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After amassing just 10 points in the now-defunct College Hockey America last year, Syracuse missed the conference playoffs for the first time in program history.

Now, a year later, the Orange are back in the postseason. Following its winningest regular season of head coach Britni Smith’s three-year tenure, Syracuse secured the No. 3 seed in the inaugural six-team Atlantic Hockey America playoffs.

SU enters the postseason winning six of its last seven games, hoping to turn the momentum into its first conference title since 2022. Though to get there, the Orange must prevail against foes they failed to beat consistently this season.

Here’s Syracuse’s (13-21-0, 11-9-0 AHA) path through the first-ever AHA playoffs:

Explaining the tournament

The AHA’s inaugural season creates a playoff format unfamiliar to Syracuse. All six conference members make the playoffs, seeded one through six based on regular-season standings.

Penn State and Mercyhurst, the top two seeds, received byes to the second round. The bottom four seeds, SU, Rochester Institute of Technology, Lindenwood and Robert Morris, will play in the preliminary quarterfinal round to determine the second-round meetings.

The quarterfinal matchups are organized based on seeding. Since the Orange placed third in points, they’ll play the lowest of the four remaining squads, No. 6 seed RMU. No. 4 seed RIT and No. 5 seed Lindenwood square off on the other side of the bracket. The first round will feature a single-elimination game on the higher seed’s ice.

The winners of the two first-round matchups will take on the top two seeds. Penn State will play the lower seed of the two quarterfinal winners, while Mercyhurst will take the higher seed. The second round is a best-of-three set hosted by the higher seed.

From there, the tournament follows a traditional final-four style, with the two semifinal winners battling for the title. The championship game will be a winner-take-all match on March 8.

First Round: No. 6 seed Robert Morris

Syracuse begins its playoff run at home Saturday against Robert Morris. SU crushed the Colonials in all four regular-season meetings by a combined score of 17-4.

The squads first met in December, when the Orange were propelled by senior forward Bryn Saarela’s seven-point weekend in back-to-back 4-1 wins. The Orange met the Colonials again in early February and defeated them 4-1 and 5-1, respectively.

Robert Morris finished last in the AHA with nine points, only mustering two wins in conference play. The Colonials scored the least goals (23) in the conference and conceded the most (83).

It’s a favorable matchup for SU, which hasn’t lost to RMU in over a year. Syracuse will again look to its high-flying offense — which has scored 4.33 goals per game over its past six contests — to propel it over the Colonials for the fifth time this season.

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Semifinal: No. 2 seed Mercyhurst

Should SU handle business against RMU, it’d go on the road to face Mercyhurst in a three-game series. The Orange went 1-3 in four meetings with the Lakers this season.

Syracuse dropped both games at home in January, falling 2-1 and 4-2. In February, though, SU looked sharper, forcing a narrow 5-3 loss and picking up a 4-2 win to snap its nearly three-year-long drought against Mercyhurst.

The Lakers place second in the conference in goals scored (64) and goals allowed (37). Mercyhurst sailed through AHA play relatively smoothly but struggled in November, dropping games to Lindenwood and RIT. In 2025, though, it won nine of 12 conference matchups, including a win over top-seed Penn State to break the Nittany Lions’ undefeated AHA campaign.

The key to SU’s success will be its defense. The Orange haven’t had problems scoring against the Lakers recently but will need to limit their high-powered attack that’s scored 3.25 goals a game in the teams’ last four meetings. Getting on top early will also be important across the three-game series; Syracuse is 12-6 when scoring first compared to a pitiful 1-15 when conceding first.

AHA Championship: Likely No. 1 seed Penn State

If the Orange can piece together two series wins, it’s hard to imagine a way they don’t meet Penn State in the final. The Nittany Lions dominated the AHA, going 19-1 in conference play. They’ve rarely been tested by anyone except Mercyhurst.

Penn State’s success has primarily been fueled by its defense, which ranks fourth in the country with 1.53 goals allowed per game. Its offense, meanwhile, placed sixth nationally with 3.62 goals a game. PSU is propelled by two top-20 scorers: Tessa Janecke (21 goals) and Maddy Christian (18 goals).

SU dropped all four games to PSU this season but took it to overtime in a 3-2 loss and again in a 1-0 defensive battle in January.

Should Syracuse battle the Nittany Lions in the final, its power play will be crucial. PSU spends the most time in the penalty box of any team in the nation, averaging 9.79 minutes per game. If the Orange can lock down defensively and capitalize on their power play unit, whose 21 goals ranks 11th in the country, it gives them a chance at an upset win.

Published on February 19, 2025 at 11:36 pm

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