Most seasons for Syracuse ice hockey include stretches of road games, and they’ve typically come in stretches of three or four in past years.

But the upcoming stretch of away games, which start this weekend, is like nothing the team has seen before.

“In sports, it’s typically tougher to go on the road,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “… We have our two longest trips coming up back-to-back. I don’t know why the league does that to us. I’ve asked them not to.”

Syracuse will play 13 of its next 14 games away from its home rink of Tennity Ice Pavilion, a stretch of games that very well could decide its season. Besides a game against Rochester Institute of Technology on Dec. 6, the Orange won’t play again at home until Feb. 6.

SU (3-6-5, 2-3-1 College Hockey America) starts a five-game road swing this weekend with two games against conference opponent Robert Morris (4-9-1, 1-3-0) at 84 Lumber Arena, one at Friday at 7:05 p.m. and the other on Saturday at 3:05.

The Orange has only played two away games so far in its 2014–15 campaign, and lost both by a combined score of 19-2.

“It’s been downright disgusting,” Flanagan said. “I don’t even want to bring up the statistics.”

The team should expect to play in front of a crowd this weekend about the same size of the one it normally plays in front of. Except this time, there won’t be orange scattered throughout it. Junior defender Nicole Renault said she doesn’t expect much fan support on the road from Syracuse fans.

The Orange will look to negate home-ice advantage by scoring early, as Flanagan said one of the easiest ways to eliminate a tough road environment is to put points on the board.

“It’s important to get that first goal in front of another team’s crowd,” said sophomore forward Jessica Sibley. “You get some of that confidence going and it carries over to the other periods.”

Flanagan also predicts that opposing teams will come after his players with a more aggressive forecheck, an aggressiveness that stems from playing on home ice. In response, Syracuse will look to ease off of its own forecheck to make moving the puck more manageable.

Flanagan isn’t as concerned about the away games this semester, but believes a stretch of eight road games in January will be especially hard for the team. Players will head home after finishing exams on Dec. 12 and could have a tough time getting acclimated playing together again when returning from break in early January.

But Flanagan did highlight some positives of playing on the road.

He mentioned the players won’t have to go to Friday classes, will have fewer distractions from friends and family and have a chance to bond with the team.

Both Sibley and Renault expressed excitement in beginning the swing and getting a chance to play off campus for the first time in a month. Sibley expects the team to excel over the span and said the team is ready to embrace all the challenges that playing on the road encompasses.

“It’s always nice to get that win at home, but there’s something about beating other teams on their ice that’s cool,” Renault said. “Now it’s something this team has to do.”

Published on November 20, 2014 at 12:10 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu