By Thomas Baldwin
Perhaps it was destiny that they would meet yet again.
It is tournament time, and the Niagara and Syracuse women’s hockey teams meet for the fifth time this season on Friday in a semifinal of the College Hockey America Tournament in Detroit at 7 p.m.
“We’re excited, obviously, to be part of it,” rookie Niagara coach Chris McKenzie said. “Playoff time is the best time of the year. We want to have a good game against Syracuse.”
The Purple Eagles — who finished 7-6-3 in CHA action and 12-13-5 overall — enter as the No. 2 seed while the Orangemen (8-8-0 CHA, 17-16-1 overall) are seeded third.
The two clubs split the season series with two victories apiece, but Niagara finished with 17 points in league play and edged out Syracuse (16 points) for second place.
The Purple Eagles and Orangemen split a series in Syracuse on November 6 and 7 and also split two games at Dwyer Arena in early February.
Talk about close?
In the eight all-time games played between the two schools, six have been one-goal games and two have been ties.
“Absolutely, it sure will be,” McKenzie said about expecting another close game on Friday.
One key to the game — as it has been all season for the Purple Eagles — is the play of goaltender Jenni Bauer, who was sensational in the regular season. She started every game and recorded a stingy 2.19 goals against average and a very good .918 save percentage.
For Niagara, a lot could be riding on how Bauer performs in this tourney.
“She has played well for us all year,” McKenzie said. “She works hard in practice, and that is why she is consistent. We will need her to be good ... as always. That’s it.”
The good news for Niagara is it won four of its last six — the bad news is the Purple Eagles had last week off and have not played since splitting a series against Robert Morris Feb. 19-20.
“It is definitely a brand new season,” McKenzie said. “We have had a pretty decent record recently, but we have also had a week off. We will probably be a little rusty in the first period, but hopefully we will get stronger as the game and the tournament goes on.”
The Orangemen were swept by top-ranked Mercyhurst last weekend. The big gun for Syracuse is freshman Isabel Menard, who led the league with 34 points and her club with 20 assists.
Top-seed Mercyhurst will play No. 5 Robert Morris at 3 p.m. on Friday. If the Purple Eagles advance past Syracuse, the will play for the league championship at 5 p.m. Saturday.
