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GUCKIAN NETS SECOND STRAIGHT ECACHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD Oct. 23: St. Lawrence University junior goaltender Meaghan Guckian has been selected the ECACHL's "Goaltender of the Week" for the second straight week after her solid performances against cross-town rival No. 10 Clarkson University this weekend.
Guckian picked up her fourth and fifth wins of the season with back-to-back victories over the Golden Knights in a home-and-home series. The Victor, NY native stopped 35-of-36 shots during the weekend series, posting a .972 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average. Her 5-0 shutout of Clarkson avenged last season's 2-0 loss at the hands of the Green and Gold.
Prior to attending St. Lawrence, Guckian started in goal for the Buffalo Bisons and the Victor Central Boys Varsity hockey teams.
Saints sophomore Marianna Locke was added to the league's Honor Roll for her contributions against Clarkson as well. The Brasher Falls, NY native collected two goals including the game-winner on Friday evening, then followed that performance with an assist at Cheel Arena.
Mercyhurst retained the No. 4 spot in the poll this week after dropping No. 8 Dartmouth twice this past weekend. The Lakers are followed by Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota, and Harvard.
Rounding out this week's USCHO.com Poll are the Big Green at No. 8, the Princeton Tigers at No. 9, and Boston College at No. 10. Brown (3) and Boston University (1) each received votes.
The Saints will play their third consecutive game against a top-10 opponent when they meet No. 9 Princeton on the road this Friday, October 27th at 7:00pm.
SOPHOMORES SCORE FIVE GOALS AS SAINTS SWEEP GOLDEN KNIGHTS Oct. 21: For the second straight game, the No. 3 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead and never looked back, as the Saints rolled to a 5-0 victory over No. 10 Clarkson University on Saturday afternoon in Cheel Arena. The victory moves the Saints to 6-0-0 (2-0-0), and avenges last season’s 2-0 loss in Potsdam, NY on December 2nd.
St. Lawrence again set the tone early with a quick goal only 57 seconds after the opening face-off. Junior Sabrina Harbec picked up her fifth assist of the season when her perfect pass landed on the stick of linemate Carson Duggan, who finished the play by beating Clarkson goalie Kira Hurley to put the Saints on top 1-0. The goal was Duggan’s fourth of the 2006-07 campaign.
Though the Saints controlled most of the action in the opening period, Hurley was solid and net and kept the visitors from extending their lead. St. Lawrence goalie Meaghan Guckian faced only three shots in the first twenty minutes, stopping each attempt.
The tandem of Harbec and Duggan would again hurt the Golden Knights early in the second period, as the duo hooked up for the second time on the afternoon. Harbec skated with the puck around the circle to Hurley’s right. The St. Hubert, Quebec native stopped on a dime, shaking the Clarkson defender who had been pressuring her, and backhanded a pass into the crease. Duggan was again the recipient of Harbec’s pass, and slapped it past a beaten Hurley for the 2-0 advantage.
Clarkson was simply unable to get anything going against the Saints suffocating defensive pairs, who again kept the home team quiet allowing only seven shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Scarlet and Brown’s offense continued to produce as Lisa Batchelor scored her fourth goal of the season at 14:18 of the second period with assists going to Annie Guay and Brittaney Maschmeyer. Maschmeyer started the play in the Saints end, sending a pass to Guay at the red line. She skated into the Clarkson zone, again to Hurley’s right, and in almost an identical play as the Saints second goal, fed Batchelor on the doorstep for the easy tap-in goal.
The third period belonged to Guckian and sophomore Alison Domenico, as the two finished off a great weekend showing by the Saints. Domenico scored the Saints fourth goal of the afternoon on at the power play 11:50 into the final frame. Fellow classmate Marianna Locke found Domenico in the slot. Her one timer went through Hurley’s pads for the Nepean, Ontario native’s second goal of the year.
Her third of the season wasn’t far behind, as she once again found the back of the net only 2:33 later. As the Golden Knights attempted to clear the puck out of the zone, their pass up the ice landed right on Domenico’s stick in the slot. She walked in on Hurley one-on-one and wristed a shot that beat her stick-side for the 5-0 lead.
Guckian faced more shots in the third period from Clarkson than she did in the first two combined. However, the Victor, NY native was sharp on her angles and kept the Golden Knights off the score board for the first time in her career. It was truly revenge for Guckian, who struggled at Cheel Arena in the Saints loss last season, allowing two goals on eight shots. Her shutout of Clarkson was the tenth of her career and second of in three games.
“It was just an awesome effort from our kids this weekend,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “Our penalty kill was solid all weekend, I thought we did a nice job breaking the puck out of our own zone, and I think the younger players are getting more confident in their game.”
Hurley finished with 26 saves on the afternoon while Guckian closed with 21 in the victory, improving to 5-0-0 (2-0-0) on the year. The Saints special teams were again a key to the victory, as Clarkson went 0-of-6 with the extra skater and the Scarlet and Brown went 1-of-4 on the power play.
The Saints picked up their first two wins over a top-10 opponent with the sweep of Clarkson, but their schedule does not get any easier. St. Lawrence will make the trip to Princeton, NJ to take on the No. 9 Princeton Tigers on Friday, October 27 th. Game time is set for 7:00pm between the two ECACHL teams.
LOCKE SCORES TWICE AS SAINTS TOP CLARKSON IN ECACHL OPENER Oct. 20: The No. 3 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team took only eleven seconds to score the opening goal of the game against the No. 10 Clarkson Golden Knights on Friday evening in Appleton Arena. The Saints never looked back, as the home team skated off with a 3-1 victory over their archrival in the ECACHL regular season opener for both squads.
The Saints (5-0-0, 1-0-0) won the opening draw and the puck came back to junior defenseman Annie Guay who sent the puck up the near boards. The puck caromed off the boards to senior co-captain Chelsea Grills, who skated in on Clarkson goalie Kira Hurley. Though Hurley was able to stop the initial shot, the puck rebounded to the top of the crease where junior forward Sabrina Harbec was waiting to tuck it into the net to give her team the 1-0 advantage. The goal was Harbec’s third of the season, with assists going to both Grills (3) and Guay (4).
“It was exciting to get a goal that fast in a game of this magnitude,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “But because it came 11 seconds in, we knew there was still plenty of hockey left in the game.”
Though the first period was played primarily in the Clarkson zone, the Golden Knights had to be pleased to come away only trailing by one after twenty minutes. The Scarlet and Brown out-shot their opponents by a 15-6 margin in the opening period, but Hurley kept the visitors in the game with 14 stops. Her counterpart, junior goalie Meaghan Guckian, made the saves she needed to make to preserve the lead, stopping all six Golden Knight attempts.
The second period saw over five minutes go by without a single shot being placed on goal by either team. The game was played along the boards, with no real chances developing until around the seven minute mark.
The home team got the puck deep behind Hurley’s net, and though Clarkson pressured the puck, they were unable to clear the zone. Instead, junior Crystal Connors shoved the puck to the top of the crease from behind the goal, finding linemate Alison Domenico. Though she was unable to get a shot on goal, the puck came right to sophomore Marianna Locke, who flipped a shot past Hurley to put the Saints up 2-0 at 7:57 of the second.
Clarkson, which was unable to get anything going against the Saints while skating five-on-five, had a prime chance to pull to within one when Locke and Guay both sat in the penalty box after each taking minor penalties. Skating five-on-three, the Knights finally broke through on Guckian when Brooke Beazer centered a pass to the top of the crease to Katie Morrison. Morrison deflected the pass over Guckian’s glove and into the top of the goal to give the visitors their first goal on the power play at 15:17 of the second period.
Flanagan’s team would respond only 2:49 later when the Saints scored their third goal of the game at 18:06 . Clarkson again failed to get the puck out of their defensive zone, and the puck landed on Connors stick along the boards. She quickly dumped a pass to Locke, who came around the left circle and fired a soft wrist shot towards Hurley. However, the Clarkson netminder was screened and never saw the shot. The puck sailed into the lower right side of the net, and gave the Saints their two-goal cushion back with only 1:54 to play in the second period.
The third period was more of the same, as the Saints peppered Hurley with 13 shots. However, she held her ground and turned the game over to her offense trailing by two. Clarkson’s best chance to climb back into the game came when they again skated with a two-player advantage for 1:48 seconds with only 8:17 remaining in the game.
The Saints defense, anchored by Guay, senior Abbie Bullard, and junior Kerri Wallace, clamped down, though, and kept the puck away from Guckian as much as possible. The Scarlet and Brown held Clarkson to only five shots on goal in the third, with Guckian stopping each chance to pick up her fourth win of the season. The Victor, NY native is yet to allow a goal in the third-period this season.
“Five-on-five, I saw us doing a lot of good things and creating a lot of good chances,” said Flanagan. “But when it came down to it, our penalty kill was really the key. Both of the five-on-three chances were for an extended amount of time, and I thought we were very solid in killing off the chance in the third period.”
St. Lawrence finished with the edge in shots, 36-15, and kept the Clarkson power play in check going 1-of-8 with the extra skater. The Golden Knights were impressive on the penalty kill as well, holding the Saints without a power play goal for the first time this season (0-of-4).
Though the Saints protected their home ice, they will now turn their attention to tomorrow as they will meet the Golden Knights again, this time in Cheel Arena in Potsdam , NY . The Scarlet and Brown will be looking to avenge last season’s 2-0 shutout loss to Clarkson in Cheel Arena, which was the first ever win for the Golden Knights over the Saints. The puck is set to drop in tomorrow’s ECACHL contest at 3:00pm.
GUCKIAN AND GUAY HONORED AS SAINTS PREPARE FOR CLARKSON Oct. 18: St. Lawrence University juniors Meaghan Guckian and Annie Guay were honored this week for their play in the Saints sweep over Providence College and UConn last weekend. Guckian was named the ECACHL’s Goaltender of the Week, while Guay was awarded the USCHO.com Defensive Player of the Week award.
Guckian continues her winning ways for the Saints, picking up two victories between the pipes over the weekend, including her ninth career shutout. The Victor, NY native stopped 53 of 54 shots en route to a 2-1 win vs. Providence and a 3-0 blanking of Connecticut . Guckian's nine shutouts rank second all-time at St. Lawrence.
Guay helped the Saints escape the road trip against two formidable Hockey East foes nearly unscathed. The Saints were not scored on while Guay was on the ice this weekend. In addition, the Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec native was dangerous on the power play, tallying a goal and two assists with the extra skater.
“There’s no doubt Meaghan and Annie played great this weekend,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “ Providence and Connecticut pose two very skilled offenses, and they kept them in check. We’ll be looking for them to do the same this weekend against Clarkson.”
The Saints, currently ranked No. 3 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today polls, will open their 2006-07 ECACHL regular season schedule with a home-and-home series with their archrival, the No. 10 Clarkson Golden Knights. The rivalry between St. Lawrence and Clarkson is one of the best in all of college sports, but there is always something extra when the two teams meet on the ice.
“Players and fans always circle rivalry games on the calendar, and this year’s games with Clarkson may set the tone for the entire season,” said Flanagan.
Last season, each team held their ground on their home ice, with the Saints winning a Friday night game that set the women’s hockey attendance record at Appleton Arena (2,136). The Scarlet and Brown battled back from a 1-0 deficit behind goals from Crystal Connors, Alison Domenico, and Marianna Locke to capture a 3-1 victory.
The Golden Knights came back ready to play on Saturday, though, and defended their home turf with an impressive 2-0 shutout of St. Lawrence, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time. Jessica Cloutier and Ashley Shaidle scored the goals for the Golden Knights, while goaltender Kira Hurley made 34 saves between the pipes to give Clarkson the upset win, their first ever over the Saints.
Both teams are currently ranked in the USA Today poll, with the Saints at No. 3 and the Golden Knights at No. 10. St. Lawrence holds a slight lead in the series with a 2-1-1 mark in two seasons of play. The puck is set to drop on Friday night’s game in Appleton Arena at 7:00pm, and the two teams will square off on Saturday at 3:00pm in Cheel Arena in Potsdam, NY.
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