When Syracuse gave up possession it didn’t give up many shots.

“We were picking up our checks coming back into our zone and doing a good job just kind of limiting their space and time,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “When you do that, they’re not going to get as much time to set up.”

Penn State could rarely get more than a single shot off before Syracuse defenders sent the puck out of their zone.

On the strength of its aggressive forecheck, SU (2-2-4, 1-0 College Hockey America) dominated possession Friday night as the Orange defeated Penn State (3-4-2, 0-1) 3-1. Syracuse put 14 more shots on goal than the Nittany Lions, whose only goal came on a power play.

“Our mentality was to be real aggressive, stick with your check,” Flanagan said.

SU practiced forechecking all week, focusing on playing defense in the offensive zone. Flanagan felt that if the team stayed aggressive, it would keep the puck away from its goal.

A series of long possessions against Penn State ensued and, for the first two and a half periods, the visitors had very few scoring opportunities.

“Our game plan today was forecheck as hard as you can, go hard on them and then they’re probably going to cough up the puck,” senior forward Julie Knerr said.

Knerr benefited from the strong forecheck when she took a puck center Stephanie Grossi kept in the zone on the forecheck and fired in a slapshot that gave SU a lead it would not relinquish.

With under six and half minutes left in the game and the Orange up 3-1, junior defender Nicole Renault took a tripping penalty, giving the Nittany Lions a late chance to make a comeback. Thirty seconds into the penalty, SU’s attacking defense in the neutral zone snuffed out that chance.

As Penn State brought the puck across the middle of the ice, Grossi pushed forward and made a poke-check steal, gaining possession. She pushed forward and the Orange got off two shorthanded shots on goal.

Although neither went in, the play wasted time on the penalty kill.

“Just angling them out and keeping them in their defensive zone, that’s what you want to do,” Grossi said.

The Orange spent the whole game pushing its forwards up toward the blue line to prevent Penn State from gaining possession in the offensive zone, Flanagan said.

Aside from a power play, Penn State’s first sustained offensive chance didn’t come until the final period was more than halfway over. Down two, PSU pushed its own forwards up, cherry-picking by the blue line.

The aggressive play from its opponent countered Syracuse’s aggression, leading to a few breakaway opportunities for the Nittany Lions.

“Not only did (goalie Jenn Gilligan) make a great save on that breakaway, I thought she made a couple other really good saves,” Flanagan said.

The breakaway the coach mentioned saw Penn State center Laura Bowman skate right past SU’s two defenders to face Gilligan one-on-one.

The SU goalie came out past the crease to face her and stayed with the attacker as she cut right and tried to shoot into the bottom corner of the net.

Said Flanagan: “She made the saves she had to.”

Published on November 1, 2014 at 12:58 am