Syracuse was just 24 minutes into its game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and it already had a two-goal deficit to make up. And with 15:43 left in the second period, the Orange got the opportunity it needed to do so.

Freshman forward Zach Bunick scored a five-on-three power-play goal with the help of a well-placed pass across the ice from junior defender Nino DiPasquale.

And just 57 seconds later, junior forward Nolan Metzler was able to net another power-play goal.

“When you’re down 3-1 and teams continue to take penalties and they’re trying to beat you physically, if you can put two goals on the board and tie the game up it gives you a lot of momentum,” head coach Nick Pierandri said. “And I think once we were able to do that it allowed us to really propel ourselves forward.”

The Orange (14-7) defeated IUP (8-13) by a score of 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Tennity Ice Pavilion in its final game of the semester, in large part due to penalties from the Crimson Hawks.

The two penalties that lead to Bunick and Metzler’s back-to-back power-play goals were only part of IUP’s overall lack of discipline. The Crimson Hawks committed 12 penalties in the second and third periods, and SU recorded 46 shots on goal and four goals in the same time frame, including another power-play goal by junior forward JR LaPointe with 9:03 left in the game.

“It was a physical, physical game,” Pierandri said. “It was nasty.”

The team totaled an impressive 62 shots on goal, compared to 33 from IUP.

Bunick said that it was SU’s simplistic offense that allowed the Orange to capitalize on the man-up opportunities.

“We just gotta crash the net. Doesn’t need to be the prettiest goal, wasn’t the prettiest game,” Bunick said. “We just gotta keep crashing the net, and get some rebounds and get some goals.”

It was the sixth consecutive win for Syracuse, and the team will take the streak into its 33-day break from competitive play.

Meltzer said that the team’s current success is a result of its fitness, and that he thinks it is one of the country’s faster teams.

While Pierandri knows that it is difficult to resume play after a long break, he said that the plan is to jump right back into the swing of things when the players return in January.

“I think the guys are tasting the (American Collegiate Hockey Association) Nationals,” Pierandri said. “They want to go to the Nationals, and I think they’re playing like they want to go to the Nationals right now.”

Published on December 7, 2014 at 10:31 pm

Contact Kevin: kjpacell@syr.edu