Bryn Saarela shines again as Syracuse Hockey sweeps Robert Morris

It was a successful end to 2024 for Syracuse Ice Hockey, as Saturday’s win marked back-to-back wins over Robert Morris.

In both contests, Bryn Saarela led the Orange to 4-1 victories. The graduate forward notched her first career hat trick on Friday and added three points in Saturday’s victory, including a shorthanded and power-play goal. It was the second time this season that SU scored while on the penalty kill. 

Despite Saturday’s effort resulting in a dominant win, Syracuse struggled early in the first period. The Cuse allowed nine shots on goal in the game’s first ten minutes, five of which were on Robert Morris’s opening power play. 

“We were unhappy with our first ten,” Head Coach Britni Smith said. “So definitely at the 10-minute mark, we talked about how that’s not our game. I thought our response was very good in the first period.” 

Luckily for Syracuse, hockey periods aren’t ten minutes long. The Orange rebounded, netting two goals in the opening frame to take command of the game.

The last 40 minutes of the game were very strong for SU. The closest the contest got was when the Colonials drew a penalty down just 1-2. However, not only did RMU fail to convert the power play, they gave up a shorthanded goal to Syracuse’s Saarela, her 5th score in under 24 hours.

“I think special teams are sometimes what wins games, especially in our league,” Saarela said after the game. “So taking the opportunities to shut people down and then also gain momentum off of that and score PP goals is big.”

Saarela’s shorthanded goal proved to be a massive momentum shift in favor of the Orange.

Syracuse kept control of the game until Robert Morris opted for an extra attacker with 16:54 elapsed in the third period. An empty net goal just over a minute later put the game on ice for good.

Syracuse won’t play again until Jan 2nd when they travel to play against Minnesota Duluth.