Syracuse women’s ice hockey opens season in dominant fashion

After the cancellation of the season opener at the University of Minnesota-Duluth due to Hurricane Helene, the Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey team opened the season at home on Friday against Stonehill University. 

The Orange won the game 4-0 in dominant fashion. After an off-season filled with trying to bring in new team members, the Orange came out strong to start the season. 

Sophomore transfer Jackson Kinsler scored the first goal. The goal came just a minute and eight seconds into the game.

“I was so excited; it was really nice to have my team supporting me right from the start,” Kinsler said. 

Photo by Cameron Makey

Stonehill’s Sarah Taylar attempts to defend against Jackson Kinsler as she slices her way toward the goal.

The story of the night was chemistry and depth, as the Orange scored at will and shut out Stonehill. Both of these were question marks for this team from the outside looking in. While these were questions for the media, the team was not concerned. 

“We just have good people in the locker room,” Tatum White said.

While the Orange may have good people in the locker room, they still had to prove it to themselves and everyone else.

“We have a lot of new faces in the locker room, and we really didn’t want that to be the narrative for the season. We wanted to come out and show that we’re a united front,” said head coach Britni Smith.

White also scored the second goal for the Orange, which was only six minutes and 41 seconds into the game. Jessica Cheung assisted White’s goal. 

Syracuse showed tremendous depth, with their second line on the ice for two of the four goals on the night.

“Kudos to that group. They’ve probably been our most consistent group in practice as well,” said Coach Smith. 

The Orange continued with great pace into the second period and scored again 17 minutes into the period. Cheung scored this goal, unassisted, pushing the lead to 3-0. 

Photo by Cameron Makey

The team celebrates their third goal scored by Jessica Cheung.

“Relentless” was the word that Kinsler used to describe the team and the last goal of the night. Maya D’arcy scored the last goal of the night 18 minutes into the third period, pushing the lead to 4-0.

“We battled hard until the end; D’Arcy scored in the last ten minutes; that shows that we’re relentless.” 

Consistency is another thing  Smith is looking for going forward. The Orange will have an opportunity to do it all again on Saturday as they return to Tennity Pavilion at 3 p.m. for another matchup against Stonehill.