Jenn Gilligan brings her stick down hard onto the ice, counting down the last five seconds of each Syracuse power play.

The junior goalkeeper counts down the remaining seconds, notifying her teammates to start drifting back so the opponent coming from the penalty box doesn’t get a free breakaway upon reentering.

As opposed to power plays ending with an Orange goal, Gilligan has had to use her stick to warn her teammates more often than SU would like.

Syracuse (1-1-4) has struggled to take advantage of power plays so far this season, scoring only twice despite 25 opportunities. SU hopes to better capitalize on its power-play chances this Friday at 3 p.m. when the team plays the defending national championship team, Clarkson (3-3), at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, New York. The team then returns home to Syracuse to play the Golden Knights again on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

“What we’re going to dwell on in the early going is our percent of conversion and it’s not great,” said head coach Paul Flanagan.

SU has tied four games in a row and could use the boost that would come from converting these power plays.

In those four ties, the Orange has had 16 power-play chances, resulting in 33 shots and only one goal.

“If you look at the nature of our sport, there are a lot of low-scoring games,” said Flanagan. “So I think when you get that — whether it’s a five-on-four, five-on-three or a four-on-three opportunity and you have some open ice, you’ve got to convert. I think if you looked nationally at it, power plays are probably the big thing helping teams succeed.”

Flanagan doesn’t believe the team needs to do anything drastic in terms of improving, but does need to refine certain parts of the power play.

“We’re trying to get better looking at it on the ice,” said freshman right wing Alysha Burriss. “A few girls will come out early with the coach and work on scoring drills.”

Freshman defender Dakota Derrer thinks that the team needs to cycle the puck around more effectively, take its time and then capitalize on what would be a quality shot on net.

Burriss and Flanagan both said that the puck has taken some bad bounces, but the team needs to just keep putting in on net. Flanagan added that the team needs to be tough, bear down and convert.

Flanagan hopes to address the team’s shortcomings in practice and continue to get better. He believes the team needs to screen the goalie better and take her eyes away from the puck in hopes of slipping a score into the back of the net. Another potential solution to improve scoring is finding a teammate diving hard to the backside of the net while the goalie is occupied on the other end and finding that player for a score.

“We need to communicate more and see where everyone is,” said Derrer. “We need to move the puck better and not just throw it away when it’s not there.”

Clarkson has allowed only one power-play goal to its opponents through six games this season, something that SU hopes to change headed into the weekend. Flanagan is optimistic for his team’s chances this weekend and feels confident that the team will reverse the power-play trend soon.

“I really think we’re moving the puck around pretty well and getting some good bids,” said Flanagan. “I think that’ll take care of itself. The final execution just hasn’t been there, I guess.”

Published on October 23, 2014 at 12:10 am

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu