By Matthew Gray

MOON TOWNSHIP, P.A. — This past weekend served as a test of endurance for the Syracuse Men's Hockey team (9-10-4), as it opened a seven-game road trip with three tilts in three days against two different opponents. The Orange started the weekend strong with a sound 5-3 victory over ACCHL North rival Oswego (10-10-1) Thursday, then grabbed a point in a 5-4 shootout loss to Robert Morris (10-11-1) the following night. SU returned to the RMU Island Sports Complex on Saturday in hopes of splitting the series, but instead left with a 4-2 defeat to the Colonials.

Syracuse couldn't have asked for a much better start to the weekend in Oswego. Both teams came out firing on all cylinders in the opening period and exchanged dangerous offensive chances, but it was the Orange who eventually drew first blood. Just over 15 minutes into the frame, Ben Brant notched the game's first goal and Bradley Parker followed it up with one of his own at the 18:59 mark. Bradley's goal was his first of his ACHA career playing in his debut for the Orange after transferring to SU following the fall semester.

The Lakers showed some pushback to start the second period by firing home a power-play strike 47 seconds in, but the Orange didn't let the setback shake their offensive mindset. As the period went on, SU continued to relentlessly put pucks on net and was rewarded with three more goals in the span of 3:26 off the sticks of Jack Duffy, Nathan McLean and Tanner Cole. Now comfortably ahead by a 5-1 margin over halfway through the contest, SU held Oswego to only two goals down the stretch with some help from goalie AJ Finta's 27-save performance between the pipes.

After making the trip to Western Pennsylvania, the Orange picked up where they left off in their first meeting of the season with the Colonials in front of a packed crowd. Just when it seemed like the two teams were headed to the first intermission tied 0-0, Brendan Duffy made the most of a sloppy RMU turnover and lit the lamp with 13 seconds left on the clock. 

Out of the break, SU continued to push the pace of the game offensively. After a scoreless first half of the frame, Syracuse doubled its lead courtesy of a turnaround shot by Kade Cook that trickled past the goaltender at the 10:10 mark. Then, SU captain Connor Chesner grew its cushion to 3-0 by potting the Orange's second late-period tally of the night — this time scoring with 14 ticks remaining. 

Taking a comfortable lead into the third and holding all the game's momentum, it seemed like Syracuse was set to cruise to another win. But RMU had other plans. 

After it saw its deficit cut to 3-1 early in the frame, Syracuse restored its three-goal lead with a Jack Wren breakaway goal 6:32 into the period. Still, it wasn't enough to discourage the Colonials from mounting a comeback. In a 4:31 span, Robert Morris rattled off three unanswered goals to knot the game at four and force overtime. After a scoreless five-minute stretch that saw the SU outshoot RMU 10-2, the Colonials went on to take the thrilling contest in a shootout. RMU goaltender Patrick Colbourn had 61 saves in the contest as the Orange outshot the Colonials 65-26.

Looking to put the tough loss in the rearview mirror, Syracuse didn't have to wait long to strike first in its third and final game of the weekend. 2:40 into play, Robby Cibotti started SU off on the right foot with a goal from the left side of the blue line that deflected off an RMU player and into the back of the net. But similar to the night before, Robert Morris punched right back with three straight tallies of its own to take a 3-1 edge into the second period. 

After a silent 20 minutes for the Orange, they made a final push to even the contest in the third period by putting up 16 shots on goal compared to RMU's 9. Chesner broke through 16:20 into the period to move SU within one, but a series of costly penalties prevented it from finding the tying goal in the final minutes. A late Colonial power-play strike cemented their 4-2 victory. Again, the Orange outshot the Colonials by a heavy margin - hanging 50 shots on goal to RMU's 28.

The Orange continue their lengthy road trip in Delaware, where they'll face the Fightin' Blue Hens in an ACC North matchup on Friday at 6:15 pm and Saturday at 5:30 pm.

All home games are held at the Tennity Ice Pavilion on Syracuse University's campus and are free for students and the general public. Home games are also streamed live on the SU Hockey Network.