Fourty-two days. Eleven cities. 14 games.

Last weekend Syracuse embarked on a stretch of 12 road games out of its next 14 matches, a span covering more than one-third of the season. The travel doesn’t make the lives of SU’s players any easier, but the team finds value in the close quarters they spend a majority of their season in.

“It’s always a good thing to get out on the road,” senior goalkeeper Jenn Gilligan said.

After beginning the season by hosting Clarkson, the Orange (1-2) is now in the midst of a stretch of a dozen road games leading all the way up to Thanksgiving. SU will travel to play UConn (0-1-1, 0-1 Hockey East) in a Saturday afternoon faceoff, followed by a matchup at Providence (0-2) on Sunday.

The road trip comes after a weekend where Syracuse faced Northeastern University and UNH, falling to the Huskies but beating the Wildcats.

Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan knew he’d have trouble managing the multitude of away games that headline the 2015-16 campaign, especially as he evaluates the Orange’s strengths and weaknesses.

“You have to make the best of it, right?” Flanagan said.

But Syracuse seniors Nicole Ferrara and Jenn Gilligan think their road games, which could be obtrusive to the team’s development, provide an advantage for the Orange.

“It’s kind of that extra incentive to get that win,” Gilligan said. “We get something if we win on top of it, whereas the other team has something to lose.”

Ferrara believes that road trips foster a close team bonding that’s harder to cultivate in a stretch of home games when players can resume their everyday lives.

“It’s a good thing. We’re on the bus together, and it’s more time together.” Ferrara said.

There’s plenty of entertainment on Syracuse’s bus. The freshmen provide music for the team by singing on the loudspeaker system, but only the singer can hear the actual song through her headphones. The team also watched several movies while traveling along Interstate 90 last weekend.

As a pre-game ritual in the hotel, the team plays “clump,” a game where everyone has to clump together, then quickly match up in groups of certain numbers called out by a moderator.

The Orange also goes on walks around the away team’s city before games. The road activities ease the burden of a strenuous window at the beginning of SU’s season — a window the team is grateful closes before a season-ending stretch of conference play.

“If we had to do all of this in the second half of the year, it would get old,” Flanagan said. “But early in the year, it’s a great advantage.”

 

 

Published on October 15, 2015 at 2:11 am

Contact Chris: cfthomse@syr.edu