In their last non-ECAC game of the year, the St. Lawrence women's team makes the drive to Syracuse today to play the Orange. The Orange are 14-11-2, and 7-6-1 at home.
Melissa Piacentini is the leading scorer for Syracuse with 23 points, but her teammates in Nicole Renault and Jessica Sibley are both very dangerous scorers. SLU has played stifling defense of late, allowing just 4 goals in the last 4 games. Part of that has been the play of Carmen MacDonald in net, but given that this is a Tuesday game, with important ECAC games this weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac, I would give MacDonald a rest today, and play either Mazzochi or Thompson, whoever coach Wells thinks has the better chance to win.
Syracuse is a good team, and they play well on both sides of the puck. They can score, but also play solid defense, allowing just 2.2 goals per game. For the Saints to keep the momentum rolling, they'll have to capitalize on their power play chances. The game winner on Saturday was a power play goal, and in general, they seem to play better when the power play is working. If they can get some swagger with the extra skater, and continue their solid defense of late, they should be all set in this game.
The offense has continued to do what is necessary to win. They haven't really blown out anyone, though they did win a few games by two goals. Essentially, if the Saints allow one goal, the offense scores two. Brooke Webster has had a great rookie season offensively, as has Alex Moore, despite the fact that she has been playing defense for a good part of the year. And, as always, Rylee Smith is dangerous as she approaches 50 career goals. Mel Desrochers, Dayle Wilkinson, and Kirsten Padalis can all contribute from the blue line as well. They have enough talent to score goals, so as long as the team as a unit plays good defense, there shouldn't be much of an issue tonight.
That being said, this game is almost a tune up for a team that is really playing well right now, and is headed towards a big weekend in the ECAC.
Puck drop at 7:00
Melissa Piacentini is the leading scorer for Syracuse with 23 points, but her teammates in Nicole Renault and Jessica Sibley are both very dangerous scorers. SLU has played stifling defense of late, allowing just 4 goals in the last 4 games. Part of that has been the play of Carmen MacDonald in net, but given that this is a Tuesday game, with important ECAC games this weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac, I would give MacDonald a rest today, and play either Mazzochi or Thompson, whoever coach Wells thinks has the better chance to win.
Syracuse is a good team, and they play well on both sides of the puck. They can score, but also play solid defense, allowing just 2.2 goals per game. For the Saints to keep the momentum rolling, they'll have to capitalize on their power play chances. The game winner on Saturday was a power play goal, and in general, they seem to play better when the power play is working. If they can get some swagger with the extra skater, and continue their solid defense of late, they should be all set in this game.
The offense has continued to do what is necessary to win. They haven't really blown out anyone, though they did win a few games by two goals. Essentially, if the Saints allow one goal, the offense scores two. Brooke Webster has had a great rookie season offensively, as has Alex Moore, despite the fact that she has been playing defense for a good part of the year. And, as always, Rylee Smith is dangerous as she approaches 50 career goals. Mel Desrochers, Dayle Wilkinson, and Kirsten Padalis can all contribute from the blue line as well. They have enough talent to score goals, so as long as the team as a unit plays good defense, there shouldn't be much of an issue tonight.
That being said, this game is almost a tune up for a team that is really playing well right now, and is headed towards a big weekend in the ECAC.
Puck drop at 7:00
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