Ice Hockey

Sibley earns trust from Flanagan despite recent scoring slump

Bryan Cereijo|Staff Photographer

Despite scoring only one game this season, SU head coach Paul Flanagan has showed trust in Jessica Sibley to come up big in clutch situations.

When the game is on the line, head coach Paul Flanagan turns to sophomore first-line center Jessica Sibley.

When Syracuse was down, 2-1, on Oct. 19 against Connecticut and only 13 seconds were remaining in the game, Flanagan trusted Sibley to take the deciding faceoff despite the fact that she had lost one in the offensive zone with an empty net a minute earlier.

Sibley won the draw and moved the puck back to forward Alysha Burriss before crashing the net. Burriss put a shot on goal and Sibley tipped it in as the buzzer sounded to tie the game.

“If she’s rested, she’s the first one I go to,” Flanagan said, referring to sending Sibley onto the ice for power plays, penalty kills and critical game situations.

Even though she’s only a sophomore, Sibley’s skills have cemented her as one of Syracuse’s (1-3-4) top players this season. She has developed into a mature team leader that Flanagan can rely on. On the season, Sibley has recorded one goal and three assists.



“Her leadership in the locker room and on the bench is big,” senior forward Allie LaCombe said, “and then obviously on the ice, she’s a wonderful player. She makes the good shots, the good passes. She makes things happen.”

SU’s offense has struggled to produce goals this year, but when it does, Sibley often has a hand in the play.

Against Providence on Oct. 18, she assisted on all three of SU’s goals. A day later, she netted the game-tying goal. She was named the College Hockey America Player of the Week for her performances.

“It’s always a good accomplishment to get awarded for your hard work, so it was nice because we had a good weekend as a team,” Sibley said.

Flanagan describes her as a “prototypical power forward” who is big, strong and clears a path when she’s heading down the ice. Sibley is one of the most skilled players on the team, junior forward Melissa Piacentini said, adding that she has good hands, makes smart plays and has great vision.

She is well-rounded and good in the defensive zone too, Flanagan said, and that her low scoring numbers aren’t an indication of how well she’s been playing.

Because she logs a lot of ice time, she needs to be more judicious about the work she puts in during the games, Flanagan said, adding that she doesn’t always need to go all out on the forecheck.

On the bench, Sibley will talk to the players about what they can do differently and how to improve, LaCombe said.

Sibley’s usual linemates don’t think she plays or acts like an underclassman and said the players on the team respect her maturity.

“I’m shy so I try to work hard on the ice, give pats on the back, do the little things,” Sibley said.

Sibley has proven herself as irreplaceable in her two years with the Orange. But in 2014, she hasn’t been the same scorer she was in 2013 when she finished third on the team with 26 points.

She’s a scorer, everyone agrees. But even if the goals aren’t coming, she is still valuable and still the same player that Flanagan relies on.

Said Flanagan: “If we didn’t have her — if she were on the shelf — that’s a tough void to fill.”





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