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Syracuse’s Sarah Thompson won the faceoff against Lindenwood’s Meara Ryan, passing to Hannah Johnson just beyond the right penalty circle. The puck swung to Maya D’Arcy and then Rhéa Hicks on the left side, where she sped a shot into goalie Natalie Ferenc’s chest guard. The puck leaked out to the right circle again, where Johnson was there to clean it up and put SU on top 1-0 early, less than three seconds into the Orange’s power play. 

With Thompson’s play, along with her fellow forwards, Syracuse (4-7-1, 3-0 College Hockey America) defeated Lindenwood (0-7, 0-3 CHA) 4-1 to remain undefeated in conference play. The team’s four goals is the most in a single game for the Orange, as they played stout defense to transition to offense quickly. Thompson and Madison Primeau led the way for created multiple turnovers that turned into quality offensive possessions. Primeau recorded a hat trick. Syracuse earned a decisive victory against Lindenwood despite being outshot 31-29. SU also led the faceoff discrepancy 37-16, with both Thompson and Tatum White collecting double-digit faceoff wins. 

Every SU center won over 50% of their faceoffs, carrying momentum from their wins into the subsequent offensive possession, including the opening goal of the game.

“We won a few clean,” Thompson said. “Which gives us possession right off the bat and puts us in a place to start working on offense right away.”

Thompson said that she just recently started playing center and has put an emphasis on faceoff training. She has been staying after practice to work with White and Lauren Bellefontaine, who have played the position since each of their freshman years at SU. 

“I’ve been a winger my whole life, so faceoffs is something I’ve really been working on a lot,” Thompson said. “(White and Bellefontaine) have been really good about walking me through it.” 

In the first period, the Orange tried to convert chances, but to no avail early on. Sarah Marchand cut across the middle to jump a pass from Lindenwood just 3:30 into the match. She looped around the goal and reset the puck, setting up a minute-long SU possession that ended in their first power play goal. This was one of multiple steals she produced near middle-ice, as she and the other forwards dominated defensively between the blue lines, cutting off runs from the Lions consistently.

This eventually set up Primeau to notch her first career hat trick for the Orange on Friday. Two of the goals came on rebounds where she crashed the net after an SU miss. She tipped in Johnson’s miss in the first period and followed up a shot by Thompson in the third that got saved by the goalie’s foot. Less than four minutes into the third period, SU took possession after a save from Arielle DeSmet. Thompson ended up with the puck in the right penalty circle, where she slithered in between multiple defenders, cutting across the goal and sending a backhand shot off of Ferenc’s foot. Primeau was already crashing the boards and sent the putback into the net instantly to give SU a comfortable 4-1 lead.

Thompson and Hicks both collected a pair of assists as the Orange front line led the way to a season-high four goals. Head coach Britni Smith said that the forwards made their presence felt defensively by jumping passes and transitioning to offense with urgency.

“We ask our forwards to be involved on the defensive side of the puck, always,” Smith said. “Whether it’s from the offensive zone backchecking or from the defensive zone staying underneath, our offense will come from our defense.”

Thompson also got off six shots in what Smith described as her best game of the season thus far. Thompson said that she felt good during warmups and that transferred over quickly to the game. 

Thompson collected her first assist in the second period. After a shot on goal by Primeau, Thompson collected the rebound and went behind the net with the puck. She went through to the right side and found Primeau in the middle of the ice. She was ready for the feed, sending a missile into the back of the net with her left. Despite Primeau’s stellar performance, Smith said that Thompson was the Orange’s top performer. 

“I think Sarah was our most consistent player tonight,” Smith said. “She just does it the right way. She always does the little things and I thought she led the way tonight.”

Published on November 4, 2022 at 10:44 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu