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Despite being outshot and committing five penalties, Syracuse forward Sarah Marchand earned the Orange a narrow overtime victory. Marchand found the back of the net with an unassisted goal in the final minute of overtime to give Syracuse (12-9-6, 10-3-1-1 College Hockey America) a 2-1 victory over Penn State (14-9-4, 7-3-2-2 CHA).

While Syracuse never trailed in Saturday’s game, the Nittany Lions dominated the offensive front, shooting 97 times and putting 55 shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Orange were outshot for the second consecutive game, recording just 21 shots on goal.

Arielle DeSmet once again kept Syracuse in front for the majority of the game, recording a season-high 54 saves and a .982 save percentage on the day.

The thriller wrapped up a successful weekend series for Syracuse, as the victory also gave the Orange a season 2-1-1 record over the Nittany Lions this season. The win also cemented the Orange atop the CHA standings, giving them a five-point lead over Penn State with two regular season games to go.

After an undefeated weekend series, the Orange remain undefeated in the new year with a 6-0-2 record in 2022.

Although Syracuse did not match Penn State’s offensive firepower, defenseman Jessica DiGirolamo capitalized on an opportunity in the opening minute of the second period. Looking to take advantage of SU’s first power play of the game, Marchand and forward Abby Moloughney combined to find DiGirolamo for the first score of the game.

Just like Penn State did in Friday’s game, it broke through in the third period, as forward Amy Dobson and defenseman Lyndie Lobdell found forward Rachel Weiss to even the score. Despite being outshot 13-4 in the final minutes of the third, the Orange were able to hold the Nittany Lions off into overtime.

At the start of the overtime period, Penn State’s offense kept up the pressure, firing five shots and staying on the attack throughout the extra frame. While the Nittany Lions’ shooting barrage looked like it would hold the Orange to a second consecutive overtime draw, Marchand fired back, finding the back of the net after an impressive rush from forward Lauren Bellefontaine. The goal was the freshman’s second game-winner of the season, after scoring the third goal in a 3-2 overtime win over RIT in November.

The Orange now head into their final series of the regular season next weekend against Mercyhurst. Syracuse aims to keep up its success to stay atop the CHA standings after splitting the series with the Lakers earlier in the season.

Published on February 5, 2022 at 7:45 pm

Contact Sam: swarre03@syr.edu