St. Lawrence spoiled former coach Paul Flanagan’s return to Appleton Arena, and his team’s comeback bid, with a win over the Syracuse Orange by a score of 3-2 Saturday. For Flanagan, there were certainly emotions, but according to the former SLU bench boss, “Once the game started, it was all about hockey.”
The Orange got the game’s first goal at the 14:16 mark of the first period. Jessica Sibley made a nice pass from the half wall to Alysha Burris, who went forehand to backhand and tucked it past Brooke Wolejko to give Syracuse the 1-0 lead. The first period saw more chances for both, but no scoring.
Two second period goals gave St. Lawrence a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Lydia Grauer’s unassisted tally tied the game for the Saints at the 2:08 mark. Hannah Miller’s fourth goal of the season gave the Saints the lead. Kennedy Marchment made a saucer pass from the half wall to Miller in the slot, who fired a wrist shot top shelf.
“We caught them out tired, so we talked on the faceoff about keeping the puck in the zone. Kennedy got her head up and found me and made a nice pass to me,” said Miller. “I got a shot off and luckily it squeaked by.”
Amanda Boulier’s slap shot from the high slot gave SLU a 3-1 lead early in the third, but Syracuse did not go down without a fight. Megan Quinn brought the Orange within a goal with 9.3 seconds to play, but ultimately, Saints netminder Sonja Shelly, who replaced Wolejko halfway through the second period, withstood the Syracuse onslaught to earn St. Lawrence the win. Wolejko was credited with the win, and the Saints’ goaltenders made 20 saves in the contest.
After the game, Flanagan spoke about the experience of returning to Appleton Arena for the first time as a visiting coach.
“It was a little strange being in the visitor’s hallway here; most of the time when I was in here I was looking for a janitor,” joked Flanagan. “Obviously it was very special though, and I had a lot of family here, and saw some old friends before the game.
“I was a little disappointed in our play for stretches. I told our kids that they worked hard, but now we have to transition into working hard with a purpose.”
“This is probably one of our more complete efforts in terms of consistency and work and turning the puck over,” said SLU coach Chris Wells, as his team earned its third straight win to improve to 3-5-1 on the year. “You knew they would get some chances at the end, and they got the goalie out, but ultimately we got the win. It was a great game.”
“The mood is definitely a lot more upbeat; everyone seems to be a lot happier, and at practices, everyone has more energy,” said Marchment.
The Saints open ECAC play next weekend on the road at Harvard and Dartmouth, while Syracuse heads to Robert Morris for CHA play.
