Thursday was not a great day for Syracuse Orange sports and its fans. First, men’s basketball once again fell to the Duke Blue Devilsthen Syracuse Ice Hockey did not fare well against the Quinnipiac Bobcats in their NCAA Tournament opener.

While we’ve all focused a lot on Buddy Boeheim and his motley crew of teammates, it’s time to take one last look at the ice this season.

The Orange traveled to Columbus Ohio on Thursday for the NCAA Regional Semifinal. It was the program’s second appearance in the tournament, following a big overtime win at home against Mercyhurst. Syracuse beat the Lakers 3-2 in front of a sold-out crowd at Tennity Rink and won the College Hockey America Championship. It was this moment that won them the trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Quinnipiac Bobcats didn’t allow a single shot to pass them, but unfortunately the Orange didn’t have the same effect on their opponent.

The Orange totaled 16 shots on goal with Victoria Klimek leading 4 shots on goal, and four other players with 2 shots on Quinnipiac goalkeeper Corinne Schroeder. Syracuse couldn’t beat Schroeder, who is one of three finalists for the Women’s Goaltender of the Year award.

On the other side of the ice, Syracuse goaltender Arielle DeSmet made 26 saves on Quinnipiac’s 30 shots she faced. After a scoreless first period, the Bobcats took the lead for good on Taylor House’s goal. Sadie Peart made it 2-0 at Quinnipiac five minutes later and the Bobcats added two more insurance goals in the third period.

Both teams finished the game 0-3 on power play chances, but Quinnipiac controlled the face-offs. Lauren Bellefontaine led the Orange with a 9-20 performance but one of her Taylor House from Quinnipiac outshot 13-17 in the circle.

Syracuse faced a tough team in Ohio on Thursday, unable to get past the Bobcats defense. They finished the regular season 15-10-6 and with a conference record of 11-4-1. Their season is over and several key players will need to be replaced, but we’ll see if this season’s success will push the Orange to their first NCAA victory in the near future.