HARVARD SNAPS SAINTS’ EIGHT-GAME

UNBEATEN STREAK WITH 5-1 WIN

Nov. 24: The No. 3/2 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team saw their eight game unbeaten streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon in Cambridge, MA, as No. 5 Harvard received goals from five different players to knock off the Saints, 5-1, in the Bright Hockey Center.

The victory moves the Crimson into sole possession of first place in ECAC Hockey’s standings with a perfect

6-0-0 record in conference. Meanwhile, the loss drops St. Lawrence to 9-3-0 overall and 5-1-0 in ECAC Hockey play.

Harvard, which out-shot St. Lawrence in all three periods on Saturday, opened the scoring at 10:26 of the first period when Anna McDonald scored her second goal of the season, with assists going to Sarah Wilson and Sarah Vaillancourt. It was the only goal of the opening period, that saw St. Lawrence goaltender Meaghan Guckian make 10 saves, while Harvard’s Christina Kessler stopped all six shots she faced.

The Crimson took only 24 seconds into the second period to extend their lead to 2-0, when ECAC Hockey First Team defender Caitlin Cahow scored her third goal of the season to put her team on top by two. Only 2:45 minutes later, Harvard was celebrating again as Sarah Wilson tallied her third goal of the season, with an assist going to Katherine Chute, making the score 3-0 only 3:09 into the second period.

The Saints would cut into the deficit 7:06 into the period, when senior Chelsea Grills scored her fifth goal of 2007-08, with a helper going to sophomore defenseman Brittaney Maschmeyer. The goal extended Grills’ point-scoring streak to ten games.

However, penalties would ware the Saints thin, as the team skated without All-American defenseman Annie Guay for the fifth straight game. The Scarlet and Brown took five of the game’s last six penalties, and Harvard took advantage. The Crimson made the score 4-1 only 1:40 into the third period when Kate Buesser scored her first of the season. Jenny Brine would then put things away for the home team, capping off a very impressive showing by Harvard with her third goal of the season at 16:16 of the third period while on the power play, bringing the score to the final tally of 5-1.

Harvard finished 1-of-6 on the power play, while St. Lawrence was held without a power play goal (0-for-3). The Crimson also finished with a 36-22 advantage in shots. Guckian made 31 saves in a losing effort for the Saints and dropped to 7-3-0 on the season, while Kessler remained perfect with a 21 save performance (6-0-0).

St. Lawrence will look to get back on track on Friday when they visit Brown University for an ECAC Hockey contest. The puck will drop on the Saints and Bears at 7:00pm in Meehan Auditorium.

NO. 3/2 SAINTS USE LAST-MINUTE GOAL

TO DOWN DARTMOUTH, 4-3

Nov. 23: Junior forward Alison Domenico, playing for the first time since November 3rd, scored the go-ahead power play goal with only 51 seconds remaining in regulation as the No. 3/2 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team knocked off previously unbeaten Dartmouth 4-3 in Hanover, NH on Friday evening in USCHO.com’s “Game of the Week.”

With win, St. Lawrence (9-2-0, 5-0-0) now boasts the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at eight games while the loss snapped the Big Green’s three game win-streak over the Saints and moved them to 6-1-1 (4-1-0) on the season. Senior forward Chelsea Grills and sophomore forward Tara Akstull also each extended their active point scoring streaks to nine games as each player landed on the score sheet against Dartmouth.

Akstull opened the game’s scoring at 15:11 of the first period, when the Clifton Park, NY native netted her 10th goal of the season on the power play, with assists going to Domenico and sophomore Britni Smith. However, Dartmouth responded only 2:28 later with a power play goal of their own to even the score at 1-1 after one period of play. Maggie Kennedy took a pass from Julia Bronson and beat St. Lawrence netminder Meaghan Guckian to pull the Big Green even with a two-player advantage. Amy Cobb also picked up an assist on the play for Dartmouth.

After being out-shot 8-7 in the first, the Saints jumped out to a quick start in the second frame as rookie Karell Emard scored her second goal of the season only 1:54 into the period on Dartmouth goalie Carli Clemis, who was the conference’s Goaltender of the Year last season. Emard used a great individual effort to split the Dartmouth defense and tuck the puck behind Clemis, with assists on the goal going to junior Lisa Batchelor and first year student Kirsten Roach, who played at the forward position for the first time in her collegiate career on Friday.

Dartmouth again bounced right back, this time behind Amanda Trunzo, who scored an unassisted goal at 7:55 of the second period to again tie the game at 2-2. However, senior forward Sabrina Harbec would send the Saints into the locker room with a 3-2 lead, as the St. Hubert, Quebec native beat Clemis at 13:38 of the period to complete the second period scoring. Junior Marianna Locke and sophomore Courtney Sawchuk earned assists on Harbec’s seventh goal of 2007-08.

The Big Green would take advantage of a tripping minor penalty taken by Harbec late in the second period, though, and opened the third period with their second power play goal of the night to once again level the score, this time at 3-3. Shannon Bowman beat Guckian this time exactly 1:00 minute into the final period, with assists going to Cobb and Bronson.

The two teams played a fairly even third period, with the shot advantage going to St. Lawrence, 9-5. However, it was an untimely interference penalty on Dartmouth’s Sue Schmitz that would put the game on the line with only 2:09 remaining in regulation. The Scarlet and Brown, trying to avenge an overtime loss to Dartmouth last season and a 7-3 loss in the ECAC Hockey Championship game, sent the talented trio of Grills, Domenico and Akstull on the ice to work the nation’s third ranked power play. The group would deliver, as Domenico collected the puck in the scrum in front of Clemis and scored at 19:09 of the third period, with assists going to both of her linemates, to put St. Lawrence ahead for the fourth time in the game.

Though Dartmouth would pull Clemis for the final 30 seconds, they were unable to get the puck behind Guckian, who finished with 19 saves and improved to 7-2-0 on the season. Clemis, on the other hand, dropped to 6-1-1 despite making 23 saves.

The victory keeps St. Lawrence tied at the top of the ECAC Hockey standings with Harvard University, who defeated Clarkson on Friday night. The Saints and Crimson will square off for league supremacy tomorrow, Saturday, November 24th at 4:00pm in the Bright Hockey Center.

NO. 3/2 SAINTS PREPARED FOR SHOWDOWN

WITH CONFERENCE RIVALS

Nov. 23: The St. Lawrence University women's hockey team, which has climbed to No. 3 in the USCHO.com poll and to No. 2 in the USA Today poll, encounters their biggest road tests of the season thus far this weekend when the Scarlet and Brown visit unbeaten Dartmouth and Harvard in a pair of ECAC Hockey contests that could have major playoff implications down the road.

The Saints (8-2-0, 4-0-0) will skate in Thompson Arena on Friday evening against the Big Green in a rematch of last year's ECAC Hockey Championship game. Dartmouth, the eighth ranked team in the country, enters the game with a 6-0-1 overall mark, and is tied with St. Lawrence and Harvard for the top spot in the league standings. Led by sophomore forward Jenna Cunningham and junior goaltender Carli Clemis, the Big Green will surely be ready to skate on their home ice in the USCHO.com "Game of the Week."

Saturday's game between St. Lawrence and No. 5 Harvard re-kindles a rivalry that only grew last season, with St. Lawrence sweeping the season-series, 3-0, including a 4-3 victory in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals. Junior Sarah Vaillancourt leads the Crimson into the Bright Hockey Center on Saturday looking to keep her team in the running for the top spot in the standings.

St. Lawrence will come into the weekend's games having not allowed a goal in 132:36 minutes after recording consecutive shutouts at home against Union and Rensselaer two weeks ago. The team should be well-rested and prepared for their conference rivals, as they had last weekend off from competition. The Saints are led by seniors Sabrina Harbec and Chelsea Grills, who have each accumulated 18 points in 10 games this season.

The puck will drop on USCHO.com's "Game of the Week" between St. Lawrence and Dartmouth at 7:00pm on Friday, November 23rd.