The Daily OrangeSyracuse women's ice hockey back below .500 with loss to Niagara
By John Nolan
Posted: 11/9/09, 3:48 AM EST Section: Sports
After Friday night's 2-1 win at home over Niagara, the Syracuse ice hockey team had never felt better. For the first time in the second-year program's history, the Orange had reached .500.
But less than 24 hours later, the mood in the SU locker room was vastly different.
The squad's four-game winning streak had been snapped. The defeat was a humbling reminder for a young Syracuse (4-5-1, 1-1-0) team that learned it could ill-afford to lose its underdog mentality.
"I think we just kind of underestimated them," junior co-captain Julie Rising said, following Syracuse's 3-2 loss to Niagara (4-4-2) Saturday at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. "And just little mistakes added up to letting in a couple of goals that we shouldn't have let in."
Heading into Saturday, the Orange had posted a 3-0-2 regular season record versus its CHA rival. However, even after jumping out to leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday, Syracuse was unable to sustain its momentum.
SU head coach Paul Flanagan praised his team after its victory Friday for playing with great energy, especially in the closing minutes of the game. But the next day, the team's edge was missing.
Rising, who scored her fourth goal of the season on Saturday, could sense something different between the two contests.
And she wasn't the only one.
"Today, we took it for granted," SU assistant coach Graham Thomas said. "We thought we were better than them and we didn't have to maybe work as hard, we didn't have to do all those little things, and it came back to bite us in the butt. We didn't deserve to win."
The Orange had only reached the .500 mark as a result of its moxie. The team's schedule has been one of the toughest in the country, yet Syracuse impressively overcame its 0-4-1 start to the year.
But feelings of contentment were soon dissipated after SU realized it had lost an opportunity to set a new feat, and go over .500 for the first time ever.
"The difference today, I think we kind of took the wins that we've been getting for granted," senior goaltender Lucy Schoedel said. "We didn't come out and work as hard as we needed to, we didn't work as smart as we needed to. Hopefully we'll take this as a wake-up call."
But less than 24 hours later, the mood in the SU locker room was vastly different.
The squad's four-game winning streak had been snapped. The defeat was a humbling reminder for a young Syracuse (4-5-1, 1-1-0) team that learned it could ill-afford to lose its underdog mentality.
"I think we just kind of underestimated them," junior co-captain Julie Rising said, following Syracuse's 3-2 loss to Niagara (4-4-2) Saturday at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. "And just little mistakes added up to letting in a couple of goals that we shouldn't have let in."
Heading into Saturday, the Orange had posted a 3-0-2 regular season record versus its CHA rival. However, even after jumping out to leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday, Syracuse was unable to sustain its momentum.
SU head coach Paul Flanagan praised his team after its victory Friday for playing with great energy, especially in the closing minutes of the game. But the next day, the team's edge was missing.
Rising, who scored her fourth goal of the season on Saturday, could sense something different between the two contests.
And she wasn't the only one.
"Today, we took it for granted," SU assistant coach Graham Thomas said. "We thought we were better than them and we didn't have to maybe work as hard, we didn't have to do all those little things, and it came back to bite us in the butt. We didn't deserve to win."
The Orange had only reached the .500 mark as a result of its moxie. The team's schedule has been one of the toughest in the country, yet Syracuse impressively overcame its 0-4-1 start to the year.
But feelings of contentment were soon dissipated after SU realized it had lost an opportunity to set a new feat, and go over .500 for the first time ever.
"The difference today, I think we kind of took the wins that we've been getting for granted," senior goaltender Lucy Schoedel said. "We didn't come out and work as hard as we needed to, we didn't work as smart as we needed to. Hopefully we'll take this as a wake-up call."
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