GUCKIAN EARNS CAREER SHUT OUT RECORD AS

SAINTS BATTLE PAST RENSSELAER, 3-0

Nov. 10: Senior goaltender Meaghan Guckian stopped all 23 shots she faced on Saturday and broke the

St. Lawrence University record for career shutouts with her 15 th as the No. 5/4 Saints earned a weekend sweep with a 3-0 victory over Rensselaer in Appleton Arena. Senior Chelsea Grills and sophomore Tara Akstull each earned a point, extending their active point-scoring streaks to eight games.

The Saints ( 8-2-0, 4-0-0) played with a very short bench this afternoon, as they were once again without several key players. However, the team showed both grit and determination, as well as solid special teams play, in order to hold off the Engineers (6-4-1, 1-2-1), who leave the North Country without a point in conference play.

Much of the first period was played in the neutral zone without either team able to get many quality chances. Though both teams managed only four shots on goal each in the first period, the Saints made their last one count, as Akstull controlled the puck in her own zone and threaded a perfect pass to Grills, who had cut through center ice and caught Rensselaer on a change. Showing her speed, Grills moved in on a breakaway against RPI goalie Sonja van der Bliek and fired a shot underneath the cross bar over the netminder’s shoulder to put the home team on top, 1-0, at 18:09 of the first period.

Rensselaer was given their best scoring chance of the evening in the first minute of the second period.

St. Lawrence sophomore Courtney Sawchuk, who played defense for the first time in her collegiate career on Saturday, and fellow blue-liner Kerri Wallace were given minor penalties only 14 seconds apart, giving Rensselaer a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:46. Though the Engineers manufactured five shots on goal, Guckian made each save while the team got great penalty killing minutes from sophomore Lisa Batchelor, who blocked two shots and worked to clear the puck out of the zone.

The visitors continued to pour on the offense in the second period, out-shooting St. Lawrence 12-4 in the period. Rookie Sydney O’Keefe had another prime chance for RPI as she moved in on a one-on-one with Guckian, but the goaltender made a great play by poke-checking the puck away from the attacker. The Victor, NY native’s stellar play between the pipes kept it a 1-0 game heading to the third period.

Only 1:24 into the final period, the Saints netted an insurance goal on the power play, as Wallace took a pass from fellow defenseman Michelle Zimmerman and teed up a long slap shot from the blue line. Though van der Bliek got a pad on the shot, the puck trickled behind her and across the goal line to put St. Lawrence on top, 2-0.

With a 2-0 lead, the Saints’ defensive unit tightened the screws and allowed minimal scoring chances on Guckian, who stopped all seven shots she faced in the final period to secure both the victory and the career shut-out record. Junior Carson Duggan scored her 7 th goal of the season at 16:44 of the third period as Rensselaer chose to pull van der Bliek with 3:38 to play in regulation. The goal capped the scoring and gave

St. Lawrence a 3-0 ECAC Hockey victory.

“I thought it was a very impressive performance by our team, as we were forced to skate with a short bench tonight,” said Saints assistant coach Mare MacDougall. “Meaghan (Guckian) came up big when we needed her tonight, and her consistency throughout her career is evident by capturing the shut-out record against a very talented Rensselaer team.”

RPI finished with a 23-15 advantage in shots, but were unable to capitalize on any of their six power play chances. The Saints finished 1-of-3 with the extra skater, and shut out opponents in back-to-back games for the first time since December of 2005.

Akstull’s career-long goal-scoring streak came to end at seven games as she failed to score a goal for the first time since October 6th. However, she, along with Grills, senior Sabrina Harbec (4 games), Batchelor (2 games) and Zimmerman (3 games) will all carry active point-scoring streaks into the team’s next game, which falls on Friday, November 23rd in Hanover, NH against 2006-07 ECAC Hockey champions, Dartmouth College. The puck will drop on the Saints and Big Green at 7:00pm.

AKSTULL EXTENDS GOAL-SCORING STREAK TO

SEVEN AS SAINTS ROUT UNION, 7-0

Nov. 9: Sophomore forward Tara Akstull scored a pair of power play goals, extending her goal-scoring streak to seven games, and added an assist as the No. 5/4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team earned an ECAC Hockey victory over the Union Dutchwomen, 7-0, in Appleton Arena on Friday evening.

The Saints (7-2-0, 3-0-0) got a four-point effort from senior co-captain Chelsea Grills, who scored a goal and added three assists, while senior Sabrina Harbec, the University’s new career-scoring leader, tallied two goals and a helper in the victory. The Scarlet and Brown’s offense was relentless, taking 45 shots on goal to the Dutchwomen’s nine.

Though Union (0-10-0, 0-3-0) worked hard in the first period to keep the Saints at bay, sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer broke the scoreless period with 3:00 minutes left to play in the opening frame. With a delayed penalty coming on the Dutchwomen, sophomore goalie Maxie Weisz skated to the bench for an extra attacker. Harbec worked the puck along the boards back to Maschmeyer, who blasted a slap shot from the point that deflected off a Union defender and past goaltender Lundy Day to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead after one period of play.

It was the Saints’ five-goal second period that overwhelmed Union, as the home team’s power play erupted for four tallies in the twenty minutes. Grills scored the team’s second goal after a beautiful pass through the crease from Akstull on the power play at 2:08. Harbec would then score her fifth of the season and first of the night at 10:01 of the second period, with an assist going to rookie blueliner Michelle Zimmerman to make the score 3-0.

Akstull would get her first of the game only 3:11 later, when Grills returned the favor and sent a crisp, cross-ice pass that landed right on the Clifton Park, NY native’s stick. Akstull finished the play by rifling a shot past Day, who was beaten glove-side. The goal moved her to within one of the St. Lawrence University record for consecutive games with a goal, which is currently held by Emilie Berlinguette ’06.

The Saints would get their second goal off a Union defender at 14:04 of the second period, when sophomore Courtney Sawchuk hit a player in front of Day, and the puck caromed inside the far post, giving the home team a 5-0 cushion. Akstull would then complete the period’s scoring at 16:44 on the power play, when she wristed a shot past new Union netminder Danielle Kimble, who replaced Day after St. Lawrence’s fifth goal.

Harbec notched her second goal of the night at 4:33 of the third period, with an assist going to Grills, which was the Stittsville, Ontario native’s 14 th helper of the season. The goal capped the scoring at 7-0, as Weisz made stopped all nine shots that she faced in the game to earn her second shutout of the season.

St. Lawrence, who skated without senior co-captain Annie Guay, junior forward Alison Domenico, and sophomore defender Britni Smith due to injury, saw the team rally around the play of senior Sarah Callan and sophomore Becky Street, who both earned their first collegiate start on Friday.

“I’m proud that we out-worked that team tonight, as one of our goals heading into the game was to always be the hardest working team on the ice,” said Saints assistant coach Mare MacDougall, who joined Associate Head Coach Ted Wisner behind the bench with head coach Paul Flanagan abroad with the U.S. National Team. “Our team set a specific goal to have a successful power play this weekend, and thanks to our hard work and driving to the net, we made good things happen.”

Weisz improved to 2-0-0 on the season, and is yet to give up a goal in her sophomore campaign. Day took the loss for Union, despite making 23 saves, and fell to 0-10-0. Kimble made 15 stops, including 11 in the third period, in her stead.

The Saints will look to earn the weekend sweep tomorrow, Saturday, November 10th as they take on the Rensselaer Engineers at Appleton Arena at 4:00pm.