Syracuse sweeps weekly CHA honors after 2 wins over RIT
Photo/Mark Nash
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Syracuse captured all four weekly honors from College Hockey America following back-to-back wins over RIT this past weekend. Abby Moloughney earned CHA Forward of the Week honors and Sarah Marchand was named CHA Rookie of the Week. On defense, Jessica DiGirolamo won CHA Defenseman of the Week, and Arielle DeSmet earned CHA Goaltender of the Week. This is the first time this season that the Orange swept all four awards.
With two goals and two assists against the Tigers, Moloughney extended her point scoring streak to four games. The forward scored her first goal on a give-and-go in the third period of the first game to seal the Orange’s 3-0 victory. In the second game, at RIT’s Gene Polisseni Center, Moloughney took three shots on the goal in the first period but broke through in the third, beating Tigers goaltender Sarah Coe to increase SU’s lead to 4-2.
Marchand assisted Moloughney’s first goal over the weekend, helping Marchand earn CHA’s Rookie of the Week for the third time this season. The freshman contributed on all three goals in Friday’s win. After SU failed to score twice on the power play, Marchand scored her seventh goal of the year on a rebound. The Belle River, Ontario native then assisted on both Moloughney and DiGirolamo’s goals, earning Marchand her fifth multi-point game of the season. She leads the Orange in assists (13) and is second on the team in points (20).
After scoring a goal in four straight games in October and November, DiGirolamo had not scored since. But that drought ended in Friday’s win over RIT, when DiGirolamo helped build SU’s lead with a wrist shot that beat Coe in the final seconds of the second period. The defenseman now has 32 goals in her SU career, the second-most in CHA history by a defenseman. DiGirolamo also blocked six shots over the weekend and currently ranks fifth in the CHA with 49 blocks this season.
DiGirolamo’s blocked shots also helped DeSmet record her second shutout win of the season. In the two games against RIT, the Robert Morris transfer made 47 saves on 49 shots on goal. It allowed DeSmet’s save percentage to improve to .933, which ranks second in the conference. With six games remaining in the season, DeSmet’s 2.13 goals-against average would rank sixth in Syracuse’s single-season record book.
