Syracuse splits weekend series against Mercyhurst

The Syracuse women’s ice hockey team welcomed the Mercyhurst Lakers to the Tennity Ice Pavilion for Hockey Fights Cancer Weekend.    

“We really needed to be back home, so I felt a little weird being here this weekend, but we really needed to be here with our fans, and lots of families came to the game today,” associate head coach Heather Farrell said.   

After falling on the road in a weekend series against Penn State last week, the Orange looked to bounce back against the Lakers, as they would prevail, defeating Mercyhurst 1-0 in the shootout after ending the regulation period in a 2-2 tie.   

It all started with a late third-period comeback for the Orange, as they found themselves down 2-1 late in the game, but with 91 seconds left, Celia Wiegand netted one home to tie the game.    

This marked back-to-back games with goals for the sophomore defender.    

The two teams played themselves through the five-minute overtime period. In the shootout, there would be multiple heroes for the Orange, as Heidi Knoll buried her first chance. Then it was followed by the netminder Ava Drabyk, who stopped all three shots for the Lakers, prevailing over Syracuse to a much-needed conference victory.    

The Orange held a notable ceremonial puck drop before game two of the series in honor of Erin Englehardt, an SU alum, employee, and avid ‘Cuse Ice supporter who battled breast cancer in 2023.     

A different start for Mercyhurst in the first period than Friday’s bout, as Jessica Ciarrocchi found the back of the net, putting them up 1-0.   

Coming into this game, Syracuse was 1-6-0 when allowing the opposing team to get the first goal, a trend that continued when Jade Maisonneuve gave the Hurst a 2-0 advantage in her 100th career game.    

Shortly after Rylee McLeod fired a puck in on goal, deflecting off Charlotte Hallett, bringing the orange back within one in the second.    

As the third period began, Mercyhurst continued their success, with Nayeon Kim extending the Lakers’ lead early in the third. Forty-two seconds later, Syracuse captain Nea Tervonen would catch Laker netminder Magdalena Luggin off guard to get the Orange back within one.  

In the end, it was not enough as the Orange battled hard throughout this contest but ultimately saw the Lakers take game two of this weekend’s series with a 3-2 win.

After the weekend series, the Orange fall to 6-10-1 and will be at home for their next couple of matchups against Cornell on Tuesday and RPI on Friday.