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Anne Cherkowski was left one-on-one with Arielle DeSmet five minutes into the game. Cherkowski received the ball after Darcie Lappan stole the puck from Mik Todd. Lappan passed to Cherkowski, who found the back of the net to give Clarkson an early 1-0 lead.

“That’s definitely something we’re going to have to figure out,” head coach Britni Smith said. “We’ve been having some slow starts overall, so it’s finding a way to come out like we did in the third period right from puck drop.”

The Golden Knights attempted 14 shots throughout the game’s first 20 minutes compared to the Orange’s three. Syracuse (1-5-0, 0-0 College Hockey America) came back with a valiant third period effort, but it fell to No. 11 Clarkson (5-1-1, 0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey) 5-2. It was a wire-to-wire win for the Golden Knights as they dominated the first period and never looked back. Slow starts have been a recurring theme for the Orange and opponents have outscored them 8-2 in the opening frame.

With 3:30 left in the first period, the Golden Knights stopped Bellefontaine and Clarkson goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk passed the puck away from the crease. Thirty seconds later, Kirstyn McQuigge passed the puck to a wide-open Jenna Goodwin, who shot right at Desmet.

The puck ricocheted off DeSmet’s chest and back to McQuigge, who put the Golden Knights ahead 2-0.

After a fight for the puck near the center of the ice with Mae Batherson, Cherkowski gained possession and helped Clarkson keep the puck on Syracuse’s side of the ice. Gretchen Branton then gained possession, but she was swarmed by the Orange’s defense.

Although they played stout defense on Branton, the Orange defense didn’t account for Darcie Lappan, who was left open in front of the goal. Lappan received the puck and moved it to her right side. With just DeSmet to beat, Lappan put the puck in the back of the net to extend Clarkson’s lead.

About seven minutes into the second period, Madison Primeau broke free from the defense and fired off a shot, but it was blocked by Pasiechnyk. However, Pasiechnyk wasn’t able to gain full possession of the puck, which led to a scramble for possession in the crease.

With action starting to get chippy, Marielle McHale tried to take a follow-up shot, but she was leveled by Sara Swiderski. Primeau and Thompson came to McHale’s defense and both shoved Swiderski. Primeau, Thompson, and Swiderski were all called for penalties, leading the Orange being outnumbered 4-3 for the next two minutes.

After a slow start, Syracuse’s offense started clicking in the second and third periods. With four minutes left in the game, Rayla Clemons gained possession of the puck. As she started skating toward Clarkson’s side of the ice, Lappan tripped Clemons to give the Orange a power play.

Lauren Bellefontaine fired the puck to Sarah Marchand, but her ensuing shot was blocked. Still, Sarah Thompson collected the puck and backhanded the puck into the back of the net. But the Orange still trailed by two goals. Syracuse’s play in the second and third periods was right on par with Clarkson’s.

Down by two goals with under two minutes remaining, Syracuse tried its best to score as DeSmet was pulled from the goal and Tatum White, Marchand, and Thompson all fired off shots. But an empty net goal by Cherkowski was the dagger.

Published on October 13, 2022 at 11:52 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon