A little more than a minute into the first period, senior Alysha Burris stood with the puck behind the opposing net. Linemate and freshman Victoria Klimek tapped her stick to the ice and received the puck from the fellow Ontario native.

After a deke away from the goalie, the freshman’s backhanded shot 90 seconds into the game saw the Orange take a lead it would never relinquish.

Syracuse (5-7-2, 4-0-1 College Hockey America) used a three-goal first period to dominate Lindenwood (2-10-1, 2-5-0) in a 4-1 victory at Tennity Ice Pavilion on Friday night. Following a goal in the second minute, the Orange kept the pressure on, unleashing eight shots while only allowing four. Even as SU lost its momentum into the second period, providing the Lions with two power play opportunities, Lindenwood never posed a serious threat to its lead.

“The first goal set the stone for the rest of the game,” junior forward Sarah Stuehr said. “Having a good amount of possession in the offensive zone is helpful.”

After a stretch of no stoppages for over 10 minutes in the initial period, redshirt junior Brooke Avery’s slap shot and one-timer goal stretched the Orange lead to two.

Later assisting sophomore Kelli Rowswell’s goal, Avery has now accumulated seven points in her last four games. She is now ranked second on the team with 10 points.

Her performance since the beginning of conference play is not a surprise, as it was only a matter of time before she started performing at a high level, sophomore forward Savannah Rennie said.

“We wanted to be really aggressive,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. “We wanted to go after them and get a good fore-check going. We did a good job breaking the puck out and moving it.”

One minute after Avery’s goal, the Orange found the net for a third time.

Immediately following a Lindenwood turnover, junior defender Allie Munroe pushed the puck up the ice. Once redshirt sophomore defender Lindsay Eastwood brought the puck in, she found junior forward Sarah Stuehr next to the net. With an open chance on goal, she slotted away her second career score, providing SU with a three-goal cushion.

Even though it was able to protect the advantage today, the Orange as a team still needs to work on protecting fast starts for the future, Avery said.

After Friday night’s first period outbreak, SU has now scored 17 goals in conference play, a marked jump from the 11 in the first nine games.

SU now has ten points in the CHA, only one point behind first place Robert Morris. Facing Lindenwood once more tomorrow, SU can take the lead of the conference with a win.

“There is a motivation in playing for first place,” Avery said. “We are finally rolling offensively and that helps with our confidence a lot.”

Published on December 1, 2017 at 11:37 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman