'Cuse at #3 Penn State AHA Semifinals Preview

Syracuse at #3 Penn State: February 27 (6 p.m.) | February 28 (3 p.m.) | March 1, if necessary (3 p.m.)

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Puck Drop
- Syracuse travels to No. 3 Penn State for a best-of-three semifinal series at Pegula Ice Arena. A high stakes win or go home series for both teams in the playoffs.
- 'Cuse has not beaten the Nittany Lions since January 19, 2024. The Orange faced Penn State four times this season falling in each game.
- Syracuse needs to win two games on Penn State's home ice to continue in the AHA playoffs, a feat that hasn't been done since 2018.
- Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 3 p.m. on Sunday if necessary. All games will be streamed on BIG+.

Three Orange Skaters Earn AHA Weekly Awards (2/24)
– Syracuse University women's ice hockey team earned three AHA Player of the Week awards with Peyton Armstrong, Sami Gendron, and Jordan Blouin earning Forward of the Week, Defenseman of the Week, and Rookie of the Week. The Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) announced its weekly awards on Tuesday afternoon.
- A Bancroft, Ontario, native, Armstrong earned Forward of the Week after her four-point performance during Saturday's win at RIT. The sophomore contributed to every Syracuse scoring play with two goals and two assists, matching her career high of four points previously set against RIT earlier this season. This is Armstrong's second AHA Forward of the Week award this season.
- Senior Gendron earned her second career AHA Defenseman of the Week award for her two-assist performance versus the Tigers. The Rockland, Ontario, defenseman led all blueliners this weekend in points and contributed three blocks defensively on defense.
- Freshman forward Blouin earned her first career AHA weekly award winning Rookie of the Week. The Calgary, Alberta, forward had a goal and two assists in Saturday's game tying her career-high of three points.

Syracuse in the Winter Olympics
- Syracuse women's ice hockey was represented across three different nations, USA, Canada and Japan.
- Two Orange alum and current head coach Britni Smith competed in Milan for gold in this year's Olympic Winter Games. Melissa Piacentini '16 as Team USA's Video Coach, Smith as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada, and Akane Hosoyamada '15 played for Team Japan making her third Winter Olympics appearance.
- USA finished 4-0 in the preliminary group round outscoring opponents 20-1 over the four matches. Including a 5-0 win over Canada to finish the group stage. The US have not given up a goal in playoff matches defeating Italy 6-0 in the Quarterfinals and Sweden 5-0 in the Semifinals. In a wild finish, USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to secure the US's third ever gold medal in women's ice hockey.
- Canada went 3-1 in group pool-play, with the only loss coming from USA. But despite the loss, Canada was dominant in pool play outscoring opponents 14-1 in its three pool play wins. Canada allowed only two goals so far in playoff contention while defeating Germany 5-1 in the Quarterfinals and Switzerland 2-1 in the Semifinals. Despite a late equalizer in the third, Canada could not hold off the US and finished with silver in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- Japan finished 1-3 in Group B, the lone win coming from a 3-2 victory over France. Unfortunately, Hosoyamada and Japan will not continue into the quarterfinals as the team failed to qualify and finished in ninth place.

The AHA Playoffs Are Here
- This is the second weekend of the Atlantic Hockey America Tournament. Four teams are left to compete for the automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship tournament.
- Syracuse earned the No. 5 seed finishing with a conference record of 10-11-3 and 33 AHA points. The other seeds are No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Mercyhurst, No. 3 Lindenwood, No. 4 RIT, No. 6 Robert Morris, and No. 7 Delaware.
- The first round featured the two lowest seeds Robert Morris and Delaware in a play-in-game, in which Robert Morris defeated Delaware in overtime to advance. Robert Morris then faced Lindenwood, with the Lions coming out on top over the Colonials 3-1. Syracuse traveled to RIT and in a double overtime thriller the Orange prevailed beating the Tigers 4-3.
- Lindenwood and Syracuse now face the top two seeds that earned byes to the semifinals, Penn State and Mercyhurst. The Lions are making a trip to Erie, Pennsylvania to take on the No. 12 Lakers. 'Cuse travels to University Park, Pennsylvania to play the No. 3 Nittany Lions. The semifinals are a best-of-three series.
- The AHA Championship game will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on March 7 to determine the winner of the AHA and will receive the automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey tournament.