SYRACUSE, N.Y.- The Syracuse women’s ice hockey team picked up their seventh consecutive win on Saturday afternoon, shutting out Lindenwood by the final score of 2-0 on ‘Senior Day.’ Seniors Nicole Ferrara, Jenn Gilligan, Danielle Leslie, Melissa Piacentini and Nicole Renault were all honored for their stellar careers with the Orange.
Although it was ‘Senior Day,’ freshman Maddi Welch had an impressive performance in net for Syracuse (18-13-3, 14-4-2 CHA), picking up her first collegiate win and shutout with 17 saves. Sophomore Stephanie Grossi scored her fourth goal over the weekend, delivering the Orange their third College Hockey America sweep with the win over Lindenwood (8-22-4, 5-11-4 CHA)
The Orange head into the CHA playoffs with a bye and second-place finish in the conference. Despite a series sweep over the Lady Lions, Mercyhurst picked up three points against Penn State, finishing just one point ahead of Syracuse in the standings. The Orange will play the winner of Penn State and Robert Morris in the semifinals.
After recording her second hat trick of the season yesterday, Grossi picked up where she left off, delivering Syracuse the first goal of the game midway through the first frame. Grossi’s goal gave the Orange a 1-0 lead headed into the first intermission after Syracuse outshot Lindenwood 12-6.
Syracuse came out firing in the second frame, outshooting the Lady Lions by a total of 18-2 in the period. Junior Jessica Sibley extended the Orange lead to 2-0 at the 12:19 mark with a beautiful back-handed goal, going top shelf past Lindenwood netminder Nicole Hensley. On the goal, Piacentini moved past classmate Renault for the program’s all-time assist lead with 59 total. The 2-0 lead eventually stood up for the remainder of the contest as both teams went scoreless the rest of the way.
The Orange outshot Lindenwood by a total of 34-17, dominating the flow of play from start to finish. Syracuse will not return to action until Friday, March 4th when the team takes the ice at the CHA semifinals at the Harbor Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
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