the only player whose contributions flew under the radar.

Sadie St. Germain has scored just three goals in 47 career games at Syracuse, but she earned more playing time last weekend.

What the sophomore does on the ice, though, cannot simply be measured by statistics, as she’s one of the team’s top penalty-killing forwards. But after her line played well in practice, SU assistant coach Graham Thomas told her that she and her teammates would see plenty of ice time against Lindenwood.

‘I was forechecking well, I had my speed back with me,’ St. Germain said. ‘I had a good amount of scoring chances, I had one that tipped of the glove, one that was sitting in between her feet, so I think just the opportunities that were created on my line (helped).’

For a team that hasn’t found one go-to scorer yet, SU hopes some of its younger players can continue to be scoring threats as the season continues. Syracuse has just four players that have scored at least five goals.

With a deep freshman class, Flanagan and the Orange hoped the younger players would be making contributions earlier in the season. Though they struggled at the onset, the freshmen are starting to turn the corner at just the right time.

‘It’s better if you have tons of people that contribute, more than just one,’ Ferrara said. ‘ … I’m just trying to work my hardest. That’s all I can do.’

dbwilson@syr.edu