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Three minutes into the third period, Syracuse forward Darci Johal sprinted up the ice in front of the Penn State defense. Following an SU penalty, Tatum White controlled the puck in its defensive zone and rifled a pass to Johal. The forward corralled the puck with PSU goaltender Josie Bothun between her and the net. Johal skated in from the left before using a fake to create an opening. Johal slid the puck past Bothun to give the Orange a 2-1 lead.

The goal gave Syracuse its second lead of the game, a lead it would never relinquish. The goal extended Johal’s scoring streak to four consecutive games. In the third period, Syracuse outscored Penn State 2-0 while recording two shorthanded scores.

Stout defense propelled Syracuse (5-18-2, 2-8-1 College Hockey America) to a 3-1 win over Penn State (13-11-1, 8-3-0 CHA) as the Orange ended its five-game losing streak. SU was outshot 42-13 and goaltender Allie Kelley stepped up for the second straight game. After setting the single-game saves program record with 65 stopped shots on Tuesday, Kelley delivered 41 stops tonight. The defensive performance from Syracuse halted the Nittany Lions who entered with just two CHA losses this season, including two victories over SU earlier this season.

After a career performance by Kelley in the 6-3 loss to St. Lawrence, the Syracuse defense started strong. Penn State controlled possession for the first five minutes of the first period, applying pressure, but the SU defense stood tall.

At the 5:52 mark, Maddy Christian was called for an interference, giving Syracuse a player-up advantage. The Orange maintained possession in their offensive zone, firing three shots wide before Rachel Teslak’s attempt was blocked by Karolina Hengelmüller. After getting the puck back, Teslak and Kate Holmes wrapped the puck around to the top of the offensive zone to find Alexandria Weiss. With about 30 seconds left in the power-play, Weiss struck the puck from just inside the blue line into the back of the net to give Syracuse the 1-0 lead. The last time Syracuse scored first in a game was Dec. 2 in a 3-1 victory over RIT, its last win.

With five minutes left in the first period, Penn State had a two-on-one break. Mya Vaslet skated out in front creating an opportunity against Kelley before shooting, but Kelley denied the effort. Two minutes later, a Jocelyn Fiala block and a Kelley save combined to stop back-to-back shots by the Nittany Lions, keeping Penn State off the board.

With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Teslak was called for tripping, giving the Nittany Lions a player-up advantage. SU held strong, leading 1-0 after the first period, despite being outshot 16-7.

Just over two minutes into the second, Syracuse possessed the puck in the Penn State defensive zone. Haley Uliasz circled the net from behind and fired from the right side of the net. The shot ricocheted off the left post and was initially called a goal which temporarily increased the SU lead to 2-0. The video review overturned the call to keep the SU lead to 1-0.

At the 5:00 mark of the second period, Maya D’Arcy was called for a tripping penalty. This gave the Nittany Lions a player-up advantage.

Just over six minutes into the second period, Penn State took the puck into the Syracuse defensive zone. Vaslet skated toward the goal, dropping the puck in front of the goal before cutting behind the net. Brianna Brooks was cut down the middle of the ice but before she could get to the puck, it ricocheted off the skates of SU defender Kambel Beacom and past Kelley to tie the game at 1-1.

In the final ten minutes of the second period, there was a series of penalties by both teams, including a five minute game misconduct call that ejected Tessa Janecke. During the five minute penalty, SU’s Kailey Langefels and Teslak each committed penalties which only gave SU a 1-minute player-up advantage. When Syracuse returned to full strength, PSU fired four shorthanded shots which were thwarted by Kelley.

Kelley added two saves in the final minute of the period. In the second period, the Orange were outshot by eight. After two periods, the Nittany Lions continued to outshoot the Orange 24-8 but the game remained tied 1-1.

Just 11 seconds into the third period, Beacom was penalized for hooking, giving PSU another opportunity to score. The Nittany Lions had three shots with just 30 seconds remaining in the power play, but Kelley stretched her body to halt all three by kicking out her feet and stopping the puck.

Eighty seconds after the penalty kill, D’Arcy collected SU’s sixth penalty. But, just 24 seconds later, Johal got out on the break and fired the puck past Bothun to give SU a 2-1 lead.

On the goal by Johal, Bothun was substituted out for Annie Spring. Less than a minute later Johal created space for an open shot again, but this time Spring gloved the puck.

With 10:24 remaining in the game, Penn State threatened in the SU defensive zone. Hengelmüller sent a pass from the left corner to Julie Gough on the crease and Gough powered the puck past Kelley into the goal, as Kelley fell into the netting. After video review the referees deemed it to be no goal and SU stayed in front..

With two minutes remaining, Syracuse committed its seventh penalty. After the penalty, Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal called timeout to talk things over. Kampersal opted to take Spring out of the net to create a 6-on-4 player advantage.

The Nittany Lions brought one last flurry of shots, but once again Kelley stood strong, stopping three shots. White blocked a shot with nine seconds left for the Orange and cleared the puck to the other end into the net to give SU its second shorthanded goal and a 3-1 win.

Published on January 19, 2024 at 10:29 pm