LOCKE'S FOUR-POINT GAME LANDS HER

"PLAYER OF THE WEEK" HONORS

Oct. 22: ECAC Hockey has announced that St. Lawrence University junior forward Marianna Locke has been named the conference's "Player of the Week" for her effort against Providence College on Saturday.

Locke, a native of Brasher Falls, NY, netted her first collegiate hat trick against the Friars in an 8-0 St. Lawrence win at Appleton Arena. She also assisted on the team's opening goal, which proved to be the game-winner.

ECAC Hockey awarded the "Rookie of the Week" honor to Cornell's Rebecca Johnston, while Princeton's Kristen Young was named the "Goaltender of the Week."

The Saints, who slipped to No. 5 in this week's USCHO.com poll despite receiving one first place vote, will be in action again on Friday, October 26th when they kick off the 2007-08 ECAC Hockey schedule with Quinnipiac University at 7:00pm in Hamden, CT.

SAINTS BOUNCE BACK WITH DOMINATING

PERFORMANCE AGAINST PROVIDENCE

Oct. 20: Junior forward Marianna Locke netted her first career hat trick and senior center Sabrina Harbec tallied her first two goals of 2007-08 as the St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team rebounded from their 3-2 loss on Friday with an 8-0 pummeling of Providence on Saturday evening at Appleton Arena.

The Saints (2-2-0, 0-0-0) scored more than three goals for the first time this season, as the squad erupted for three first period goals to take a commanding lead after twenty minutes over the visiting Friars.

Harbec opened the scoring with her first of the year, as the St. Hubert, Quebec native took a pass from linemate Carson Duggan and beat Providence goaltender Danielle Ciarletta at 6:31 of the first period. Only 1:12 later, Locke was celebrating her second of the season and first of the evening with an assist going to rookie Kirsten Roach, the first of her collegiate career.

Sophomore goaltender Maxie Weisz got her first start of the season for the Saints, and the Severna, MD native was perfect in the first period, stopping all six shots she faced. Her team’s lead grew to 3-0 before the end of the first period, as Locke tallied her second of the game with only 2:39 remaining on the clock before the first intermission. Assists went to senior co-captain Annie Guay (3) and Harbec (5).

After being out-shot 16-6 in the first period, Providence looked to get their offense rolling as they did Friday night when they put up five goals in a 5-5 tie against Colgate. However, the Saints defensive corps looked solid and the offense dominated play in the neutral zone, limiting the visitors to only three shots on goal in the second frame.

The scoring in the period came off the sticks of Harbec and sophomore Tara Akstull. Harbec’s second of the game came with a Saint player in the penalty box, as Harbec scored an unassisted short-handed goal, the team’s first of the campaign, at 10:10 of the second. Akstull scored her second of the weekend at 15:18, with assists going to Chelsea Grills and Guay. The goal, which put St. Lawrence ahead 5-0, chased Ciarletta from the game after making 20 saves.

Though her replacement, Jennifer Smith, escaped the second period without facing a shot, the Saints continued to work the puck well in the offensive zone, which led to three third period goals. Junior Lisa Batchelor hammered home a perfect centering pass from sophomore Courtney Sawchuk for her first career short-handed goal to make it 6-0 at 9:09, while Locke received a pass from rookie Karell Emard from behind the net and completed the hat trick at 13:52 to put her team on top 7-0. Grills would then tally her first of the season thanks to a heads-up pass by fellow co-captain Kerri Wallace to complete the scoring at 15:03. Akstull also picked up her first assist of the season on the Saints’ final goal.

Weisz (1-0-0) did not face nearly the same offensive pressure from Providence as Ciarletta and Smith did, but the sophomore made all 15 saves she faced and posted her first collegiate shutout. Smith made four third period saves on seven shots in relief of Ciarletta, who took the loss and fell to 1-0-2 on the young season.

St. Lawrence remained perfect on the penalty kill and is now 27-for-27 when skating a player down, after holding Providence to an 0-for-8 mark with the extra skater. Behind her three point performance, Harbec is now only four points behind Rebecca Russell on the career point list with 174.

After four games with three different Hockey East opponents, the Scarlet and Brown will open up the 2007-08 ECAC Hockey regular season schedule next Friday, October 26th when they travel to Hamden, CT to take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The puck is set to drop at 7:00pm.

HUSKIES SHOCK NO. 3/4 SAINTS

BEHIND LATE GOAL, 3-2

Oct. 19: Sophomore defenseman Samantha Reid picked up a loose puck in the slot and rifled a wrist shot past St. Lawrence University goaltender Meaghan Guckian with a mere 2:34 remaining in regulation to snap a 2-2 tie and lift the University of Connecticut to a 3-2 upset victory of the No. 3/4 Saints in Appleton Arena on Friday afternoon.

The Huskies earned their second win all-time against the Saints despite being out-shot 28-21. The win improved UConn to 4-1-0 (0-0-0) on the young season, while the Saints dropped to 1-2-0 (0-0-0).

The home team struck first in the non-conference battle only 4:33 into the game, when junior Carson Duggan scored her third goal of the season. Senior Sabrina Harbec fed junior Lisa Batchelor who sent the puck in front of UConn netminder Brittany Wilson. Though Wilson managed to keep Batchelor’s bid out, Duggan was there to scoop up the rebound and put her team on top, 1-0.

Each goaltender was able to shut down their opponents for the remainder of the second period, as Guckian made nine saves to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard through one, while Wilson countered with seven stops.

The second frame belonged to the visitors from Hockey East, as the Huskies scored two goals only 5:44 minutes apart to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Dominique Thibault leveled the score at 1-1 with her third of the season 2:18 into the second period, as she slipped the puck behind Guckian after a nice touch pass in front by Nicole Tritter. Then, at 8:02, UConn took their first lead of the afternoon when Michelle Binning won the puck along the boards, cut to the front of the net and hoisted a backhand over Guckian for her third of 2007-08.

Meanwhile, the Saints were unable to get anything behind Wilson, who held her ground nicely in the second and turned away all eight of St. Lawrence’s chances.

With the Huskies continuing to protect a 2-1 cushion, the visitors began to protect Wilson, stacking the front of the net with defensemen to prevent any rebound chances. However, their prevent-style defense allowed St. Lawrence to rifle 32 attempts towards the cage, though only 12 hit their mark.

With time winding down, senior Chelsea Grills worked hard along the far boards in the UConn zone, eventually winning the puck and sending it into the slot. Junior Alison Domenico made a heads-up decision, tipping the pass further to her left to a wide open Tara Akstull. The sophomore made a big-time play, scoring her first of the season, ripping a wrist shot past Wilson to even the score at 2-2 with 4:08 remaining in regulation.

The goal seemed to lift the Saints, as they continued to put pressure on Wilson and the UConn defense. However, the Huskies countered up the ice and it was again Thibault who made the key play for the visitors. The sophomore took the puck away from a Saint defender and slid a pass to Jennifer Chaisson, who found an uncovered Reid in the slot. She somehow managed to squeeze her wrist shot between Guckian’s glove and the near post for the game-winning goal, giving Connecticut a 3-2 upset victory.

“I thought we worked very hard for 40 minutes, and really dominated territorially in the third period,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “The packed in their defense in front of the net, and I give them a lot of credit for taking advantage of our mistakes and coming right back after we tied it up to get the game-winner.”

Wilson finished with 26 saves and improved to 2-1-0 on the season, while Guckian fell to 1-2-0 and made 18 saves in the loss. Neither team was able to get anything going on the power play, as UConn finished 0-for-8 and St. Lawrence 0-for-5.

The Saints will look to salvage a split in the weekend series as they take on Providence College tomorrow, Saturday, October 20th at 7:00pm at Appleton Arena.