Strong third period propels Syracuse to 5-2 win over RIT

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Syracuse (9-9-5, 7-3-0-1 College Hockey America) swept the season series against RIT (0-23-2, 0-8-1 CHA) with a 5-2 win on Saturday. Anna Leschyshyn and Abby Moloughney scored third-period goals to give the Orange the lead, and Rayla Clemons sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. The win over the Tigers came after the two teams were in a stalemate for most of the matchup.

For the first six minutes of the game, the two teams were even in shots, with both of them having six shots each. After blocking one of RIT’s first shots of the period, Syracuse forward Lauren Bellefontaine got her first shot of the game nearly seven minutes in. The shot beat freshman netminder Sarah Coe to give the Orange an early 1-0 lead. SU started to control the game after the first goal. For the next six minutes, the Orange outshot the Tigers 9-1 but couldn’t find the back of the net. 

Moloughney and Jessica DiGirolamo both had three shots on goal in the opening period, but neither could get past Coe. The Tigers responded as Emma Roland fired a shot that beat Arielle DeSmet to tie the game at one.  

The early stages of the second period started with penalties on both teams. Two minutes into the second, Madison Primeau was called for tripping. The Tigers got shots from Abby Davies and Kyla Bear before Bear herself was called for tripping of her own. Neither team could score with the man-advantage, and the game remained deadlocked at one goal apiece. 

But near the eighth minute of the second period, defenseman Hannah Johnson ended the stalemate with her second goal of the season as SU retook the lead 2-1. But that lead lasted less than a minute. After Lindsay Maloney fired a shot that was blocked by DiGirolamo, the Tigers got the puck back, and Bailey Kehl buried the puck in the net to tie the game again for her first collegiate goal. 

For the last 12 minutes of the period, the Tigers could only get two shots while the Orange had 11, but neither team scored to end the period and the game was tied at two going into the third. 

The teams were evenly matched to start the final period of play until just before the fourth minute mark. SU fired off two shots, coming from Clemons and Leschyshyn. But after Leschyshyn couldn’t beat Coe initially, the junior forward fired a shot 20 seconds later that the goalkeeper couldn’t stop. The Orange would not relinquish the lead as five minutes after Leschyshyn’s goal, Moloughney scored her 12th goal of the season to make the score 4-2. 

While RIT had power-play opportunities, DeSmet saved every shot and the conference-best penalty kill kept the Tigers scoreless in the third. And with time winding down, RIT pulled Coe from the net, and Clemons took advantage and sealed the empty-net goal to secure the victory for the Orange.