Emond, Saints Rally Past Clarkson 2-1, Force Game Three

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Jim Meagher
Maxie Weisz '10 makes one of 17 saves against Clarkson on Saturday afternoon.

Feb. 27: St. Lawrence University sophomore Vanessa Emond snapped a 1-1 tie with 2:56 remaining in regulation on Saturday to lead the Saints' women's hockey team to a dramatic victory over No. 6 Clarkson at Cheel Arena.  The victory by St. Lawrence evens the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal best-of-three series and forces a deciding game three tomorrow afternoon.

The victory was the first for St. Lawrence in the 2009-10 season when scoring two or fewer goals, and improved the squad's record to 16-13-7.  Meanwhile, Clarkson falls to 21-10-5 and lost for the first time this season when leading after two periods (15-1-0).

"That was really an excellent playoff game," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells, whose team will look to advance to the conference semifinals for the seventh straight year on Sunday.  "Both goalies played great and made the atmosphere as exciting as it gets."

Senior goalie Maxie Weisz was fantastic for St. Lawrence, as she stopped 17 shots including three breakaway tries in the second period.  Clarkson netminder Lauren Dahm was up to the task, though as she turned in a solid 20-save performance.

Despite outshooting the Golden Knights 8-7 in the first period, St. Lawrence found itself trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes.  Emond had perhaps the best scoring chance when Dahm fell out of position, but her wrist shot crept just high of the cross bar.

Clarkson's offense generated several scoring tries on Weisz in the first as well, and the home team capitalized at 13:11 to take a 1-0 lead.  After Weisz was able to stop a slap shot from Clarkson's Britney Selina, the puck remained loose in the crease.  When no St. Lawrence player was there to clear the rebound, Dominique Thibault pounced on the chance and scored her 21st of the season.

St. Lawrence refused to go away and played one of its best periods of the season in the second.  The Saints controlled the puck the majority of the frame, and outshot the Knights 9-6.  Senior captain Tara Akstull would set up the tying goal with a pretty centering pass from behind the Clarkson net right on the tape of sophomore Alley Bero, who snuck a wrist shot past Dahm for her eighth of the year at 7:46.  The assist was Akstull's 10th of the year.

Though the Saints controlled the pace, Weisz was clutch between the pipes as she refused Juana Baribeau, Selina and Genevie Lavoie on one-on-one tries.

Bero's tying goal set up an evenly-matched, drama-filled third period that saw the two rivals each manage five shots on goal.  With the Saints pressuring in the Clarkson zone, Dahm's stick was knocked away and she was forced to play with a defenseman's stick.  St. Lawrence would take advantage, as Bero tossed the puck into the crease and Emond was able to nudge it towards the goal.  With Dahm on her back, the puck hit a Clarkson player's skate and trickled across the goal line inside the far post to put the Scarlet and Brown ahead, 2-1, at 17:04.

Clarkson used a timeout with just over two minutes remaining and opted to pull Dahm with 2:12 to go.  However, Emond and senior assistant captain Britni Smith did well to clear the puck out of the Saints' zone and prevent the Knights from getting the tying goal.  The visitor's bench emptied in celebration as the clock hit zeros, setting up game three on Sunday.

St. Lawrence finished with a 22-18 advantage in shots on goal, and each team finished with an 0-for-5 mark on the power play.

The North Country rivals will square off in game three tomorrow, Sunday, February 28 at 2:00pm in Potsdam, NY.