DUGGAN, LOCKE, AND DOMENICO EACH SCORE

TWO AS SAINTS ROLL PAST BOBCATS

Oct. 28: One day after suffering their first loss of the 2006-07 season, the No. 3/4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team exploded for a 9-3 victory over the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday afternoon in Hamden, CT. With the win, the Saints improve to 7-1-0 ( 3-1-0), while Quinnipiac falls to 1-6-0 (0-3-0) on the young season.

After dropping last night’s game to No. 9 Princeton by the score of 6-5, Saints head coach Paul Flanagan chose to start freshman goaltender Maxie Weisz in net against the Bobcats. However, only 1:35 into the game, Kristin Alcorn greeted Weisz by netting her first goal of the season, putting the home team ahead 1-0 over St. Lawrence.

However, Weisz would settle in quickly as Quinnipiac poured on the pressure in the first period. The Severna Park, MD native made ten first period saves, including shutting down the home team for the remainder of the opening period.

The Saints would score their first power play goal of the game at 6:42 of the first period, knotting the score at 1-1. Sophomore Marianna Locke tallied her fourth of the season with assists going to junior Kerri Wallace and first year student Britni Smith to pull the visitors even heading to the first intermission. However, Quinnipiac was smelling the upset as they managed to out-shoot the Saints 11-9 in the first period.

In the second period, though, the Saints were red-hot and ripped off three goals in a span of 5:26 to grab a 4-1 lead midway through the second period. Sophomore Alison Domenico gave the Saints the lead for good 3:37 into the second, while fellow classmate Carson Duggan netted her sixth goal of the year only 33 seconds later to extend the cushion to 3-1. Locke would then score her second of the game at 9:03 with assists going to senior Crystal Connors and Domenico to force the Bobcats to call a timeout and regroup.

The break in the action slowed the Saints down, but it did not cool them off. Duggan scored the team’s fourth goal of the period and her second of the night at 18:23 with assists going to her linemates Chelsea Grills and Sabrina Harbec, putting the visitors up 5-1 heading into the third period.

Weisz was perfect in the second period, stopping all five Quinnipiac shots. Bobcat goaltender Laura Brennan, who made eight saves in the first period, made eleven in the second for a two period total of nineteen. However, her team trailed by four heading into the final frame.

The Bobcats would get a goal back only 1:52 into the third period, giving them a ray of hope with the score at 5-2. Elyse Cole scored her second goal of the year, with assists going to Alcorn and Evelina Husar for Quinnipiac’s second goal of the night and to cut into the deficit.

St. Lawrence’s special teams were simply too much for the Bobcats, though, as the Saints rattled off four power play goals in a span of 5:10 to put the game well out of reach. Domenico scored her second goal of the game at 3:17 to knock Brennan from the game, while Connors got into the action only 3:43 later with the extra attacker, scoring on Brennan’s replacement Janelle Wolitski.

Leading 7-2, Annie Guay tallied her third of the season only 33 seconds behind Connors, with the lone assist going to sophomore Lisa Batchelor. The final goal for the Scarlet and Brown came off the stick of senior captain Julia Palmateer at 8:27 of the third period. It was the captain’s first of the season, with an assist going to fellow classmate Casey Hughes.

Quinnipiac’s Antoinette Maldonado would complete the game’s scoring at 19:18 when her shot beat Weisz, bringing the score to the eventual final of 9-3.

"I think special teams were really the difference today, as our penalty kill unit was solid again," said Coach Flanagan. "Things are starting to come together on both ends of the ice. We need to keep our focus and to keep working hard though with some big games on the horizon."

Weisz came up with some crucial saves when she had to, making 23 stops in only her second career start. Brennan made 20 saves in the loss, while Wolitski stopped five shots in 11:28 minutes of playing time. The Saints out-shot the Bobcats 34-26, but the real difference came in the special teams department. St. Lawrence was 5-of-6 (.833) on the power play and was perfect on the penalty kill, going 13-of-13.

The Saints will look to gain confidence and momentum from this win as they take on a pair of tough ECACHL opponents in Appleton Arena next weekend. The Scarlet and Brown will welcome Dartmouth College to Canton, NY on Friday, November 3rd at 7:00pm. The following afternoon, the Saints take on their nemesis Harvard at 4:00pm.

NO. 9 PRINCETON HOLDS ON FOR WILD

ECACHL VICTORY OVER NO. 3 SAINTS

Oct. 27: The No. 3/4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team trailed the No. 9 Princeton Tigers 6-3 heading into the third period of play on Saturday night. The Saints scored two power play goals in the third to narrow the margin to one goal, but Princeton’s sophomore goaltender Kristen Young did just enough to hold off the Scarlet and Brown, as the Tigers upset the Saints, 6-5.

St. Lawrence ( 6-1-0, 2-1-0) found themselves trailing 2-0 less than nine minutes into the game, as the Tigers high-powered offense was clicking on all cylinders in the early going. Last year’s ECACHL Co-Rookie of the Year Annie Greenwood scored the game’s opening goal on the power play 7:17 into the first period to put the home team ahead. A mere 1:39 later, Princeton had built a 2-0 lead as Marykate Oakley scored on Saints goalie Meaghan Guckian at 8:56.

Sophomore Sabrina Harbec seemed to steady St. Lawrence’s ship, as the St. Hubert, Quebec native scored 1:05 later to put the Saints on the board and close the gap to 2-1. Linemates Chelsea Grills and Carson Duggan both picked up assists on the goal.

The first period scoring was only halfway over, though, as Princeton would regain their two goal cushion a mere 59 seconds later when Oakley scored her second goal of the night, capitalizing on a St. Lawrence turnover to put the Tigers back on top, 3-1. Kerri Wallace would cut back into the deficit on the power play when her blast on the power play got past Young and pulled the Saints back to within one.

The Tigers were taking advantage of all of their opportunities, however, and would once again regain their two goal lead only 47 seconds following the second Saints goal. Brittany Salmon gave Princeton a 4-2 first period lead at 13:59 when she scored an unassisted shorthanded goal. Salmon’s goal capped off a wild 6:42 span that included six goals and found the home team with an impressive 4-2 cushion over the No. 3 team in the nation.

Young, who made 15 first period saves, would allow her team to extend their lead in the second period as the first year starter made 13 more stops. Princeton’s Kate Hession took a pass from Alison Ralph and scored her team’s fifth goal at 12:52 of the second period. After senior forward Crystal Connors pulled the Saints back to within two at 5-3 with a power play goal of her own, the Tigers again showed their resiliency by notching their sixth goal of the evening to close out the second period. 2006 Patty Kazmaier candidate Kim Pearce scored with only 46 seconds to go in the second frame to put the Tigers in prime position to pull off the upset, sending her team to the locker room with a 6-3 lead at the end of two periods.

The third period would belong to the Saints, but it was merely a question of whether or not the visitors could come all the way back to force an overtime session. The Scarlet and Brown, who had all five power play chances in the final period, took a step in the right direction when junior defenseman Annie Guay scored a power play goal at 11:28 of the third period. The lone assist went to defenseman Kerri Wallace.

The Saints peppered Young with 20 third period shots, only one less than Guckian faced the entire game. However, she held her ground and protected the Tigers two goal advantage until Connors would net her second power play goal of the game with 3:36 remaining in regulation, pulling the Saints to within one at 6-5.

It was then that Princeton buckled down, though, and worked hard to clear every opportunity away from Young. Though the Saints pulled Guckian for the extra skater, their attempt at a comeback fell one goal short, as the Tigers made a statement, upsetting the Saints 6-5 in Baker Rink.

The two teams combined for 21 penalties on the night, with the Saints having seven more power play chances than the Tigers. However, Princeton’s netminder was the difference, as Young stopped 46-of-51 shots to protect her three goal lead. Guckian stopped 15 shots in her first loss of the 2006-07 season. The Saints converted four times with the extra skater, finishing 4-of-13 on the power play while Princeton finished 1-of-6.

The No. 3/4 Saints will look to get back on track tomorrow, Saturday, October 28 th when they visit Hamden, CT for an ECACHL game against the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The puck is set to drop at 4:00pm.