As Allie Munroe battled for the puck by the corner boards, she made eye contact with Emma Polaski charging in from the neutral zone. Munroe slid the puck perfectly into Polaski’s wheelhouse as the latter flashed across the high slot. Less than a second later, the puck was in the back of the net.

Munroe called Polaski’s one-timer a “highlight reel.” The shot made goalie Lauren Bailey’s water bottle jump from its perch on top of the net. From Bailey’s reaction, she never saw the puck once it left Polaski’s stick.

“I just hammered it home,” Polaski said.

Her team-leading ninth goal gave Syracuse (5-16-1, 5-4 College Hockey America) a 1-0 lead in the first period against Robert Morris (8-11-4, 6-2-1). The Orange added to the lead via Lauren Bellefontaine less than six minutes later, and eventually snapped their 10-game losing streak in overtime, winning 3-2. Polaski’s line with Savannah Rennie and Abby Moloughney was crucial in sparking SU’s offense early in the game.

Polaski opened the game by chasing the puck to the sideboards, forcing an errant RMU pass. Even with a tender groin, Polaski went hard after the puck right from the opening faceoff. 

Just under three minutes later, it was Polaski again taking SU’s first shot — a wrister that forced Bailey to kick out her right pad to make the save. Just under eight minutes into the game, Polaski fired the puck past Bailey and into the net.

“She (Polaski) gets them going, and then Abby follows suit and Sav’s just always lurking,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said.

Polaski finished the game as a plus-1 while Rennie was plus-2 due to being on the ice for the overtime winner as well. Moloughney was even for the night, having not gotten on the ice yet when Polaski scored.

SU’s leading scorer has lived off shot attempts and a willingness to enter the dirty areas of the ice. Flanagan has found her to be uncommon in women’s hockey — a player that always wants the puck.

“It’s funny cause in women’s hockey, a lot of these girls just want to get it and pass it,” Flanagan said. “But she’s a female player with a shoot-first mentality, and I love it cause you don’t see enough of that.”

Polaski, like she has many times this season, led the team in shots with seven. For the season, she’s third on the team with 58, but she leads the team in shooting percentage at 15.5 percent. Her conversion percentage has been helped by her ability to pick corners. On the one-timer she scored Friday night, not only was it blistering fast, but it also found the top shelf of the net.

Moloughney called Polaski’s shot “sick.” Flanagan said it was “heavy.” They both agreed that Polaski shoots it hard.

“When she takes a shot, you know you’re going to get a good rebound off it or it’s going to go in,” Moloughney said.

Published on January 19, 2019 at 12:24 am

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder