Women's Ice Hockey Picks Up First Win of Season Over Providence

Goals from Brooke Avery and Kelli Rowswell, coupled with spectacular play from goaltender Abbey Miller, secured a narrow 2-1 victory for the Orange (1-3-1, 0-0-0 CHA) over the Providence Friars (3-2-0, 1-0-0 HE), its first of the season.

Syracuse came out in the first period aggressive, applying consistent forecheck on the Friars' players. With 26 seconds remaining in the period, Kelli Rowswell opened the scoring for the Orange off a broken play in front of the net. The right winger was given just enough room to take a shot right in front of the crease, and she made no mistake, beating Providence goalie Madison Myers glove side.

"Early in the game, our game plan was to get it by their [defense], make the D retreat, make them work and hem them in [Providence's zone]," said Orange head coach Paul Flanagan following the victory. "We were doing a good job, and it was effective."

Syracuse looked to double its lead in the last few ticks of the period as Victoria Klimek had a breakaway and tried to fake out Myers, but she kicked out her right pad to make the save.

Orange goalie Abbey Miller would not be outdone by her counterpart, however, making multiple miraculous saves in the game, including a cross-crease stop less than four minutes into the game to keep the contest scoreless.

"We came in today with a lot of confidence after competing with the number one team in the country [last weekend]. I think that gave us a lot of confidence going into today's game," Miller said. "I think we need to keep building on that confidence and keep it going for the rest of the season.

Syracuse outshot Providence 15-7 in the first period, over the next two periods combined, the Friars outshot the Orange 25-9 and controlled play.

"Coming into the second period, [Providence] seemed like a much more motivated team," Flanagan said. "We got away from the things we did really well in the first period, and we scored that second goal and go up 2-0. After 40 minutes our club thought they had the game in the bag...I thought we got dominated in the third period."

Brooke Avery scored the game winning goal with 2:59 remaining in the second period off a rebound in front of the net. The initial shot went off the post, and she was in front of the crease to finish the play.

A special goal for Avery, scoring her seventh career goal in what was her 100th career game.

"To be honest I didn't think about [the milestone]," Avery said. "It's a cool feeling. I'm really excited and I'm glad to be here. I'll keep that in the back of my head for now."