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With less than seven minutes remaining and the score tied at three, a scrum of players battled for possession just outside the Syracuse net. Among the fray, Hannah Johnson found herself with the puck and quickly slid a pass across the ice to Tatum White in the back left corner of the zone. White, looking for a counterattack, saw a streaking Victoria Klimek down the center of the ice and sent her a pass in stride, leaving Klimek with just the goalie to beat. Klimek drove the puck into the top right corner of the net from close range and regained momentum for the Syracuse squad.

“I knew what I had to do in that moment,” Klimek said. “I just went in there, shot and hoped for the best, but it was really exciting to be able to do that.”

The goal, attributed postgame by Klimek to a play White created after a line change during practices this week, proved pivotal in Syracuse’s (11-9-5, 9-3-1 College Hockey America) victory over Lindenwood (5-19, 3-7 CHA) in a 4-3 thriller on Saturday. The dramatic win gave SU and head coach Paul Flanagan its 200th-ever win in the final regular-season game at home this season. The Orange also defeated Lindenwood for the third time this season, finishing off a weekend sweep of the Lady Lions.

Despite the late heroics, the Orange struggled to break through early. While multiple attacks from Jessica DiGirolamo and Lauren Bellefontaine looked promising, shots were unable to get past Lindenwood goalie Julia Maguire. Short-handed, Klimek broke free up the middle against a Lady Lion power play, but Maguire extinguished the hopeful opportunity with a save.

Although the Orange attack started hot, the early part of the second period belonged to the Lady Lions. Through the first 12 minutes of the period, Lindenwood outshot SU 20-7. With just over eight minutes on the clock, Lindenwood defender Brooke Pioske stole the puck from an Orange attacker and slid a pass to streaking forward Sierra Burt, leaving SU forward Sarah Thompson as the lone defense against the counterattack.

Speeding down the ice, Burt passed to teammate Morgan Neitzke, who returned the puck back to Burt to get around Thompson and have an open shot at the net. Burt then lined a shot past SU goalie Allison Small, breaking the stalemate and opening the scoring for Lindenwood.

But Syracuse’s lack of execution didn’t last for much longer. Rayla Clemons fired a shot that bounced off Maguire, giving Bellefontaine an open opportunity at the net. The forward took advantage, shooting the puck past Maguire and putting SU on the scoreboard.

“We had quite a slow start, and we could all kind of sense it on the bench,” Bellefontaine said. “Before the third period, we picked it up in the restroom, got the music blasting and firing each other up. I think that’s what allowed us to get the win.”

Lindenwood proved to be determined to regain its lead early in the third period, though. Stealing the puck off a Syracuse power play, Rachel Goff sprinted down the ice and drove the puck past Small to regain the lead. The lead didn’t last long, as Thompson maneuvered through the right side of the Lindenwood defense and fired a shot through the legs of Maguire from distance.

With the score then tied at two, Klimek lined the puck over to White, who in turn slipped a shot into the right corner of the net, giving Syracuse its first lead of the game.

“Being able to come back and win is a really good character trait to have,” Flanagan said. “Our kids aren’t getting too down, and we’ve been able to shake it off.”

The Lady Lions wouldn’t go down without a fight, though. With time running out, Sena Takenaka sent a risky pass through the Syracuse defense that made its way to Sydney Rarick across the ice, giving her an open opportunity to fire a shot into the top left corner. She did just that, tying the game at three.

Despite a late push from the Lindenwood attack after Klimek’s game-winning goal, Small squelched all opportunities and Syracuse emerged victorious. Flanagan said the group is determined to continue its success into the 2022 CHA Postseason Tournament that begins in February.

“We know this gets us one step closer, and we just have to keep winning,” Flanagan said.

Published on January 29, 2022 at 11:09 pm

Contact Sam: swarre03@syr.edu