Lucy Schoedel and Gabrielle Beaudry are doing their best to ignore the magnitude of this weekend’s matchup with Robert Morris. Yes, the Syracuse ice hockey team is battling to stay in second place in the College Hockey America conference. And yes, Syracuse has not won a home game since it beat Princeton on Dec. 12, prior to Winter Break.

But for Schoedel and Beaudry, these two games hold extra significance.

The two seniors will play in their final home series this weekend. On a roster filled with young talent, Schoedel and Beaudry will be joined only by defenseman Brittaney Maschmeyer in the senior night ceremonies Saturday. Their leadership on the defensive end has played a major role in the Orange’s success this year.

For the final time, the pair of seniors will lead a young Syracuse (16-13-1, 7-5 CHA) squad against Robert Morris (7-20-1, 0-9-1) Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Tennity Ice Pavilion. The Orange swept the Colonials in Pittsburgh, Pa., in the teams’ first series earlier this season.

Schoedel and Beaudry, two of the first players to commit to Syracuse after the program announced its inception, said they are doing everything they can to keep their minds off their last home games in Orange uniform.

‘We pretend it’s not real,’ said Schoedel, who has started in goal in every game Syracuse has ever played. ‘It’s just flown by. It’s something, I guess, we’re going to have to go through together.’

On such a young team, the veteran leadership is often overlooked. All three seniors play on the defensive side of the rink, and as a result, their stat sheets aren’t overflowing with jaw-dropping numbers. Head coach Paul Flanagan has even said that the improved offense has been largely responsible for the Orange’s quick turnaround after just two seasons.

Freshman Isabel Menard has garnered much of the attention. She ranks 17th in the country with 33 points and leads the Orange’s top-scoring line, which is composed of her, freshman Holly Carrie-Mattimoe and sophomore Lisa Mullan.

But even with the young offense producing points, the defense, led by its seniors, has pulled out many wins for the Orange this year.

Against Wayne State on Dec. 5, Schoedel made a sprawling toe-save with just seconds left on the clock to preserve one of 10 one-goal wins for SU this season.

A week later against Princeton, SU’s defense killed off seven penalties, and Schoedel registered her fifth career shutout in the Orange’s 1-0 overtime win, vaulting the program to its first-ever Top 10 ranking.

And Saturday, Beaudry, Schoedel and Maschmeyer will lead Syracuse onto the ice at Tennity for the last time.

‘It’s tough,’ Schoedel said. ‘I’m kind of in denial about it if anything. I talked to the other seniors. We’re excited about it. Huge two points, so we’re going to look at that first. Then the senior stuff.’

Beaudry added that she doesn’t even like to think about her last game here because of how emotional she gets.

Flanagan realizes how important these games will be for his seniors, especially Beaudry and Schoedel. Maschmeyer is in her first year at SU after transferring from St. Lawrence.

And as much as the seniors are trying to close their minds to their last games in Syracuse, Flanagan has also avoided addressing that aspect of the weekend.

‘No, you don’t want to go there yet,’ he said. ‘We’ve been talking the last few weeks about how their careers are kind of on the short end here. More in-between periods about how there’s no time to waste, especially the seniors.

‘We’re kind of saving that. We’ll make that a big deal on Saturday.’

The younger Orange skaters have taken notice of the attitudes as well. They see how the seniors have acted in practices and in the locker room.

The goal for Syracuse this weekend is to sweep Robert Morris. But this weekend carries some added motivation.

‘(The seniors) are pretty excited, but also they’re pretty sad that it’s their last games here,’ the freshman Menard said. ‘I think we’re going to be prepared and win it for them.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on February 11, 2010 at 12:00 pm