The Orange won the ‘Battle at the Burgh’ with a 5-2 victory against St. Cloud State at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Sunday. Syracuse goalie Arielle DeSmet won the tournament Most Valuable Player award and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Shelby Calof, Jessica DiGirolamo and Abby Moloughney.
“In the second period when we faltered a bit on offense Arielle made some great saves, a couple of fantastic saves, that allowed us to maintain our 3-2 lead,” said head coach Paul Flanagan. “Then with eight or nine minutes left we really hunkered down and got the puck out when we had to. Hannah (Johnson) used the defenseman as a screen to score our fourth goal, and her first of the year, which was huge and gave us a little bit of breathing room. I think it was over then. A win like this helps us continue to build camaraderie in the locker room and that is contagious. Everybody contributed to this title. That is what is good to see. It is a great way to start 2022.”
DeSmet recorded 63 saves in the two games and turned away all four shots in the shootout against Boston University in the semifinal game on Saturday. Moloughney scored three goals and had one assist in the tournament, while Calof tallied one goal and one assist, in addition to scoring a shoot-out goal in the first game on Saturday to propel the Orange to the championship game. DiGirolamo recorded three assists in the two games.
A five goal first period resulted in a 3-2 Syracuse (7-9-5 overall, 5-3 College Hockey America) lead. After St. Cloud’s Emma Gentry scored three minutes into the game, the Orange responded with three straight goals. Calof put the Orange on the board midway through the first period on an assist from senior Victoria Klimek.
Freshman Sarah Marchand followed that with a goal less than three minutes later, assisted by Anna Leschyshyn, to give the Orange the lead. Moloughney made it 3-1 Syracuse scoring a goal on assists from DiGirolamo and Lauren Bellefontaine, who had four assists in the tournament. St. Cloud (7-12-1, 2-11-1 WCHA) recorded its second goal with less than 14 seconds remaining in the first period to make the score 3-2.
After neither team scored in the second period, Johnson’s goal with 10:27 left in the game put the Orange ahead 4-2. Klimek and Moloughney assisted on the goal. Klimek made the final score 5-2 with an an empty net goal in the last minute of the game.
Syracuse advanced to the championship game by winning a shoot-out after a 3-3 overtime tie against Boston University.
UP NEXT
Syracuse will play a weekend series at Minnesota State on Friday, Jan. 7th (4 pm) and Saturday, Jan. 8th (3 pm). Both games will be streamed via Big Ten +. The Orange return home for a weekend home-and-home series against CHA opponent RIT at Tennity Ice Pavilion on Friday, Jan. 21st (7 pm) and at RIT on Saturday, Jan. 22nd (3 pm).
50 YEARS OF SYRACUSE WOMEN’S ATHLETICS
Orange alumni, fans and friends are invited to share in a year-long celebration of 50 years of Syracuse University women’s athletics. Events and special recognition of all female student-athletes who have donned the Block S to represent Syracuse University and the Athletics Department since 1971-72 will be held throughout the 2021-22 seasons. As we celebrate this history, we acknowledge those who have gone before us to set the standard we strive to achieve today so we can pave the way for the future. We reflect on the history of women in sport, admire their sacrifices, recognize their contributions and accomplishments, and honor their legacy.
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