Ferrara Fires Orange Past Wildcats

DURHAM, N.H.- Senior captain Nicole Ferrara registered the eventual game-winning goal and an assist for the Syracuse women's ice hockey team against New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon, leading the Orange to a 3-2 win over the Wildcats.

The win for Syracuse (1-2-0) was its first of the season and the Orange did not trail once in the contest. Ferrara had the primary assist on the second Syracuse goal before putting New Hampshire (0-3-0) away with a score midway through the third frame.

"After having to sit out 20 months with an injury, it is great to have Nicole and her competitive edge
back," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "She led by example today. She not only had the game-winning goal and a helper, but she blocked a lot of shots defensively."

Although the Orange was outshot 17-15 in the game, Syracuse utilized a strong performance from senior goaltender Jenn Gilligan in between the pipes. Gilligan made the return to the Whittemore Center to face her former squad, securing 15 total saves to help Syracuse prevail.

"Jenn was motivated with the return here and I think she handled it very well," Flanagan said. "She made some big saves on quality chances. She did a lot of things that aren't shown on the stat sheet to help us get the win today."

The Orange got its offense going quickly, starting five minutes into the first frame as sophomore Emily Costales netted her first goal of the season to put Syracuse up by one. The goal from Costales stood up for the entirety of the first, taking the Orange into the second period with a 1-0 lead.

After a New Hampshire penalty midway through the second frame, the Orange took advantage of the power play by scoring its second goal. Working the puck around the Wildcats' offensive zone, junior Heather Schwarz accepted a pass from Ferrara to bury a shot past UNH goaltender Kyra Smith. It looked like the Orange were in form to pull away, but the Wildcats eventually found an answer.

Amy Schlagel put New Hampshire on the board with under three minutes left in the second to cut the Orange lead back to one after two periods. With the Orange holding a one-goal lead, Ferrara found the back of the net by ripping a shot top shelf to beat Smith. Despite UNH scoring a power-play goal at the 13:15 mark in the final frame, Ferrara's goal iced the game to give the Orange the win.

Syracuse will have the week off before getting back on the road for its next game when the team takes on UConn on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Live stats can be accessed via Cuse.com.