2005-2006 Archives

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ANOTHER STRONG THIRD PERIOD

GIVES SAINTS WEEKEND SWEEP

Jan. 14: Another tough opponent forced the St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team to regroup after two periods of play. But for the second day in a row, the Saints (17-2-2; 7-1-2) used a dominating third period to come back from a 1-1 tie and defeat the Brown Bears in an ECAC Hockey League game at Appleton Arena, 4-1.

A scoreless first period was not without lots of offensive action from the home team, as the Saints managed 17 shots against Brown goaltender O’Hara Shipe. The sophomore kept the Bears even through one with some outstanding saves. Senior Jessica Moffat stopped each of the five shots she faced.

The Bears, who won despite being out-shot 25-6 against Clarkson on Friday, again took the lead while perhaps getting outplayed. It took Brown a mere 13 seconds to capitalize on Tracy Muzerall’s penalty for roughing, grabbing the lead at 10:29. It took Kathryn Moos three tries, but the junior banged home the second rebound given up by Moffat and put the Bears ahead.

The Saints showed their resiliency, knotting the score at one a piece just a minute and a half later. Emilie Berlinguette, returning to action after suffering a minor injury, worked her way into the slot while linemate Alison Domenico picked up the puck behind the net. Domenico showed excellent patience, and when Berlinguette found an opening, she slipped the puck to her right in front of Shipe. The senior one-timed a shot over Shipe’s blocker to tie the game heading into the final period.

St. Lawrence found itself with a one player advantage after Myria Heinhuis took an interference penalty just 36 seconds into the period. Sophomore Annie Guay sent an outlet pass to fellow classmate Sabrina Harbec in the neutral zone. Harbec slipped a defender and crossed the Bears’ blue line with a 2-on-1 advantage with linemate Carson Duggan. Harbec then fed the freshman who fired the puck past Shipe’s stick-side, giving the Saints their first lead of the afternoon.

The Saints were able to put the Bears away using their speed and special teams play. Harbec showed outstanding hustle, creating a heads-up play that led to the Saints third short-handed goal of the season. Harbec stole the puck from behind the Bears’ net while the Saints were a person down early in the third period. She wrapped a shot around the near post past Shipe, giving the Saints a two goal margin.

Brown had their share of chances late in the game, including a 4-on-3 advantage in the final four minutes. The Saints penalty kill, ranked 2 nd in the nation going into the game, finished the weekend series with an impressive 94.7% success rate. They managed to kill off each of their team’s penalties, and put the game out of reach when freshman Lisa Batchelor scored her fifth goal of the season with only 46 seconds to play in the game.

Moffat finished the game with 25 saves and improved to 11-1-0 on the season. Shipe ended up with 40 saves, and fell to 4-4-1 for the Bears.

With the victory, the Saints move into a first place tie with Harvard and Princeton in the ECACHL. St. Lawrence wraps up its eight-game home stand next weekend when Cornell and Colgate visit Appleton Arena. The Saints will take on the Big Red of Cornell on Friday, January 20 th at 7:00 p.m.

SAINTS STORM BACK IN THE THIRD,

DOWN YALE 4-2

Jan. 13: The St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team picked up an important ECAC Hockey League win on Friday night against the Yale Bulldogs, 4-2. The Saints (16-2-2; 6-1-2), who were trailing 2-1 after two periods and on the verge of losing two games in a row for the first time this season, used three power play goals in the third period to storm back and set up a pivotal match-up versus the Brown Bears tomorrow night at Appleton Arena.

St. Lawrence, who led the all-time series against Yale 15-0-1 going into Friday night’s contest, knew that they had a formidable opponent on their hands, led by senior goaltender Sarah Love. The two teams played a very even game throughout the first period, with the shots finishing 7-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.

The Saints were able to strike first, however, when freshman Marianna Locke scored a power play goal at 6:30 of the first period. Sophomore Annie Guay took a long shot from the point, and Love made the initial save. However, the Bulldogs were unable to control the rebound which ended up on Locke’s stick in the slot. She lifted the puck over Love’s glove to give the Saints the early edge, 1-0.

The Bulldogs stayed calm and refused to get down after falling behind. Instead, they used a fortunate break to level the score with the Saints. Yale cleared the puck from its defensive zone for a change. Sophomore goaltender Meaghan Guckian came out to clear the puck, but an unfortunate bounce led to an open net goal for Deena Caplette at 15:55 in the first knotting the score at one.

Yale took a 2-1 lead on the lone goal of the second period. Carlee Ness’s shot from the point was blocked by junior Crystal Connors. However, as Connors went to the bench for a change, Ness picked up the loose puck and centered a pass to a wide open Lisa Jacque who slipped the puck past Guckian with 7:54 to play in the second period.

The Saints stormed out of the gate in the third period, though, and tied the game only two minutes and two seconds into the final frame. Senior Emilie Berlinguette fired a shot to the near post from the high slot, which Love deflected behind her own net. However, Alison Domenico was there to pick up the loose puck, which she wrapped around the far post, tucking the puck between the post and Love’s glove.

The Saints used that momentum and took the lead almost six minutes later when Locke tallied her second goal of the game, giving the Saints a 3-2 lead. Junior Abbie Bullard set up her defensive partner Guay at the point. Guay rifled a shot that Love was able to stop, but the rebound ricocheted out of her reach, but right to an awaiting Locke. Her wrist shot beat the Yale goaltender and gave the lead back to St. Lawrence.

The Saints put the contest out of reach when Caplette took a costly tripping penalty at 13:50 in the third period. The Bulldogs, who had trouble stopping a very efficient Saints power play, held the Saints for only 51 seconds before Connors capitalized on a shot from her linemate Domenico. Domenico’s shot from the top of the face-off circle was tipped by Berlinguette and then deflected by Connors past Love giving the Saints a 4-2 cushion.

The Saints were impressive on special teams, going 4-of-9 on the power play and 10-of-10 on the penalty kill. Guckian finished with 14 saves and improved to 6-1-2 on the season. Love finished with 27 saves and fell to 4-7-3 for the Bulldogs of Yale.

St. Lawrence will meet the Brown Bears in a crucial ECACHL match-up Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena. If the Saints pick up the win, they will move into a tie for first place in the league. The puck is set to drop at 4:00pm.

HARBEC, GUAY, WALLACE WIN GOLD WITH CANADIAN UNDER-22 TEAM

Jan. 12: Saints sophomores Sabrina Harbec, Annie Guay, and Kerri Wallace missed last weekend's series against St. Cloud State to play in the 2006 Air Canada Cup with the Canadian National Under-22 Team.

Canada went 2-1 in the tournament with wins over Finland and Switzerland. The team's only loss came in the final day to Germany, but Canada still finished atop the standing and for the fourth straight year was named the Air Canada Cup Champion. Harbec, Guay, and Wallace all picked up assists in the win over Switzerland in the second day of the tournament.

The trio returned on Sunday to Canton and their teammates. The Saints, ranked No.3 in the USCHO.com Poll and NO.4 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, takes on Yale and Brown this weekend at Appleton Arena. St. Lawrence and Yale will meet Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Saints will take on Brown on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.