Syracuse’s Laurence Porlier fell on the ice in the third period with Rochester Institute of Technology’s Christa Vuglar on top of her. Both players were down and tangled up when the RIT defender raised her right arm and delivered a blow right to Porlier’s helmet.

Referees soon separated the two players, but the damage was done.

The punch was a culmination of the physical play throughout the game between two conference opponents as Syracuse (5-8-7, 4-2-3 College Hockey America) beat RIT (7-9-3, 1-5-1 CHA) 4-2 on Saturday night at Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Orange and the Tigers combined for 16 penalties, which amounted to 35 minutes in the box between the two teams.

“It was pretty chippy out there. The refs were calling some things and letting other stuff go,” goalkeeper Jenn Gilligan said. “It’s not easy to take slash after slash and sit there without giving anything back.”

Other than two empty-netters to seal the game toward the end, Syracuse’s goals both came on one of the many power plays. SU converted on two of its seven power play opportunities for goals, and forward Alysha Burriss scored three goals in the win.

After RIT scored the game’s first goal just 3:30 into the first period, senior forward Julie Knerr charged up the ice with the puck on a Syracuse power play looking to even the score in the first period. She found Burriss in the middle of the ice, who found the top of the net for the score.

SU’s second goal came on a power play in the third period when Nicole Renault fired a shot from the right wing and Burriss again found the net. This time, she took Renault’s rebound and scooped it over RIT goalie Jetta Rackleff’s pads.

“All we were trying to do as a unit was to get the puck to the net and get shots for each other,” Burriss said. “It just clicked.”

Burriss wasn’t originally on the power play and had come on to replace an injured Jessica Sibley. Renault said that both of the power play goals were the result of moving the puck quickly around the ice and executing crisp passes.

Syracuse forward Eleanor Haines added an empty net insurance goal in the game’s final minute that looked like it was going to seal the game before RIT scored its second goal of the night less than twenty seconds later.

Burriss took advantage of another empty net and converted on her third goal of the night, the third goal of the game in its final minute.

Despite its success on the power play, SU struggled at times to get shots off. Head coach Paul Flanagan said that the team should have gotten more opportunities, but had a hard time putting the puck on net.

The team only had seven shots in 17 minutes of advantage.

“We really struggled at times,” Flanagan said. “We didn’t even know what to do there at times. I think the girls were overthinking it.”

Flanagan pointed to the absence of Sibley on the power play following an injury she sustained in the first period for the lack of opportunities at times. The coach said the team is trying to develop more depth and the substitution of Burriss into the power play unit exemplifies just that.

“It’s a big two points for us as we finish the semester,” Flanagan said. “… But we’ve got a long way to go though.”

Published on December 6, 2014 at 11:28 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu