When Syracuse took off on its five-game road trip, head coach Paul Flanagan expected the team to win all five games. Instead, it won only two, ending its road trip with a 2-2-1 record.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win all five,” Flanagan said. “On paper we should have won all five. UConn is at the bottom of the heap. RIT is a brand-new Division-I team. I’m not very pleased with the last five games.”

Part of the reason for the struggle has been the team’s inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities. The team has been getting many opportunities in close range, but has not been able to put the puck in the back of the net.

“I think we really need to focus on burying our chances and finishing in front of the net,” SU forward Holly Carrie-Mattimoe said.

Part of the issue has been that Laurie Kingsbury, who still is tied for the team lead in goals this season, missed every game on the road trip due to a concussion. Her scoring ability and size have been felt throughout the team, and it has been hard for the team to find someone to replace her scoring ability.

“When you lose someone that plays with a lot of passion and is the type of player she is, it hurts certainly on the ice and on the bench and in the locker room,” Flanagan said. “You’re looking for someone to pick up the slack and we’ve had very little of that.”

The injury crippled the second line that featured Melissa Piacentini and Shiann Darkangelo. Before the injury the line had been pretty dominant on the ice and the three had developed chemistry.

“It’s different,” Darkangelo said. “It’s different than playing with a player like her or even Tini, like I know how she plays now and we can read off each other.”

The injury and the offensive struggles have caused the team to attempt to reshuffle the line to capitalize on scoring opportunities. The Orange tried moving defenders Kaillie Goodnough and Brittney Krebs to offense on the ice. But neither move really worked out, partly because of a lack of chemistry with who was on their line.

“Playing forward is a lot different than playing D,” Goodnough said. “Its hard to get used to where other people are going to be.”

While the team hopes to turn this around as it moves forward, the schedule will only get tougher from here. They soon play Robert Morris, who won its division last year, and No. 3 Clarkson. Not only that, but Flanagan said Kingsbury’s injury will still keep her sidelined for a while. This only makes the team’s recent struggles more frustrating to Flanagan.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up,” Flanagan said. “I thought we could have fared better, but it’s behind us now and we’ve got to move forward.”

Published on November 13, 2012 at 11:51 pm

Contact Ryan: rlraigro@syr.edu