Melissa Piacentini stands just 5 feet, 2 inches tall, making her, along with center Stephanie Grossi, the shortest player on the team. Midway through the second period she got tied up with Robert Morris’s 5-foot-11 defender Kirsten Welsh right in front of the Colonials goal. Instead of backing off, Piacentini went right into Welsh until the two had to be separated by the referees. They were called for offsetting roughing penalties.

To that point, Syracuse was playing a dispirited second period. The Orange had started the game out strong, but with about three minutes left in the first period RMU seized momentum. The Colonials started pressing more and the puck was spending a lot more time in SU’s zone. It culminated with a shorthanded goal just 4:38 into the period by Brittany Howard that put the Orange down 1-0.

Piacentini’s skirmish seemed to light a fire under the Orange, as SU started becoming more physical, aggressive and active on the ice. Two minutes after the incident – and after another RMU penalty, this time Ashley Vesci – sophomore Alysha Burriss got a rebound after RMU goalkeeper Jessica Dodds saved an Allie Munroe shot and poked it in for the equalizing goal.

“It’s a way to show your team and say ‘hey, don’t back down, look at me,” SU head coach Paul Flanagan said about his captain’s actions.

Syracuse (16-13-3, 12-4-2 College Hockey America) matched Robert Morris’s (14-13-5, 6-8-4) physicality and aggressiveness stride-for-stride and came away with a 3-2 victory on Saturday at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Seven total penalties were called between the 18:37 and 11:15 marks of the second period. A few accidental trips and extra bumps turned into players consistently in each other’s faces and forcefully shoving each other.

With a win over Robert Morris on Friday night, Syracuse had already locked up a first-round bye for the CHA tournament. Flanagan noted that the Colonials had a lot to play for as they are currently in a very close competition with Penn State for third place in the conference.

Still, the Orange responded to the RMU’s forceful play. Vesci was called for a penalty because she laid out Megan Quinn when the SU defender was aggressively trying to take the puck away from her. After the physical shot, Quinn got right back up and kept skating. She pointed out that in the end the play hurt the Colonials the most because a goal was scored several seconds later on the player-up advantage.

“They were being aggressive all game. I was just focusing on getting them mad, but not being too dirty, (in order) to draw a penalty and get on the power play,” Quinn said.

Emily Costales scored the team’s third goal. She still managed to score even though by the time the puck went in, she was basically down on one knee after being caught up with two defenders. Flanagan said that he was impressed with how his team responded to the physicality from a Colonials team that, from a standings perspective, might have a little bit more to play for.

Syracuse currently sits in second place in the CHA. The top two teams in the six-team conference get a first round bye. The Orange would need to win-out next weekend against Lindenwood and Mercyhurst, who plays a series against Penn State next weekend, would either have to lose both games or lose one and tie in another for SU to finish in first place.

Even with the odds stacked against them to finish in first, Burriss said that she knew her team was going to come out with an edge against RMU. She said that she remembers standing in Mercyhurst’s arena and seeing the all of their CHA title banners. Burriss’s face lit up with a wide smile as she talked about how much more fun hockey is when SU is winning, and she said that the desire to get a banner for Tennity is what pushed the Orange to fight so hard against the Colonials.

“Last year we got our very first win against them (Mercyhurst), so how nice would it be to get the win in the conference? That’d be sweet,” Burriss said.

Published on February 13, 2016 at 8:09 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer