It took 100 minutes and 21 seconds for Syracuse to find the back of the net this weekend against Robert Morris. And by the time it did, the Colonials were already cruising to their third blowout victory against the Orange this season.

SU (10-21-3, 10-8-2 College Hockey America) conceded three second-period goals to RMU (15-13-6, 13-4-3) and never recovered, falling 4-2 in Colonials Arena on Saturday afternoon in its last regular season game of the season. The Colonials had already clinched the top spot in CHA on Friday, and they handed the Orange their second straight loss heading into the CHA Tournament starting next Wednesday.

A scoreless first period saw SU create more chances toward the net. The Orange outshot the Colonials 12-4 in the frame and had 26 total shot attempts to just nine by RMU. In the second, Syracuse again had more shots, but Robert Morris struck thrice.

Caitlyn Sadowy opened the scoring 3:20 into the middle frame. Then Leah Marino made it 2-0 just over halfway through the period. With under two minutes before the second intermission, Janey Sandoval added another RMU marker.

On Friday, SU head coach Paul Flanagan pulled his starting goalie Ady Cohen after two periods because she gave up four goals on 19 shots. This time, Flanagan kept his starter, Maddi Welch, in for the third period. The senior made just 13 saves on 17 shots.

Syracuse kept hopes of a comeback alive with an early goal in the final frame. A puck from below the goal line came to Savannah Rennie on top of the crease, and she hacked at it. RMU goalie Lauren Bailey made the initial stop, but the rebound looped high in the air and landed behind her in the crease where Kristen Siermachesky jammed it home. The junior defender returned from an upper-body injury this weekend and tallied her first career goal in her 62nd game.

The game settled into a lull with chances for both sides before Marino capitalized on a neutral zone turnover. She beat Logan Hicks, who started the season as a forward, for speed and roofed a wrist shot over Welch’s right shoulder, re-establishing RMU’s three-goal lead.

Another Syracuse player, Amanda Backebo, earned her first career goal in her 84th game with the Orange. Victoria Klimek’s initial shot was kicked right to Backebo cutting in on the other side, and the goalie dove but couldn’t reach Backebo’s shot. It cut the lead to 4-2, which would remain for the rest of the game.

Syracuse heads to the CHA Tournament as the No. 3 seed and is locked in to play against No. 6 seed Lindenwood on Wednesday at the Harborcenter in Buffalo with the time yet to be decided. The first quarterfinal starts at 4:30 p.m., and the second begins at 7:30 p.m. The Orange won’t face RMU again unless both teams make the championship game next Friday.

Published on March 2, 2019 at 6:38 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder