women's hockey News - July, 2009 Archive

June 11: The St. Lawrence University women's ice hockey team, fresh off the program's sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, has added a five-player incoming class loaded with speed and talent to the 2009-10 roster.

Apr. 21: The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team has selected for seniors to serve as captains for the 2009-10 season. Tara Akstull will wear the lone "C" for the Scarlet and Brown, fresh off their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Meanwhile, classmates Courtney Sawchuk, Britni Smith and Brittony Chartier will each serve as assistant captains.

"I'm excited about the quartet of seniors that have been voted by the team to captain us in 2009-10," said St. Lawrence head women's hockey coach Chris Wells. "The team will again be led by an outstanding senior group that adds both skill and experience to the locker room."

Akstull has matured into one of the top scoring threats in ECAC Hockey. The Clifton Park, NY native scored 42 points as a sophomore and followed that effort with 32 points during her junior campaign. She will take over for Marianna Locke '09, who served as the lone captain for St. Lawrence this season.

Sawchuk has been a reliable player for St. Lawrence since her arrival on campus. Despite joining the team and playing for two seasons as a forward, she has since made a seamless transition to the blue line and served as one of the team's primary defensemen in 2008-09. She finished her junior year with 11 points on three goals and eight assists.

Apr. 9: ECAC Hockey has announced its 2008-09 Women's Ice Hockey All-Academic Team, with 144 student-athletes earning a spot behind a 3.0+ grade point average. Fourteen members of the St. Lawrence University women's hockey squad landed on the roster, including seniors Marianna Locke and Carson Duggan and juniors Britni Smith and Tara Akstull, who each received the honor for the third straight year.

Locke and Duggan were joined on the All-Academic team by their three fellow classmates, Lisa Batchelor, Jordan Pyers and Alison Domenico. Batchelor is a two-time All-Academic team member having earned a spot last year.

Smith and Akstull have been All-Academic team honorees each of the three seasons they've been at St. Lawrence. Classmate Courtney Sawchuk was honored for the second time, while Brittony Chartier and Becky Street rounded out the Saints' juniors on the squad.

Other St. Lawrence women's hockey players to earn All-Academic honors included sophomore Nikki Bongaerts and first-year students Josee Belanger, Vanessa Emond and Sarianne Lynn.

Apr. 3: St. Lawrence University senior forward Marianna Locke has been named the winner of the 2009 Sarah Devens Award. Given as a joint award between ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, the Devens Award is presented annually to a player who "demonstrates leadership and commitment both on and off the ice."

Each conference submitted a league nominee for consideration. Locke receives a post-graduate scholarship of $10,000, which she plans to use in the fall of 2010.

Locke is the third Saints' student-athlete to receive the Devens Award along with Rachel Barrie (2003) and Lindsay Charlebois (2004). A captain on the ice, she provided leadership and self-sacrifice for the betterment of the Saints' program and her teammates. Locke became the 15th student-athlete in St. Lawrence's history to record 100 career points, while helping the Saints reach four consecutive NCAA tournaments. She ranks in the top five on the Saints' all-time list for power play goals and game-winning goals.

Mar. 12: St. Lawrence University women's hockey captain Marianna Locke has been named ECAC Hockey's nominee for the 2009 Sarah Devens Award. The award, which is a joint honor by ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, is presented annually to a player who demonstrates leadership and commitment both on and off the ice.

Locke would be the third St. Lawrence player to win the prestigious award, whose winner receives a post-graduate scholarship of $10,000. Rachel Barrie and Lindsay Charlebois won the honor in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

"Marianna is truly the consummate student-athlete, as she is a fantastic day-to-day leader who operates with no agenda," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "She has been an ambassador for St. Lawrence University women's hockey not only on campus, but throughout the North Country and ECAC Women's Hockey League."

Locke, a native of Brasher Falls, NY, has been an intricate member of the St. Lawrence University community since her arrival on campus. In her four seasons with the Scarlet and Brown, she became the 15th player in University history to score over 100 career points while helping her teams reach four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. She is a two-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week winner and is in the top-five in school history in both power play and game-winning goals.

Mar. 14: The 2008-09 season came to an end for the No. 8/7 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 3 Mercyhurst Lakers used a barrage of shots on goal and the clutch play of Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award nominee Meghan Agosta to pick up a 3-1 victory in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals in Erie, PA. St. Lawrence was anchored by junior netminder Brittony Chartier, who turned in a dazzling 41-save performance.

Mercyhurst moved to 30-5-0 with the victory and will face the winner of the Minnesota/Boston College quarterfinal in Boston, MA next weekend. St. Lawrence's season comes to an end with a final mark of 24-11-3 after playing in the program's seventh NCAA Tournament.

The tone of the opening stanza was set immediately, as both St. Lawrence's Alley Bero and Merychurt's Jesse Scanzano had good bids on very first shift. The up-tempo pace remained throughout the 20 minutes, with the home team causing turnovers in their opponent's zone that led to several early scoring opportunities.

Mar. 7: The Dartmouth College Big Green, seeded third in the ECAC Hockey Tournament, advanced to the conference championship game with an impressive 5-2 victory over second-seeded St. Lawrence on Saturday evening at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, MA. Dartmouth (19-9-4) used a three-goal first period en route to a 5-0 lead, and the Big Green will now square off with Rensselaer for the league's automatic berth into the 2009 NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

St. Lawrence (24-10-3), which swept Dartmouth during the regular season, must now wait until Sunday evening to see if they are granted an at-large spot into the eight-team NCAA Tournament that begins next weekend.

Dartmouth's Reagan Fischer wasted little time in getting her team on the scoreboard, as she beat St. Lawrence netminder Brittony Chartier at 2:25 of the opening period to put her team on top 1-0. Sarah Toupal was credited with an assist on the tally.

The Big Green weren't near finished in the first, though, as they scored twice in a span of 1:59 to take a commanding 3-0 lead through 20 minutes of hockey. Shannon Bowman lit the lamp on the power play at 14:22, while Kelly Foley followed with a breakaway goal at 16:41 to cap the first period scoring and give Dartmouth all of the momentum.

Mar. 4: St. Lawrence University senior assistant captain Alison Domenico has been selected as ECAC Hockey's "Best Defensive Forward" for 2009, receiving one of the conference's major awards. Domenico was also named a Second Team All-League forward, joining junior defenseman Britni Smith on that squad.

Domenico is second on the roster with 36 points on 15 goals and a team-high 21 assists. Despite having scored 139 collegiate points in 151 games, the Nepean, ON native is known more for her defensive prowess as she has become an avid shot-blocker and penalty killer during her tenure with the Scarlet and Brown. Her Second Team All-League selection was the first all-conference honors for Domenico.

"Ali (Domenico) is such a deserving recipient of this award as it truly signifies the way she plays the game," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "She is such a gritty player on both ends of the ice and sacrifices herself defensively each and every game."

Meanwhile, Smith is also a first time All-Conference honoree having earned a slot at defense on the Second Team. The Port Perry, ON native is in the midst of a career-best season having already set new collegiate-highs in both goals (8) and points (21) while matcher her career-high in assists (13). Smith has been a durable force on the blue line, playing in each of the team's 36 games this year while tallying four power play goals and two game-winning tallies.

Feb. 28: Senior assistant captain Carson Duggan achieved another career milestone on Saturday afternoon, as the Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native scored two goals to bring her collegiate total to 101, tying Brian MacFarlane '55 for the most in St. Lawrence University history. Though Duggan provided the offense, junior goaltender Brittony Chartier helped close the door on Clarkson, making 37 saves to help sweep the Golden Knights out of the 2009 ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals.

St. Lawrence, who is the No. 2 seed in this year's conference tournament, improved to 24-9-3 (16-5-1) on the year while Clarkson's season comes to an end with a mark of 16-14-6 (10-8-4). The Scarlet and Brown advance to the semifinals for the sixth consecutive year and will face Dartmouth College at 4:00pm on Saturday, March 7 at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center. The top-seeded Harvard Crimson advanced to the semifinals by sweeping Cornell and will play Rensselaer who upset the No. 3 seed Princeton at 1:00pm on Saturday. The ECAC Hockey finals will be played on Sunday, March 8 at 2:00pm.

"Carson (Duggan) continued to do what she has done for four seasons with our program, which is scoring goals when they matter most," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "She's such a great competitor and for her to reach Brian MacFarlane's goal record truly demonstrates what a gifted player she is."

Feb. 27: The 716 fans at Appleton Arena were treated to a fantastic hockey game on Friday night, as the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team came from two goals down with under four minutes to play in regulation to force overtime where they picked up a 4-3 win over Clarkson University in game one of their best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series. First-year student Vanessa Emond scored the overtime game-winner, while junior Karell Emard and senior Alison Domenico helped send the game to the extra session.

The No. 2 seeded Saints (23-9-3, 16-5-1) entered the third period trailing 2-1 despite outshooting the No. 7 seeded Golden Knights (16-13-6, 10-8-4) by a solid 21-14 margin. The home team improved to 2-9-3 on the year when trailing after two periods, while the loss was the first for Clarkson when leading after 40 minutes (12-1-4).

"I thought it was a great game, and we are very fortunate to come out with a 1-0 lead in the series," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells, who earned his first career playoff victory. "Brittony (Chartier) made a huge save to keep the score at 3-1 and we provided some offense down the stretch to claw our way back into it. You have to tip your hat to Clarkson though, as they had us on our heels."