The emotions had been building. After a chippy contest the night before, Saturday’s contest wasn’t much tamer.

Penalties piled up, and midway through the second period, Syracuse’s Shiann Darkangelo and Rochester Institute of Technology’s Kristina Moss began pushing and shoving each other against the glass. It climaxed when Darkangelo’s right fist hit Moss’ head. Darkangelo was handed two minor penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing. Moss got one for roughing.

“We want to stay out of it as much as we can, but at the same time, we want to stand up for our teammates,” forward Holly Carrie-Mattimoe said. “We already don’t like (RIT) a lot and I think that game kind of just added fuel to the fire.”

After a total of 15 penalties, Syracuse came away with the 2-1 victory against RIT. The win pulled the Orange (18-11-1, 12-3-1 College Hockey America) within one point of league-leading Mercyhurst, but not without trouble against RIT (12-13-5, 5-6-5 CHA), which has accumulated the third most penalty minutes in the country.

Overall, Syracuse players agreed this was one of the most physical weekends of the season.

“That’s more their type of game, and we didn’t want to play to their type of level,” SU defenseman Jacquie Greco said. “It wasn’t as bad (last night). I think it was of built up from last night. They didn’t call anything yesterday until the third period.”

Just more than two minutes into the second period, Marissa Maugeri of RIT was called for tripping and sent to the box. That one penalty started a chain of nine more penalties in the period, including the skirmish between Darkangelo and Moss.

SU assistant coach Brendon Knight was able to provide the team with some insight about how RIT plays prior to the weekend, but Greco said there isn’t much you can do to prepare.

“He warned us, but it’s not like we can lift extra weights,” Greco said.

About 14 minutes into the second period, RIT goalie Ali Binnington skated out of the net to stop an SU breakaway. When she went to chase it down, she and SU’s Julie Knerr collided. Knerr was called for charging and was sent to the box, while Binnington was taken off of the ice and sent to the hospital.

SU head coach Paul Flanagan said that while physical play can sometimes help, it could also be very dangerous in instances where the goalie comes out of the net.

“If I’m a goaltender, that’s a dangerous play and, I don’t know, is the forward supposed to stop and just let the goalie get the puck?” Flanagan said. “I don’t like the fact that they can come roaming out there, personally. And now she’s on her way to the hospital, I feel bad for her and I just hope she’s okay.”

Despite the 15 penalties, the second period collision was the only one that caused a player to come off the ice, and stay off.

Carrie-Mattimoe said it can be tough trying to defend her teammates when bad exchanges happen. Since she was young, she has always been taught that fighting isn’t allowed, and it’s still banned in both men and women’s college hockey.

“It’s tough, a lot of things are said and you want to stand up for your teammates,” Carrie-Mattimoe said. “We got some little girls on our team and they’re getting picked on. So there’s a couple times when we want to drop the gloves, but overall, staying disciplined is the most important.”

The win gave the Orange its eighth in a row, with a weekend series coming up against the Lakers next weekend.

Thanks to the streak and physical weekend, Carrie-Mattimoe thinks the team has the momentum to topple Mercyhurst.

Said Carrie-Mattimoe: “I think our team is just rallied together right now and we are ready to go.”

Published on February 10, 2013 at 11:21 pm

Contact David: dlauterb@syr.edu