Colgate Holds Off Saints to Earn 2-1 Victory

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Whit Haynes '10
First-year student Michelle Ng scored her 7th goal of the season on Saturday.

Jan. 30: The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team outshot Colgate University 21-10 over the final two periods, but an outstanding outing in net by Lisa Plenderleith allowed the Raiders to escape Appleton Arena with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon.

St. Lawrence falls to 11-9-7 and 7-5-3 in ECAC Hockey play, while Colgate improves to 8-16-4 (4-8-4).

The visitors owned the majority of quality scoring chances in the first period and converted twice to take a 2-0 lead after 20:00 minutes.  Behind a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal, the Raiders took a 1-0 lead at 6:20 of the first when Heidi Peterson scored her first goal of the season by hammering a rebound past St. Lawrence senior goalie Brittony Chartier.  Krista Dermott was credited with the assist having taken the initial shot.

The Raiders then extended their lead to 2-0 late in the period when Katie Stewart took an outlet pass by Marissa Dombovy and rushed the ice on a breakaway try against Chartier.  Stewart, Colgate's leading scorer, used a slick move to her forehand to beat the Saints' netminder for her 17th goal of the season.

Despite struggling in the opening stanza, the Scarlet and Brown wasted little time in cutting their deficit in half.  Only 1:00 minute into the second period, first-year student Michelle Ng collected the puck on the left board, moved past a Raider defenseman and toe-dragged the puck around Plenderleith to score her 7th goal of the season.  Classmate Kelly Sabatine assisted on the goal.

The Saints would pour on the scoring chances against the Raiders, but Plenderleith, with both great saves and a bit of good fortune held her ground between the pipes.  Rookie Brooke Fernandez hit the post on the shift following the Saints' goal and senior captain Tara Akstull also hit the crossbar in the third period.

St. Lawrence thought they scored the tying goal at 14:44 of the second period when sophomore Alley Bero re-directed the puck into the net while the Saints skated on the power play.  The officials ruled the puck was kicked into the net, but opted to check the newest addition to Appleton Arena, an instant replay system that hangs above the goals.  After nearly five minutes of deliberations, the referees ruled there was inconclusive evidence to overrule the call on the ice, keeping the score at 2-1 in favor of the Raiders.  It was the first instant replay review since the function was added at Appleton.

Though Chartier and senior Maxie Weisz combined for 17 saves in the game, it was Plenderleith who made 10 saves in each of the final two periods to protect her team's lead and give the Raiders an upset victory.  She finished with 26 stops on the night to improve to 6-9-2 on the season.

St. Lawrence finished with a 27-19 advantage in shots on goal, but was 0-for-4 on the power play.  Colgate finished 0-for-1 with the extra skater.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Scarlet and Brown this week, as they face cross-town rival Clarkson University at Appleton Arena on Tuesday, February 2 at 7:00pm.  The Saints then play host to Union and Rensselaer on Friday and Saturday, February 5 and 6, respectively.