Saints, Big Red Play to 2-2 Draw
by:
Whit Haynes '10Senior asst. captain Courtney Sawchuk scored her first goal of the season against Cornell.
Jan. 29: The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team's return to Appleton Arena proved to be an exciting one as the Saints, playing at home for the first time in 2010, played to a 2-2 draw with Cornell University on Friday night in Canton, NY.
St. Lawrence picked up its seventh tie of the 2009-10 season, which is the most in University history to see its record move to 11-8-7 (7-4-3) on the season. Meanwhile, Cornell, which is in second place in the ECAC Hockey standings, moves to 10-7-5 (9-1-5) on the season.
"Tonight's game had a playoff atmosphere thanks to two evenly-matched teams," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells. "Both teams had a few great scoring chances in overtime as neither team was willing to settle for the tie. Brittony (Chartier) made a big save on a 3-on-1 and (Amanda) Mazzotta answered with a save on a 2-on-1 bid."
The Saints had the upper hand throughout the first period, as they won battles along the boards and picked up several solid scoring chances. The Scarlet and Brown finally cashed in at 18:04 on the power play, when senior assistant captain Britni Smith ripped a shot from inside the blue line that bounced off of a Cornell Skate and inside the right post behind Mazzotta for a 1-0 lead. The unassisted goal was the Port Perry, ON native's 8th of the season and gave the home team the advantage after one period of play.
Anchoring the Saints' defense in the opening period was senior goalie Maxie Weisz, who turned in a perfect seven-save outing to keep the Big Red's offense off of the scoreboard. Mazzotta matched Weisz's effort with seven saves as well.
Cornell would regroup at intermission and was able to control much of the offense in the second stanza. Though Weisz continued to play well by turning in eight more stops, Laura Fortino would score her 8th of the season to tie the game at 1-1 at the 7:58 mark of the period. Fortino took a centering pass in the slot from Hayley Hughes and fired a shot on Weisz. Though the goaltender made the initial save, the rebound came right back to Fortino's stick and she scored to even the game after 40:00 minutes of action.
Senior assistant captain Courtney Sawchuk made her first goal of the season count, as she gave St. Lawrence its lead back at 2-1 midway through the third period. The Sherwood Park, AB native snapped a wrist shot from inside the right circle that beat a screened Mazzotta to put the Saints on top 2-1 at 10:59. Smith was credited with an assist, bringing her point total in the last 10 games to 15, while rookie Kelly Sabatine also picked up her 11th helper.
Cornell struggled to solve Chartier, who had replaced Weisz in net for St. Lawrence with just over 5:00 minutes remaining in the second period. Needing a goal to force overtime, the Big Red rushed up the ice as Mazzotta headed towards the bench for an extra skater. Catherine White created the play, as her wrist shot bounced off of the top of Charter's glove and the puck settled behind her in the crease. Karlee Overguard streaked to the net and pushed it across the goal line at 18:46 of the third period to send the game to the extra 5:00 minute frame.
In an exciting overtime, Cornell outshot St. Lawrence by a 6-4 margin with three Big Red shots coming around Chartier's crease. St. Lawrence rookie Michelle Ng rallied the Saints to a 2-on-1 counter after Cornell failed to score on a 3-on-1, but the Saints were unable to beat Mazzotta again and were forced to settle for the 2-2 tie.
Cornell finished with a 34-28 advantage on shots thanks to a 10-5 second period, but finished 0-for-5 on the power play to St. Lawrence's 1-for-3 mark. Mazzotta closed with a game-high 26 saves, while Chartier finished with 17 and Weisz with 15.
St. Lawrence will look to earn a win this weekend when it takes on Colgate University tomorrow, Saturday, January 30th at Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the Saints and Raiders at 4:00pm.