Orange Ice Hockey loses to Colgate in OT

Syracuse lost the 2020- 21 season opener to Colgate, 3- 2 in overtime, at Tennity Ice Pavilion. Freshman Rayla Clemons tallied two goals in her Orange hockey debut. Syracuse jumped out to a 2- 0 lead behind the two goals by Clemons in the first period. After neither team scored a goal in the second period, Colgate rallied to score two goals in the third and then scored the game- winner on a power play just 19 seconds into the overtime period for the win.

In the first period, Clemons scored just 72 seconds into the game on an assist from senior captain Kristen Siermachesky and senior Victoria Klimek. Clemons then gave ‘ Cuse a 2- 0 lead scoring her second goal with 4: 13 left in the first period on an assist from Klimek.

“I like the way we started the game with a lot of excitement and

energy and we played pretty well,” said head coach Paul Flanagan. “It was great to see a freshman score on the very first shift of her collegiate career and then follow it up with another goal. There were some positives in the first 20 minutes. Then Colgate stepped it up and really came after us. Give credit to Colgate. They kept coming at us. We have to build on the positives.”

In the second period, Syracuse goalie Allison Small turned away 13 Colgate shots to help the Orange maintain the 2- 0 lead. The Raiders kept the pressure on the Syracuse defense in the

third period, outshooting the Orange 15- 2. Colgate’s Maggie Maceachern cut the Orange lead to one, scoring a goal at the 10: 20 mark in the third period and then the Raiders tied the game on a power play goal by Malia Schneider with just more than six minutes left in regulation. Small registered another 15 saves in the final 20minutes for the Orange, and finished the game with 28 saves in the game.

“Allison looked confident right from the beginning,” Flanagan said of the senior goaltender. “She was moving well, recovering well, and doing all of the little things well. Moving forward hopefully that will help her put this one behind her and move on from there. We are going to need her.”