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Four second-period goals within a four-minute span earned Syracuse a 4-1 win over Robert Morris on Saturday, sweeping the weekend’s two-game away series.

Syracuse (10-8-1, 8-6-1 College Hockey America) closed out its regular-season games with two dominant wins against Robert Morris (13-7-1, 11-7-1). In the second period, Syracuse took advantage of the absence of the Colonials’ starting goaltender, Raygan Kirk, and took 15 shots – four of them resulting in goals – in a nine-minute span on Robert Morris’ backup goaltender Arielle DeSmet.

“I think our schedule helped us a little bit in terms of the teams we were playing to be able to gain more confidence in our play,” head coach Paul Flanagan said ahead of the weekend’s series.

Freshman Sarah Thompson, who was sidelined with an injury during the LIU series, scored Syracuse’s equalizer for her third goal of the season just over four minutes into the second period. Forty-three seconds later, Tatum White secured Syracuse’s win with her third point on the weekend and the Orange’s second goal of the game. White now leads all freshmen skaters in points with nine.

“We’ve been striving all year in order to be able to get some secondary scoring,” Flanagan said midweek, as he hoped to rely on the team’s depth against Robert Morris.

Syracuse took a 3-1 lead on Abby Moloughney’s second goal of the weekend. The goal led to Robert Morris replacing DeSmet after three of the Orange’s goals on 20 shots.

Jessica DiGirolamo notched her team-leading ninth goal of the season on Syracuse’s third power play of the game, minutes into Robert Morris’ backup goalie Molly Singewald’s entrance into the game.

Despite a commanding win, Syracuse was outshot 36-30, forcing Allison Small to make 35 saves after coming off of a career-high 49-save win during Friday’s game.

Syracuse’s two-game sweep over Robert Morris was not enough to propel them over Mercyhurst for the CHA Tournament’s third seed. Robert Morris has already secured a bye as the second seed heading into the tournament.

Syracuse will be the fourth seed and will take on the fifth-seeded Lindenwood on March 4.

“As we wind down and we get in and past this weekend, you’ve got to be playing your best hockey or you’re done,” Flanagan said.

Published on February 27, 2021 at 4:47 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu