No. 3 Clarkson Outlasts No. 7 Saints 4-1 in ECAC Hockey Opener

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Whit Haynes '10
First-year student Michelle Ng scored her second goal of the season at Clarkson.

Oct. 27: The No. 7 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team dropped its 2009-10 ECAC Hockey regular season opener on Tuesday night to North Country rival Clarkson University at Cheel Arena by the score of 4-1.  First-year student Michelle Ng scored her second goal in as many games, while junior assistant captain Brittony Chartier made 23 saves while allowing two goals.

The Golden Knights moved to 7-1-1 (1-0-0) on the year, while the Saints, who played without veteran skaters Kirsten Roach and Michelle Zimmerman due to injury, dropped to 2-2-1 (0-1-0).  The Saints were within striking distance, trailing 2-1 in the final minutes, but a pair of empty-net goals by Clarkson's Dominique Thibault put the game away for Clarkson.

St. Lawrence looked sharp in the early-going and controlled the play throughout the first 10:00 minutes of the game while having all of the scoring chances on Clarkson goalie Lauren Dahm.  Though the Golden Knights were held without a shot on goal, they made their first one count as Gabrielle Kosziwka made it 1-0 on her team's first shot on Chartier at 12:54 of the first period.  After the visiting team turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Kosziwka sent a slap shot towards Chartier that deflected off of a Saint defender and bounced in front of and over Chartier's leg pad for her first goal of the season.

The goal gave the Knights the momentum and earned the majority of shots in the remainder of the period.  However, Chartier came up with several crucial saves to keep it a one-goal deficit after 20:00 minutes of action.

Ng would level the score 1-1 only 2:12 into the second period for St. Lawrence.  The Milton, MA native, who scored her first career goal against UNH on Saturday, banked in a rebound off of a shot from senior assistant captain Courtney Sawchuk to knot the game early in the stanza.  Junior Karell Emard, who played in her first game of the season due to an injury, picked up an assist on the goal as well.

The Golden Knights would respond in style only 17 seconds after Ng tied it to regain a one-goal cushion at 2-1.  After Clarkson's Britney Selina won a face-off to Chartier's left in the St. Lawrence zone, Melissa Waldie hit Kali Gillanders in the slot for a backhanded wrist shot on net.  The bid seemed to fool Chartier, as it slipped through her pads for Gillanders' first goal of the season at 2:29.

The remaining portion of the second period belonged to the goaltenders, as Chartier finished with a game-high nine saves in the period while Dahm made six stops.  The home team's goalie made her best save of the night on a point-blank wrist shot by first-year student Kayla Sullivan which kept Clarkson ahead 2-1 entering the final frame.

The Knights did a great job of protecting Dahm in the third period, as they blocked shot after shot by the Saints along the perimeter throughout the stanza.  With a faceoff to Dahm's left and the Knights' forwards having been on the ice for an extended shift, Coach Wells opted to pull Chartier with 3:48 left in regulation for the extra attacker in hopes of netting the tying goal.  The move backfired, as a St. Lawrence turnover in the neutral zone allowed Thibault to score an empty net goal from mid-ice at 16:48 to extend Clarkson's advantage to 3-1.  Thibault would add another empty net goal to bring the game to its final score of 4-1 exactly one minute later.

First-year defenseman Brooke Fernandez had a stand-out game for the Scarlet and Brown, as she showed both explosive speed in transition as well as great poke-checking skills against the nation's 4th-ranked offense.

Chartier closed with 23 saves in the contest including eight in the third period, while Dahm earned the win with eight saves of her own in the final period to bring her game total to 17.  Neither the Saints (0-for-4) nor Golden Knights (0-for-2) were able to score a power play goal, with Clarkson finishing with the advantage in shots, 27-18.

St. Lawrence will be in action again this weekend at Appleton Arena when they welcome Yale University and Brown University for a pair of conference games.  The Saints will face the Bulldogs at 4:00pm on Friday afternoon, then the Bears at 3:00pm on Saturday.