Julie Knerr came up from behind Penn State’s red line with the puck and skated back up the boards to find herself alone between the faceoff circles. She fired a slapshot that found the back of the net.

With Knerr’s score, Syracuse took the lead and never gave it back.

“I was forechecking and suddenly I came up toward the blue line,” said Knerr. “I looked up, saw I had a lane, and I just took a shot that went in. We needed it.”

Syracuse (2-2-4, 1-0 College Hockey America) opened up conference play by defeating Penn State (3-4-2, 0-1 CHA) 3-1 behind a much improved offensive effort Friday night at Tennity Ice Pavilion. Syracuse dominated possession and shots, 34-20 in favor of SU, throughout the game.

The game marked Syracuse’s first win since its season opener on Oct. 2. The team came out controlling possession early, which paid off on the scoreboard for Syracuse.

With nine minutes left in the first period, junior defender Kaillie Goodnough cut across the blue line with the puck skating toward the right side of the rink. As she made strides toward about 10 feet in from the blue line, she fired off a wrist-shot that snuck by Penn State’s Celine Whitlinger and into the bottom-left corner of the net to put SU up 1-0. The score was Goodnough’s second of the season.

The Nittany Lions were held scoreless by Syracuse’s defense in the first period and only managed to get off three shots.

Head coach Paul Flanagan was happy with his team’s protection and puck handling throughout the win. The Orange was able to control the puck in its offensive zone especially well in the second period.

He believed the team forced way too many passes in its previous games, and by taking better care of the puck against Penn State, the team was able to secure a win.

“We’ve been getting too excited. You pass the puck and it’s right on their stick,” said Flanagan. “We were more patient and crafty with it, trying to be more deceptive.”

Penn State answered the Orange with a goal of its own in the second period from sophomore left-winger Amy Peterson. Penn State rotated the puck from the top of the right circle to sophomore center Laura Bowman, who ripped a slapshot from the top of the left circle that Peterson was able to tip past SU goalie Jenn Gilligan to even the score.

After Knerr’s goal gave SU the lead, Syracuse added an insurance tally in the third period.

After returning to full strength from a power play, the team went aggressively right down the ice into the offensive zone. The team crashed and with 38 seconds into the final period, Allie Lacombe was able to poke the puck into the net through the crowd of bodies in front of the net.

“I just think that getting pucks on net and crashing hard helped us,” Goodnough said of the offensive effort. “We were better tonight.”

Published on November 1, 2014 at 12:09 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu