After a 1-0 loss to College Hockey America bottom-feeder Robert Morris Friday night, Paul Flanagan decided he needed to send his team a message.

He thought about switching up his lines but instead settled on something that would make a stronger statement to his Syracuse hockey team.

Flanagan called a team meeting on Saturday morning before the Orange’s rematch with the Colonials that night. He announced to the team that sophomore forwards Megan Skelly, last year’s leading scorer, and Janelle Malcolm would not dress for the final home game on Syracuse’s schedule.

Both had played every game in SU’s two-year history. Skelly is seventh on the team in scoring this season and Malcolm is eighth. But after the disappointing effort Friday, Flanagan made sure to get his point across.

‘You can change lines, but we just thought that we’ve got to make that statement,’ he said. ‘It’s going to hurt. Those two players that didn’t play are terribly upset, but they’re going to be better for it.

‘And the fact that their teammates sucked it up for them and played like that – that’s team building. It’s a team-building exercise.’

Skelly and Malcolm wore street clothes Saturday and watched their teammates from the stands as Syracuse (17-14-1, 8-6-0 CHA) defeated Robert Morris (8-21-1, 1-10-1) 3-2 Saturday. When asked if she was hurt in the middle of the second period, Skelly denied any injury and added that she would rather be hurt than just benched.

‘I wish I was (hurt),’ the forward said. ‘That would be a better excuse.’

Flanagan’s move got the message through to the rest of the Orange. The team came out strong to start the game, outshooting Robert Morris 11-7 in the first period and creating more opportunities.

But SU still could not find the back of the net. Many of Syracuse’s shots trickled just wide after Colonials goalie Daneca Butterfield managed to get a piece of them.

After a Robert Morris power-play goal within the first minute of the third period, the Orange found itself in a 2-0 hole.

But less than four minutes later, Syracuse’s emotion and energy finally paid off. An Isabel Menard score with 15:45 left started an offensive explosion. Julie Rising added her 16th goal of the year just 12 seconds later to tie the game, followed by Lisa Mullan’s eventual game-winner more than a minute later.

Senior defender Gabrielle Beaudry, who assisted on all three, said the players got their coach’s message.

‘I think we responded well,’ she said. ‘I think everyone understood that you’ve got to work hard – not that they weren’t working hard, but coaches can change things at any moment. It made us all appreciate our spots a little bit more.’

After Friday’s loss, Flanagan continued to repeat one word to express his feelings about the Orange’s performance – disappointment. Syracuse is currently battling for the No. 2 spot in the College Hockey America conference with Niagara. The Orange held just a two-point lead over the Purple Eagles heading into the weekend.

The two games should have been easy wins. It was the last home series for the Orange, and Robert Morris had yet to win a conference game.

But SU came into Tennity Ice Pavilion Friday and failed to score a goal for the first time this season.

Flanagan said the team did not have any energy, and he knew something needed to be done. The players could have responded poorly, but there’s a reason Flanagan ranks seventh among active Division I coaches with 256 wins.

‘It obviously shook things up,’ senior goaltender Lucy Schoedel said. ‘It’s too bad for the girls it affected negatively, but coach has to do what he has to do. He’s the best coach in the league. Honestly, the best.’

In all likelihood, Skelly and Malcolm will be back in action when the Orange returns to the ice at Mercyhurst in two weeks. But for the final home game on Syracuse’s schedule, Flanagan needed his team to step up its play. He needed to send a message.

‘Emotions are affected when two players are kind of teary-eyed,’ he said. ‘They’re sitting in the stands, walking out of here before the game pretty upset. But they were really good about it. They supported their team. And I thought the team supported them and you just take notice of that because, ‘I might be next if I don’t do something.’ We had to do something.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on February 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm