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Kambel Beacom was sent to the penalty box for interference with 4:18 left in the third period, giving Vermont its third power play of the night. Vermont controlled the puck in Syracuse’s defensive zone for the majority, the Orange made its biggest defensive stand of the night by not even allowing the Catamounts to record a shot on goal.
SU returned to full strength, but Vermont, the second-highest scoring team in the Hockey East, had one last push in them. Scrambling for the puck near the center of the ice, Theresa Schafzahl gained possession and quickly flicked the puck ahead to Natalie Mlynkova.
As SU’s defense shifted its focus toward her, Mlynkova passed the puck to Corinne McCool on her left, who then whipped the puck across the ice to Maddy Skelton. In open space, Skelton’s shot was saved by Arielle DeSmet using her right leg pad. But with 1:52 remaining, the puck skidded back to McCool who scored past a diving DeSmet to give Vermont a late 2-1 lead.
Despite stout play from its defense and DeSmet, Syracuse (7-12-1, 4-2 College Hockey America) lost to No. 13 Vermont (12-7-1, 8-5-1 Hockey East) 3-1. SU improved defensively after being on the wrong end of a sweep against Penn State last weekend when it was outscored 15-3.
“We put (last weekend) behind us and learned from what we could,” Tatum White said. “We had a good week of practice and I really think that showed tonight.”
For the first 15 minutes of the first period, Syracuse and Vermont were locked in a defensive battle. But the Catamounts would get on the board near the end of the first period.
Initially, the pass was stolen by Mae Batherson, but after she tried making a move up the ice, Hailey Burns regained possession. Down the left side of the boards, Burns dished the puck back to Lara Beecher behind the red line and to the right of DeSmet. Maya D’Arcy was near the crease trying to stop Vermont’s attack, but she left her position to defend the puck. As a result, Evelyne Blais-Savoie was left wide open just outside the crease, and gave the Catamounts a 1-0 lead on a one-timer.
Throughout most of the second period, Vermont kept its foot on the gas taking six shots on goal while only letting up one from SU the first dozen minutes of the period. Looking to add to its lead, Vermont battled to keep the puck on SU’s side of the ice.
DeSmet saved a slap shot from Lily Humphrey, and the puck kicked out to White. Skating down the center of the ice, White dished the puck left to Sarah Thompson, who tried getting the puck right back to White on a give-and-go. Humphrey immediately blew up the pass, but the puck kicked right to Rayla Clemons, positioned at the center of the ice.
As Clemons skated past Sini Karjalainen, Ellice Murphy stepped up trying to make a play on Clemons, completely disregarding White – who was skating stride for stride with Clemons down the left side of the rink. White had a clear shot at the net, so Clemsons found her for a game-tying goal on a shot to the bottom right corner.
Despite Syracuse’s mere 14 shots on goals, there were some scoring opportunities. SU had four power play opportunities, but it couldn’t convert on any and only mustered two shots on goal. Additionally, Lauren Bellefontaine had a team-leading five shots including a golden opportunity on a fastbreak with 6:54 remaining in the third period, but she didn’t capitalize.
Although it played really well throughout the game, Syracuse couldn’t pull through as it gave up two goals in the final two minutes. After McCool’s goal, SU pulled DeSmet from the net and added another skater in hopes of scoring an equalizing goal. After getting a stop in its defensive zone, the Catamounts pushed the puck to Syracuse’s side of the ice. She fired a shot off just in front of the center of the ice, sealing the game.
“I thought we executed our game plan to a tee,” Britni Smith said. “In the locker room, I told them, ‘I think that’s the best 60 minutes we’ve played this season so far and if we play like that, there’s not a team that can come in here and that we can’t compete with,’ so we’re very proud of our efforts tonight.”
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