With a 5-on-3 player advantage, Syracuse passed back-and-forth below the goal line, maintaining possession. Eventually, the puck cycled back to the point, where Lindsay Eastwood stood alone. She drifted toward the left face-off circle, and given time and space, Eastwood fired a wrister.

Traffic in front of the net prevented Lindenwood’s goalie, Sophie Wolf, from seeing it, and the shot snuck in for Eastwood’s third power play goal this season. This one narrowed the deficit to one goal two minutes into the third period.

Fifty-four seconds later, Emma Polaski scored her team-leading fourth power play goal of the season to tie the game at 4-4. Syracuse (9-19-3, 9-6-2 College Hockey America) then completed the comeback against Lindenwood (7-19-3, 3-12-2) in overtime, 5-4, on an Abby Moloughney penalty shot. After going 0 for 8 on the player advantage last weekend in two games versus the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Orange converted three times in five chances Friday night against the worst team in CHA.

“They’re always looking for me to shoot,” Eastwood said. “So, first things first, I’m looking for the shot.”

Power plays sparked the crucial scoring run as SU tries to hold on to third-place in the conference standings. RIT remains three points behind the Orange, while Mercyhurst holds a two-point advantage. Syracuse has three games remaining before the CHA tournament in Buffalo, which starts March 6.

“It’s really close with the points, it’s really narrow,” Moloughney said. “And I think that to get an extra point is something that everyone wants, and we just had to really take it.”

Lindenwood committed penalties at opportune times for Syracuse. The Lions took the lead in the first period, but 1:40 after its opening goal, Megan Wagner went to the box for tripping. The Orange had already controlled much of the possession to that point of the game, and the power play chance allowed them even more space to operate.

They didn’t waste it like last weekend. Polaski took the puck by the boards nearest the fans and flung a cross-ice pass to defender Jessica DiGirolamo. On Syracuse’s power play, one of the defenders stays at the point, quarterbacking the unit, and the other defender is given free reign to stray toward the net or patrol the face-off circle. In this instance, DiGirolamo chose to attack the net. She received the pass, and in the same motion, roofed a shot over Wolf to tie the game.

“We have a really strong connection,” DiGirolamo said on Polaski. “It starts in practice and then today, when I scored my goal, it was all of Emma’s work.”

The Lions scored two unanswered goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead into the third frame. Early in the period, though, Lindenwood’s Lillian Marchant took a hooking penalty. Then, Shannon Morris-Reade slashed a Syracuse player’s stick out of her hands, earning two minutes in the box. Eastwood and Polaski’s markers on the ensuing power plays brought the score even.

Even when not scoring, Syracuse’s passing and movement to get open troubled Lindenwood and forced tough saves from Wolf. The Orange took more chances on cross-ice feeds and trying to find open players, and Allie Munroe was instrumental in facilitating motion in the offensive zone.

“We’re really connecting on our passes,” Eastwood said. “We’re actually making tape-to-tape, which makes a huge difference. It keeps the control, one, and gets the other team scrambling.”

Munroe and Eastwood are the two point defenders that quarterback their respective power play units. Eastwood said the two are different players, which gives the opposition different looks. Eastwood is shoot-first, she said, while Munroe is poised and patient with the puck.

On the first Syracuse player advantage of the night, Munroe rotated the puck between the wings, and when given the opportunity to shoot, often faked it. Lindenwood players went down to block shots — Munroe finished the game with nine shot attempts — and the senior captain instead slid passes to Orange players by the side of the net.

“We’re different hockey players, different styles, so different things are going to come from both of us,” Eastwood said.

Syracuse has the most-effective power play in CHA, leading the league in special-team goals (27). DiGirolamo said the Orange have better positioning than earlier in the year, and they’re getting open to provide outlets when players are pressured.

“We’re looking for different options,” DiGirolamo said. “So keep your head up and find the right play.”

Published on February 22, 2019 at 11:56 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder