Brittaney Maschmeyer knows what an NCAA tournament team looks like. She played on one during her freshman year at St. Lawrence. But this season, her last, she made the decision to transfer to the upstart Syracuse ice hockey program and reunite with head coach Paul Flanagan.

And to start this year, Maschmeyer didn’t see a tournament team. The Orange suffered four losses and a tie in its first five games. Lack of confidence was a big issue.

‘At the beginning of the season we would get down in a game, and everyone would look like someone just kicked their puppy or something,’ Maschmeyer said. ‘It was like, ‘Oh, what are we going to do?”

Since the rough start, the Orange (13-10-1, 4-2 College Hockey America) has won 13 of its last 19 games. The team has been ranked in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey poll for the first time in the program’s two-year history. New faces, newfound confidence and a vastly improved offense have powered SU to its surprising success. And this weekend, Syracuse will have two cracks at conference rival Mercyhurst (17-1-3), the nation’s No. 1 team.

Now, for Maschmeyer, it’s more like, ‘We can get this. We can come back.’

The first game is Friday, 7 p.m., at Tennity Ice Pavilion, followed by a matchup Saturday at 2 p.m.

‘We’ve been excited to play Mercyhurst since day one,’ senior goaltender Lucy Schoedel said. ‘That’s just been in the back of our heads. We see that as an opportunity to climb up those rankings. If we have an opportunity it’s with them, so we’re excited about that.’

Schoedel was one of the many players who did not think the Orange could be this successful in only its second season. But a high-powered offense that was lacking last year and a steady defense has created what will be the biggest matchup for Syracuse in the program’s young history.

Sophomore forward Lisa Mullan knows firsthand that new faces have had a huge role in SU’s turnaround. The freshman class this year has reshaped the Orange offense. Mullan’s line, which Flanagan said is the team’s go-to scoring line, consists of two freshmen: Isabel Menard and Holly Carrie-Mattimoe.

The line has already combined for 63 points this year. Both Carrie-Mattimoe and Mullan feed off of Menard, who has developed into Syracuse’s star player. She is tied for the team lead in goals (11) and leads the team in assists (18). Her 29 points are tied for 10th best in the nation. Until Syracuse’s 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac on Saturday, Menard had at least one goal or assist in eight straight games.

‘She has a huge effect,’ senior defenseman Gabrielle Beaudry said of Menard. ‘She’s a great skater and pushes us every day in practice, so that pushes everybody and makes everybody better. And obviously she’s been scoring and having great success on game days.’

But the Menard, Mullan, Carrie-Mattimoe line is not the only one that is scoring. Syracuse has tallied four goals or more eight times this year, including a 7-2 thrashing of St. Anselm on Jan. 8.

The team is better as a whole offensively. Last season, forward Stefanie Marty led the Orange with 22 points. Menard and forward Julie Rising have already surpassed that mark. Marty has already equaled it.

‘Last year was just more shots and crashing the net and just bounces,’ Mullan said. ‘This year we have a bit more offensive skill, so we’re getting a lot more nice passes and plays and tic-tac-toes, so it’s good to see.’

And the Orange has needed every one of those points to pull out some of its games this year. Mullan’s breakaway goal in overtime against Princeton and Carrie-Mattimoe’s overtime winner against Cornell, both of which were assisted by Menard, highlight eight one-goal victories for Syracuse this year.

But this weekend, Syracuse may need its best offensive performance yet. The Lakers are the best offensive team in the country. The nation’s top three scorers all don Mercyhurst green. Five of the top 16 scorers in the NCAA are Lakers. Flanagan said jokingly that the Orange’s best defensive strategy might be to ‘drop back five (players) and punt.’

But that will not produce points. If Syracuse wants to win, they may need to outscore Mercyhurst. Orange players have said that opponents have overlooked SU at different points throughout the season. Just one win against the dominant Lakers would prove that Syracuse was worthy of its Top 10 ranking.

The team will have to be sharp on both ends of the ice if it plans to pull the upset. And just like on offense, new players will play a major role for the Orange defensively.

Maschmeyer has stepped in as one of the team’s assistant captains. She and Beaudry provide senior leadership for the younger defenders. The rest of the defense is comprised of three sophomores and two freshmen, so the experience of the two seniors has greatly helped the less-experienced players.

Flanagan believes that the defense has gotten better as the season has gone on but still has some more to learn.

‘They’ve grown a lot, and we just need to continue to mature back there,’ he said. ‘Whether it’s on the blue line or up front, just continue to mature and good things will happen. Sometimes it just takes time.’

If all else fails, Syracuse has Schoedel sitting in the net behind its skaters. The defenders have said that their jobs are easier because they have a lot of faith in their goalie.

‘It’s nice because I can count on her,’ Maschmeyer said. ‘There’s some goalies where you always worry about different shots, and with her, I’m more confident. I get to be more confident in myself, and it makes it easier on me so I get to risk more. She helps a lot back there.’

Schoedel is third in the CHA, with nearly 25 saves per game. She has come up big in a number of Orange wins this year. Her biggest moment came against Wayne State on Dec. 5, when she made a sprawling toe save on a backdoor pass at the buzzer to preserve a 3-2 win.

She may need to be that spectacular to stop the vaunted Mercyhurst attack. Even with all the new faces and the Orange’s growing confidence, pulling out a win against the Lakers seems like a daunting task. Flanagan said the keys will be making good decisions in the neutral zone, keeping shooters to the outside and getting the puck on net.

Many of the players and coaches were not expecting the series to be this big in just two years. Last season, the team never had a winning record. But now, with the NCAA tournament a realistic possibility, the Orange is ready and excited for the nation’s No. 1 team to visit.

‘We’re really embracing this series,’ Flanagan said. ‘We relish the opportunity to have the No. 1 team in the country come in here. Let’s drop the puck and see what happens.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on January 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm