Logan Hicks gained a step on her defender in the offensive zone and dropped her shoulder to shield the puck. She drove to the net, trying to jam the puck past the goalie, but the rebound popped out to the front of the cage. Anonda Hoppner arrived first and slotted the puck home.

The score came just over two minutes into the second period for Syracuse (11-21-3, 10-8-2 College Hockey America) to tie the game at one. The Orange totaled three more unanswered goals in the middle frame to beat Lindenwood (7-22-4, 3-14-3) in the quarterfinals of the CHA Tournament, 4-1, on Wednesday. For the second-straight year, SU will face Mercyhurst in the semifinal on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Last year, the Lakers edged the Orange in overtime, 3-2.

In four earlier meetings this season, Syracuse outshot Lindenwood for a combined 142-66 advantage. The Orange started similarly on Wednesday. A 9-5 shooting margin in favor of SU didn’t matter, though, as Lindenwood struck first on its third shot of the game.

Syracuse continued to get pucks to the net continued the rest of the game and led to a four-goal second period. For the game, the Orange fired 30 times on Lindenwood goalie Sophie Wolf. On the other end of the ice, Maddi Welch needed only 11 saves to earn the win.

After Hoppner evened the score, Abby Moloughney added her first career postseason-goal on the power play. Then, just over halfway into the middle period, Kelli Rowswell extended the lead with assists to Hoppner and Savannah Rennie. Senior captain Allie Munroe finished the game’s scoring 14:32 into the second period.

It scored four times, but SU struck just once with a player advantage on eight opportunities. Power plays typically have been a strong point in the Orange offense, and they were second in the CHA in power play goals per game in regular season conference games. On Thursday night, the Orange face a rematch with a familiar opponent, Mercyhurst, which ended Syracuse’s season twice in the last three years. The Lakers were the most penalized team in conference play this season, averaging 5.73 penalties a contest, which means more chances for the Orange player-up unit to get on the ice.

“We felt a lot of pain in those losses, but I think it’s going to drive me and drive this team forward,” Munroe said. “So, I’m ready to try to finish the job for not only this team, but for everyone that came before us.”

Published on March 6, 2019 at 8:36 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder