NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – In the latter tilt of a two-game set at Niagara (4-16-4, 1-3-2), the Syracuse women's ice hockey team (3-13-3, 0-9-3) locked up its third point in the CHA conference standings with the second-straight 1-1 overtime affair at Dwyer Arena on Sunday afternoon. After playing in 18 games without an overtime decision, the Orange has skated to three consecutive overtime draws.
Sophomore forward Rebecca Gordon (St. Catharines, Ontario) delivered SU's lone goal late in the second period. Out of the 40 goals the Orange has put in this season, Gordon's game-tying tally was only the fourth unassisted marker of the year. Sophomore Stefanie Marty (Nussbaumen, Switzerland) put SU's first unassisted goal away against Quinnipiac on October 18. Senior defenseman Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan) rifled a blast from the blue against Sacred Heart on October 31 and sophomore Julie Rising (Millbrae, Calif.) was the last one to score a goal without any help against the Pioneers on November 1. Rising's blast was in powerplay form.
Gordon's second goal of the season, sixth point overall, secured her second two-game pointstreak of the season. Gordon was awarded on assist on freshman Lisa Mullan's (Victoria, British Columbia) tally in Saturday's skirmish at Niagara.
Junior goaltender Lucy Schoedel (Ithaca, N.Y.) faced 30 shots, stopping 29 total. The third-year netminder has now made 510 saves on this season, allowing 3.47 goals per game. Schoedel's save percentage rests at 89.2 (510-of-572) after 19 consecutive starts.
Syracuse outshot the Purple Eagles 32-30, doubling up NU 14-7 after the first frame. The Orange has outshot its opponent in the last four games by a total of 108-92.
Nathalie Larsen attacked the scoreboard first at 8:58 of the first period when she snuck the puck past Schoedel with a blast outside the left faceoff circle for the early 1-0 lead.
Gordon negated the Purple Eagles' early edge with the equalizer at 16:16 of the second period.
Neither squad could sway the advantage in either direction as the game stretched out to 65 minutes for the third straight time for Syracuse. Senior blueliner Nikki Leone (Trenton, Ontario) unleashed one of her signature slap shots that rang off the pipe in the final minute of the third period as a last ditch effort to get the Orange its first CHA victory in school history.
Syracuse will have the luxury of playing in its home quarters of Tennity Ice Pavilion for the first back-to-back weekend series of the season. SU hosted Sacred Heart and Mercyhurst back in October, but a lay week separated the two matchups. The Orange hosts rv/rv Wayne State for a two-game conference set on Friday, January 23 at 7 pm and Saturday, January 24 at 2pm. The following weekend, Niagara makes its way east down the Thruway for a two-game series with the Orange on Friday, January 30 at 7 pm and Saturday, January 31 at 2 pm.