Jessica DiGirolamo’s hat trick lifts Syracuse over Lindenwood, 4-1
Photo/Mark Nash
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Jessica DiGirolamo’s hat trick lifted Syracuse (4-8-1, 4-6-1 College Hockey America) to a 4-1 win on Friday in the first of three games against Lindenwood. The road victory marks the end of a two-game losing streak since SU beat RIT 3-0 on Feb. 3.
The Orange scored the most goals on Friday since their Dec. 12 win against Penn State, and they scored a first-period goal for the first time since the Penn State matchup, too.
In the first period, DiGirolamo notched her fourth goal of the season from an assist by sophomore Brynn Koocher. It was Koocher’s fourth assist of the season and her fifth point.
After SU’s win over RIT, head coach Paul Flanagan noted that DiGirolamo’s stellar offensive play acts as the type of leadership they need to win games. The senior’s defensive play allows the Orange to place more pressure offensively, Flanagan said. DiGirolamo doubled her goal total this season on Friday night.
Lindenwood equalized with a goal from Megan Wagner with 6:11 remaining in the second period. It took 25 minutes until the next goal was scored, when Anna Leschyshyn found the net for the first time this season. Shelby Calof assisted, but the sophomore’s goal added yet another point to Syracuse’s strong season from their skaters.
Just 55 seconds later, DiGirolamo found her fifth goal of the season and gave the Orange a two-goal lead. The assists from Abby Moloughney and Lauren Bellefontaine came off a faceoff win from Bellefontaine, one of 15 faceoffs she won Friday night.
DiGirolamo netted her third goal of the night, unassisted, to put the Orange up 4-1 with over five minutes remaining.
The three third-period goals are the most goals Syracuse has scored in a period since the second period in their Dec. 11 loss to PSU. The Orange ended up losing that day 4-3 in overtime after the Nittany Lions made a comeback. But Friday night, SU prevented another comeback, another last-second loss, another offensive breakdown in the final period.
The Orange head into Saturday with their ninth point, and they’ll look to notch wins in the remaining two games against Lindenwood.
