Julie Rising knows what’s at stake this weekend. For Syracuse, Friday and Saturday are chances to prepare for the College Hockey America tournament.

That’s because the opponent SU is playing this weekend will be the same team it lines up against in the conference tournament next weekend.

The Orange has a tune-up matchup against Niagara this weekend. After being swept by the Purple Eagles late last month, the Orange is looking to get back on the right side of the matchup.

‘They’re definitely our rival,’ Rising said of the Purple Eagles. ‘We’ve gone back and forth with them the last couple years, and they’re a building program as well, so we would definitely like to beat them.’

The weekend series will decide the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The other team will be the No. 3 seed. Syracuse (11-15-6, 5-6-3 CHA) currently trails the Purple Eagles (11-14-5, 8-4-2) in the standings by one point. The Orange has clinched a trip to the semifinals because it is four points ahead of Robert Morris, the current fourth-place team. The Orange holds the tiebreaker against the Colonials by earning a 2-0-2 mark against them this season.

Since Niagara swept SU in the final week of January, the Orange has won just one of its last six contests. The recent slide is marked by an increase in penalty minutes and a lack of consistent scoring.

Sophomore Isabel Menard realizes these are some of the glaring issues that need to be fixed if the team wants to make a run in the conference tournament. Menard said the improvements need to be made now more than ever.

‘We had a bit of a struggle this year, learning to play against teams like Niagara,’ Menard said. ‘We have to be really disciplined. We have to play good defensively, stay disciplined and get shots on net.’

SU head coach Paul Flanagan thought his team played well on the road in Niagara in January. In the team’s first game against the Purple Eagles, SU outshot the Purple Eagles 28-18. Flanagan said the game felt like it had playoff implications. The heated atmosphere overwhelmed SU, and with 21 seconds in regulation, Syracuse goalie Kallie Billadeau yielded the deciding goal. A day later, the Orange fell 3-1.

The hostile environment taught Syracuse numerous lessons about what the team will need to do this time around against Niagara.

‘It’s important for us to play well and get our offense rolling,’ Flanagan said on Jan. 25. ‘We have to figure out how to respond, how to compete, how to put the puck in the net, how to keep it out and get back to basics.’

The rivalry with Niagara stems from the nature of the games between the two teams in the past. The Orange has faced the Purple Eagles in the league tournament in each of its first two seasons. SU beat Niagara last season to win its first ever postseason game.

In the two matchups this season, Syracuse struggled to get the puck past Jenni Bauer, one of the best goalies in the league. Bauer has collected three CHA Goaltender of the Week awards this season. She frustrated Syracuse in the first two meetings, giving up just one goal.

The amount of times SU has faced Niagara in recent years has enabled the team to focus on what they feel is most important.

Syracuse will look to get out on the rush and beat the opposing defense down the ice. Rising feels if they can get Bauer to move laterally, they will be able to overcome her ability to defend the goal.

‘We need to focus on our systems,’ Rising said. ‘They have a real good defensive core, so we have to find a way to get through their defense. We have to break down their goalie … get a lot of shots and really prepare us for the tournament.’

adtredin@syr.edu

 

Published on February 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm