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Last season, Syracuse hockey had its worst finish in program history. The Orange won just seven games and missed the College Hockey America playoffs for the first-time ever. SU is just two years removed from its second CHA championship title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

There have been notable developments off the ice for Syracuse since it last played in February. In April, the CHA merged with the Atlantic Hockey Association to form a new league: Atlantic Hockey America. The league contains the same six teams that occupied the CHA (Syracuse, Mercyhurst, Penn State, RIT, Robert Morris and Lindenwood), but plans are in place to add Delaware ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Entering the 2024-25 campaign, the Orange return just one of their top five scorers from last year. Tatum White is set to lead SU’s offense after losing Darci Johal and Kate Holmes. In 2023-24, Johal led the Orange with 24 points while Holmes was not too far behind, with 21.

Syracuse also has been forced to restructure its defense after the departures of its top two defenders, Rachel Teslak and Alexandria Weiss. SU will also continue to rely on Allie Kelley at goalie after she provided stability in net last season.

Hailey Hoang | Design Editor

Ahead of Syracuse’s season, here’s what to know as it enters its third year under head coach Britni Smith:

Schedule breakdown

SU begins the season with a weekend road series against No. 9 Minnesota Duluth, then returns home to face Stonehill for two games. The Orange then face No. 7 St. Lawrence on Oct. 8 before three straight weekend series against RPI, Quinnipiac and Boston University.

Syracuse opens conference play when it visits the defending CHA champion Penn State from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. PSU outscored SU 16-7 last season, and won three of four matchups.

Scattered within Syracuse’s schedule is a home-and-home series against No. 4 Colgate from Nov. 29-30, and a single home game against No. 6 Cornell on Jan. 14. In the same three games last season, the Orange were outscored 28-0.

SU plays every CHA team four times each, twice at home and twice on the road. It wraps up the regular season with two games against Mercyhurst on Feb. 14-15. Last season, the Orange needed to pull out two wins against the Lakers to try and sneak into the postseason. Mercyhurst swept Syracuse and knocked it out of the CHA playoffs.

With a nonconference schedule loaded with elite opponents, Syracuse will have to rely heavily on winning its CHA games to make the NCAA Tournament. The last time SU defeated a ranked opponent was a 4-2 win over then-No. 9 Robert Morris on Jan. 6, 2018. The Orange have lost 49 straight games against ranked opponents.

Offensive additions

After so many significant losses in the offseason, SU’s offensive unit will look vastly different this season. Syracuse’s remaining graduate students White and Bryn Saarela, an incoming transfer from Holy Cross, will lead its attack.

White is coming off a career-best season, finishing with six goals and 14 assists. Her best performance came in a 4-4 tie at Boston University on Oct. 20, 2023, when she notched three assists to help the Orange steal a point from the Terriers.

As for Saarela, she joins Syracuse after spending four seasons at Holy Cross, where she recorded 21 goals and 31 assists. In each year with the Crusaders, Saarela was one of their top-three scorers.

In an effort to fill the gap that players like Johal and Sarah Thompson left behind, SU’s offense has added five freshmen forwards. Stella Costabile’s resume suggests that she may be the most ready of any freshman to contribute.

The Belmar, New Jersey, native has spent the past eight seasons with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. Costabile competed in the USA Hockey National Championships at the Girls Tier I U19 level in her last season with the Jr. Flyers before committing to the Orange.

Previewing the defense

Similar to Syracuse’s offense, its defense also lost two key cogs with the departure of Teslak and Weiss. The two combined for 42 points in 2023-24, and were the least penalized of the defense.

The defense has just three returners from last season, in Maya D’Arcy, Jocelyn Fiala and Charlotte Hallett. The trio combined for 89 penalty minutes last season, far more than Teslak and Weiss’ 28 minutes. The remainder of SU’s defensive core has been brought in through transfers and freshmen.

New Hampshire transfer Charli Kettyle will provide a veteran presence on defense. Kettyle is no stranger to playing on the biggest stage. Before spending four seasons with New Hampshire, the Perth, Ontario, native played with Team Canada at the 2020 U18 World Championship. She also led U18 Team Ontario to a gold medal at the National Championship the same year.

Division III transfer Klára Jandušíková and Mercyhurst transfer Sami Gendron joined the unit as well, along with freshmen Jessica Cheung, Celia Wiegand and Laura Leitner.

SU’s goalie room

Kelley was one of the lone bright spots for Syracuse last season, and will return as its starter. The graduate student set a school record in single-game saves with 65 in Syracuse’s 6-3 loss versus St. Lawrence on Jan. 16, 2024. At the same time, Kelley managed to remain solid in net, with a save percentage just above .900 despite facing 40.4 shots per game.

In the backup role, the Orange retained Bella Gould, but lost Amelia Van Vliet. Gould saw action just once as a freshman last year when she came in during the final moments of a 12-0 loss against Colgate on Jan. 9, 2024.

Syracuse also picked up sophomore Maïka Paquin, a D-III transfer from Nazareth University. Paquin started four games for Nazareth in 2023-24, posting a .960 save percentage with two shutouts. With Kelley leading the unit, Gould and Paquin serve as quality depth in the crease.

Published on September 18, 2024 at 11:42 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu