A pass came to the right circle on the ice in the first period, Stephanie Grossi held the puck on her stick and snapped a quick wrist shot, lifting the puck. The puck landed right in Clarkson goalie Shea Tiley’s midsection, ending Syracuse’s scoring chance.

The rest of the game went much the same way as Clarkson (5-3-0) stifled SU’s offense. The Golden Knights beat SU (1-2-4) for the second straight day, 4-1. SU’s only goal came off the stick of Larissa Martyniuk, a defender. The Orange’s forwards struggled to threaten Tiley all game and SU’s defense produced the Orange’s quality opportunities.

Near the net, Clarkson players battened down the hatches, making it tough for the Orange to get anything down low. Clarkson’s defense played tight to the net limiting puck movement and forcing difficult shots for SU. Grossi and other forwards were reduced to taking shots early in possessions, shortening SU’s scoring chances.

“We talked about (getting better shots) on the bench. Just get your eyes up, take a look. People on the backside need to be talking,” said head coach Paul Flanagan.

While some players took shots too early in possessions, others were caught in one-on-one situations, having a shot and trying to work the puck closer to the net. Flanagan was hesitant to talk to his players too much about keeping the puck, he said, fearing players wouldn’t take a shot when they had one.

With Clarkson’s defense packed in, SU was limited moving the puck. In set possessions, Clarkson’s defense prevented forwards from making passes to each other, forcing passes to the point.

“(Clarkson) were pretty hard on us down low which means it was opening up the points and we were just calling for it,” Martyniuk said. Martyniuk made the best of her only opportunity. She slammed home an Alysha Burris pass from between the circles, the shot finding its way under Tiley’s pads. Other SU players weren’t so fortunate.

Kailie Goodnough, a defender, supplied SU’s offensive chances from the point. In the first period, Goodnough fired a shot from the point, but forward Melissa Piacentini couldn’t tip the shot past Tiley.

In a third period possession for the Orange, Goodnough took a shot from the point to begin the possession, but Tiley deflected the shot wide to the right corner. Grossi came away with the puck and fed Goodnough again, who moved between the circles and fired a slap shot. Again the tipped shot couldn’t find the net as Tiley stopped it.

The shots from the point were the Orange’s best opportunities, but none found the back of the net. Tiley saved a few and others were just tipped wide. The Orange had another 12 shots blocked by Clarkson before they even reached the net.

“We just have to find a way to bury it,” said Goodnough.

Flanagan credited Clarkson’s defensive effort, but thought the Orange could have worked for better shots.

“That’s a classic road game. Just bend a little bit and don’t break. We didn’t really get very many great, grade-A chances,” said Flanagan. “We had some shots, I don’t think enough threatening shots. They kept it to the perimeter.”

Published on October 25, 2014 at 9:35 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati