The difference between three points and one for Syracuse this past weekend against Niagara was hesitation. Twice.

The Orange had opportunities for a shot on an open net twice in the final minute of regulation in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Purple Eagles. Casey Hirsch waited a split second too long to shoot and a Niagara defenseman got in the way. Just seconds later, Holly Carrie-Mattimoe had an open net, but she also struggled to locate the puck, hesitated and was knocked off the puck.

‘Monday’s practice we worked a lot on like battling, battling in front, one-on-ones and stuff like that, bearing down on our chances,’ said Carrie-Mattimoe, a forward. ‘So we just got to make sure that happens in a game, and when we get those chances we have to capitalize on them.’

These weren’t the only opportunities when SU (8-15-3, 0-3-3 College Hockey America) squandered against the Purple Eagles. Syracuse time and time again was unable to capitalize on odd-man rushes, largely because of indecisiveness as to whether the Orange skaters should shoot or pass. For SU to come away with some points Friday and Saturday against Quinnipiac (14-9-2, 10-4-2 Eastern College Athletic Conference) in Hamden, Conn., Syracuse is working to finish its scoring chances.

But for the Orange to do that, it needs to break old habits. All season, SU has struggled on two-on-ones. Delayed decision making and too much of a pass-first mentality have slowed down Syracuse’s offense.

The stats reflect it. Carrie-Mattimoe is the lone SU skater with double-digit goals.

Yet two players do have at least 10 assists and four more have at least eight. SU coach Paul Flanagan is no stranger to this issue.

‘Christmas is over, so the season of giving is over,’ Flanagan said. ‘ … I’ve coached women for 13 years now, and there is a tendency to think that they want to pass the puck first, and we’ve got to get away from that.’

The best way to break bad habits is repetition of the better, newer ones. That’s just what Flanagan has been doing with his team in practice this week. Odd-man rushes are a focus in practice every week, but this week the coach has made it an even greater emphasis.

‘For the first like 45 minutes of practice (Tuesday), we did two-on-ones, two-on-twos, three-on-twos, so we’re just trying to go over that, get repetition and make sure that happens during the game,’ Carrie-Mattimoe said. ‘ … Usually we do it a couple times each week, but I think we’ve been really focused on it this week.’

As for making his team more decisive, Flanagan hopes to solve that by focusing more on emulating game situations in practice.

Instead of the flow drills that populate many in ice hockey practice, Flanagan has spent practice trying to help his players make better split-second decisions. He hopes that by forcing the players to make these snap choices for the first time in practice, they will be better equipped to make them in game situations.

‘In terms of what we do in practice is focus on situations in practice. Don’t just come to practice and try to get through it,’ Flanagan said. ‘When you’re here, just focus in on the task at hand and a little bit more specificity. Really bear down on things and the little parts of your game because we should know our systems, and we should be in condition at this point in time.

‘We’re trying to create through our drills a certain type of muscle memory.’

Finishing its opportunities may not be the only issue Syracuse has. The Orange totaled 28 penalty minutes last weekend and allowed the game-winning goal Saturday with two skaters in the penalty box.

Syracuse may be able to learn some things from its opponent as well. Quinnipiac is the least penalized team in the country and makes 10 percent of its shots. The Orange shoots just 8.5 percent, a statistic it needs to improve this weekend in its final two nonconference matches to give SU a chance to finally get a win in one of its final six CHA games.

‘(We need to) focus on playing 60 minutes and playing 60 minutes both games,’ Carrie-Mattimoe said. ‘And really just taking that momentum into next weekend where we’re in a conference matchup.’

dbwilson@syr.edu