Jessica DiGirolamo took the puck up the left side of the ice and began to converge on the net. She cycled the puck behind her, seeming to drift back up ice and away from the action.

But the sophomore settled at the right point, waiting for the puck to return to her. And it did, off the stick of fellow defensemen Shelby Calof. DiGirolamo steadied the puck, then ripped a shot past Penn State’s goaltender. It was her fifth goal of the season, and it put the Orange ahead 1-0 with 10:45 to play in the first.

“I had a rough past few games so I just wanted to get into my groove,” Digirolamo said, “Good thing I scored a goal.”

Her slap set the tone for the Orange (6-17-1, 6-5 College Hockey America) in their 2-1 over the Nittany Lions (9-11, 4-7). Digirolamo finished with one goal, while the freshman Calof finished with two assists. The defense was just as much of a force in its own zone, blocking a number of shots to keep goaltender Maddi Welch’s workload at 34 shots. And it came without the anchor of the defense, senior captain Lindsay Eastwood.

“It’s definitely tough without Lindsay,” sophomore defensemen Kristen Siermachesky said, “We miss her a lot. But we gotta step it up on the back end to get the puck to the forwards.”

Eastwood has been battling an illness for the past two weeks — even beginning before she scored the game-winner against Robert Morris a week ago. The doctor ruled her out indefinitely, leaving the Orange with five defenders.

This meant a constant rotation of defensemen, rather than the conventional flow of three pairs, SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. But for the most part, the defense adjusted in stride.

“They did a real good job,” Flanagan said, “And it’s how they manage their ice time and just use the glass and the boards when there’s trouble.”

DiGirolamo remained in “fourth gear” for most of the first period, finishing with five shots, but the Orange lead stayed 1-0 going into the first intermission.

In the second, SU found themselves on the power play for one minute, but the Orange failed to convert. Later in the period at even strength, though, SU did find the net, courtesy of Brooke Avery. The redshirt senior had an open look straight at the goaltender from ten feet out and buried a wrist shot.

SU’s defense did their part, Welch had another solid period, and the Orange cruised into the second intermission up 2-0.

But in the third, penalties began to plague the Orange once again. Siermachesky was called for holding, reducing SU’s already depleted defensive rotation to just four. Two of them didn’t even get a chance to kill the penalty as PSU scored seven seconds later.

“You win the draw (faceoff), that’s what happens,” Flanagan said.

Three minutes later another defensemen, Allie Olnowich, was called for interference, putting PSU on the man-advantage with a chance to tie the game at two. This time, Welch stood tall in net, and DiGirolamo took a puck to the chest to end the power play.

The Nittany Lions were forced to pull their goalie with under two minutes to go, desperate to equalize. PSU had one last opportunity to score with 16 seconds left from close range, but senior defensemen sprawled out to spoil the shot attempt and Penn State’s hopes.

“Blocking shots has been an emphasis of ours,” Calof said, “… but we know we can do even better. So next game hopefully we’re able to come out and use this win as momentum.”

Published on January 25, 2019 at 11:00 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu