MASCHMEYER SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL AS

NO. 5/6 SAINTS EARN WEEKEND SWEEP

Oct. 27: Sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer scored her first collegiate goal and fellow classmate Tara Akstull scored in her fourth consecutive game as the No. 5/6 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team earned a weekend sweep to open ECAC Hockey play with a 3-1 victory over Princeton on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints (4-2-0, 2-0-0) out-shot Princeton (1-1-2, 1-1-1) in each of the first two periods, but the Tigers roared back with a 12-3 shot advantage in the third period to finish with a 25-24 edge in the category.

Maschmeyer put the Saints on top at 5:07 of the first period, when the Bruderheim, Alberta native scored on the power play, with assists going to senior Chelsea Grills and junior Alison Domenico. The Scarlet and Brown, who out-shot Princeton 12-9 in the first period, continued to pour on the offense only 3:23 later when senior Kerri Wallace scored her first of the season to put the Saints on top 2-0. First year student Karell Emard found Wallace, and the Saints’ co-captain beat Princeton netminder Kristen Young for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Meanwhile, senior goalie Meaghan Guckian was solid for the Saints, stopping each of the nine shots she faced from Princeton ’s offense.

After the first intermission, the visitors continued to attack at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton , NJ , as Akstull scored St. Lawrence’s third goal of the afternoon only 50 seconds into the second period. The goal, which was the 11 th of the Clifton Park, NY native’s young career, put the Saints ahead 3-0, with assists going to both Grills and Domenico again. Grills’ helper was the sixth of the season for her, while Domenico’s assist was her third of 2007-08.

The remaining 19:10 of the period belonged to the goaltenders, as Guckian and Young kept the two offenses off the scoreboard heading into the second break. Young made eight saves in the period, while Guckian counted with four.

The Tigers, who were out-matched throughout much of the first two periods, came out in the third period very aggressive and looking to claw their way back into the game. Lizzie Keady would get her team one step closer, as the Princeton senior forward scored her first goal of the season on Guckian only 2:48 into the third period, with assists going to Brittany Salmon and Marykate Oakley.

Trailing 3-1, Princeton worked hard and earned their share of scoring chances thanks to three St. Lawrence penalties in the period. However, Guckian was up to the task, keeping 11 of the 12 shots she faced in the final twenty minutes in front of her, and buckling down the Saints’ 3-1 victory with a 24-save performance.

The Saints kept Princeton scoreless with a player advantage (0-for-5), while they managed one power play goal on seven opportunities. Guckian’s play between the pipes moved her to 3-2-0 on the season, while Young fell to 1-1-2 despite making 21 saves.

The Tigers were able to keep senior forward Sabrina Harbec quiet offensively, as she did not manage to tally a point for the first time this season. She will continue her chase of the University career point record next weekend, trailing Rebecca Russell’s mark by two points (176).

After earning their first two conference wins of the season, St. Lawrence will look to extend their current three-game win streak when the visit Wayne State University for a pair of non-conference games next weekend in Detroit, MI. The puck will drop on the Saints and Warriors in the opener on Friday, November 2nd at 7:00pm.

SAINTS KICK-OFF ECAC HOCKEY REGULAR SEASON

WITH 6-1 ROUT OF QUINNIPIAC

Oct. 26: Junior forward Alison Domenico scored twice and senior Sabrina Harbec pulled to within two points of the St. Lawrence University career scoring record with two assists as the No. 5/6 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team defeated Quinnipiac by the score of 6-1 at TD Banknorth Sports Center to kick-off the 2007-08 ECAC Hockey regular season.

The Saints ( 3-2-0 , 1-0-0) used a barrage of 43 shots to over-match the Bobcats ( 1-2-1 , 0-1-1), who managed only 14 attempts on St. Lawrence goaltender Meaghan Guckian.

Domenico wasted little time in giving the Saints a 1-0 advantage, as she scored second goal of the season only 2:28 into the game after Quinnipiac’s Jessica Buttaro took a checking penalty only 38 seconds into the affair. Assisting on the goal were senior co-captains Chelsea Grills and Kerri Wallace.

However, that is all the offense the Saints would muster in the first period, as Quinnipiac goaltender Tia Wishart withstood the pressure and turned away 12 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Guckian had a much easier time of it in her end of the ice, as she stopped one Bobcat shot, the only she’d face in the first period.

Sophomore Tara Akstull scored a goal in her third consecutive game at 7:22 of the second period to give the Scarlet and Brown a 2-0 lead. Grills again assisted on the goal, as did rookie defenseman Kirsten Roach. However, Wishart continued to shine and keep her team in the game with 14 saves during the period. Unfortunately, it was the final shot of the period that would elude Wishart and be the end of her team’s chance at an upset.

With the two teams skating 5-on-5, Domenico was able to beat Wishart with a mere one second remaining in the second period to send St. Lawrence into the locker room after two periods with a 3-0 lead. Akstull was credited with an assist along with senior defenseman Annie Guay.

The goal let the air out of Quinnipiac’s sails, as the Saints scored two goals less than three minutes into the 3 rd period to build a 5-0 advantage. Junior Carson Duggan took a feed from Harbec and tallied her fourth goal of the season only 19 seconds into the final period for the 4-0 lead. Only 2:26 later, first year forward Kyrsten Venasse lit the lamp for the first time in her collegiate career, scoring an unassisted goal at 2:45 of the third for St. Lawrence’s fifth goal.

Guckian came into the Quinnipiac game needing only one shutout to break Rachel Barrie’s university record of 14 shutouts. However, the Bobcats ended the Victor, NY native’s hopes of clinching the record on their home ice when Kallie Flor scored a power play goal at 7:57 of the third period to end the shutout bid and make the score 5-1. Trudy Reyns assisted on the goal for Quinnipiac, who managed nine shots in the third period to St. Lawrence’s 14.

Sophomore defenseman Britni Smith capped off the scoring with her second career goal with only 2:32 to play in regulation. Harbec assisted on the goal, the 107 th helper of her career, inching to within two points of tying Rebecca Russell’s career point record.

Wishart finished with 37 saves in net for the Bobcats, while Guckian stopped 13 Quinnipiac bids to pick up her second win of 2007-08. Quinnipiac’s power play goal was the first scored on St. Lawrence this season, as the Scarlet and Brown entered the weekend play with a perfect 27-for-27 mark on the penalty kill.

St. Lawrence will look for their first weekend sweep of the season when they face off with Princeton, a team that has been a thorn in their side each of the past two seasons, tomorrow, Saturday, October 27th. The puck will drop on the Saints and Tigers at 4:00pm in Princeton, NJ.