DUGGAN OWNS UNIVERSITY GOAL RECORD

AFTER TWO-TALLY NIGHT AT UNION

Jan. 26: The career accolades continued for St. Lawrence University junior forward Carson Duggan on Saturday, as the Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native, who reached the 100-point mark earlier this season, became the all-time goal scoring leader in the program’s history with the 78th of her tenure on Saturday in the team’s 7-1 win over Union College. Duggan had two scores in the contest, breaking Caroline Trudeau’s record of goals in only 102 games with the Scarlet and Brown.

No. 7/6 St. Lawrence (19-7-0, 12-2-0) continued to put the vice grip on the No. 2 seed in the conference standings by taking four points in the Capital District with the sweep of Rensselaer and Union. Meanwhile, the Dutchwomen remained winless in ECAC Hockey play this season, falling to 3-18-2 (0-12-2).

A three-goal first period would put head coach Paul Flanagan’s visiting squad on top by that margin after twenty minutes of play. Sophomore Courtney Sawchuk opened the game’s scoring at 8:12 on the power play, as she fired her 2nd of the season past Union’s Lundy Day to put St. Lawrence ahead 1-0.

Duggan would tie Trudeau’s goal record at 17:22 of the first period, with assists going to rookie Karell Emard and junior Lisa Batchelor. Only 1:19 later, the Saints were celebrating again as sophomore Tara Akstull scored her 12 th goal of the season on the power play at 18:41. Assists on the Clifton Park, NY native’s goal went to sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer and junior Marianna Locke.

The Saints, who skated without seniors Chelsea Grills, Sabrina Harbec and Annie Guay for the second consecutive game due to Team Canada commitments, built their lead to 7-0 by the end of the second period at Messa Rink in Schenectady, NY.

Senior co-captain Kerri Wallace picked up her 4 th goal of the season at 5:27 of the second stanza, adding her team’s third power play goal of the night to build the cushion to 4-0. Akstull and junior Alison Domenico picked up assists on the goal.

The record-breaking moment followed at 13:08 of the period while St. Lawrence skated with the extra attacker yet again. Batchelor and Emard connected with Duggan again, who notched her 78th goal in only her third season with the team. Though it is likely to be a horse-race to the end of the season between she and Harbec, who currently has 76 goals, Duggan has another season of collegiate hockey to add to her total.

First year student Kyrsten Venasse scored an unassisted goal, her 2nd of the season, only 38 seconds after Duggan snapped the record to bring the score to 6-0. The goal also chased Day from the contest as she was relieved by Danielle Kimble. Fellow rookie Kirsten Roach would complete St. Lawrence’s scoring at 14:49 of the period, tallying her 2nd of her career, with assists going to Venasse and Domenico. The 7-0 lead was more than enough for the Saints’ defensive unit, who allowed Union only nine shots through two periods of play on sophomore goaltender Maxie Weisz.

The Dutchwomen would snap Weisz’s shutout bid at 14:13 of the third period, however, as Kelly Fleming found Stephanie Gilbert, who scored her 2nd goal of the season to bring the score to the final tally of 7-1.

St. Lawrence finished with a dominant 44-14 advantage in shots on goal, including an impressive 17-3 mark in the opening period. The visitors did the majority of their damage on the power play, finishing 4-of-6 with the extra attacker, while Union finished 0-for-5.

Weisz picked up the victory with a 13-save showing and remains unbeaten in her collegiate career at 9-0-0. Day suffered the loss, falling to 2-18-2.

“I congratulate Carson on setting the record, and I think it is a testament to her ability to take advantage of the opportunities she is given,” said Coach Flanagan. “We were without three of our top skaters this weekend, but I’m proud of the way our team played and stepped up to win in their absence. We needed both of these wins heading into a tough series with Clarkson next weekend.”

The Saints and Golden Knights will meet in a home-and-home series next weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 1st and 2nd. The two teams, both of which are likely to be ranked in the top-10 heading into the weekend, first square off at Cheel Arena in Potsdam on Friday night at 7:00pm.

PYERS AND GUCKIAN PROVIDE SPARK AS

NO. 7/6 SAINTS BLANK ENGINEERS, 3-0

Jan. 25: Though the No. 7/6 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team was without three of its leading scorers against Rensselaer on Friday night, three different Saints tallied goals including a goal and an assist from junior Jordan Pyers, and senior goalie Meaghan Guckian turned in a 25-save performance to lift the Scarlet and Brown to a 3-0 win in Troy, NY.

The victory kept St. Lawrence (18-7-0, 11-2-0) undefeated in the all-time series against the Engineers at 5-0-0, and gave the Saints two more crucial points in the conference standings. Rensselaer (1-9-4, 4-5-3) simply could not solve Guckian, who picked up her 17th career shutout.

The Saints and Engineers battled through a scoreless first period that saw the visitors hold an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal. Neither team was able to capitalize on two power play chances in the first, as Guckian and Rensselaer ’s Sonja van der Bliek were sharp in the early going.

St. Lawrence, which played without seniors Sabrina Harbec, Chelsea Grills and Annie Guay, who are at a training camp with Team Canada, finally broke open the scoring at 17:20 of the second period. First year student Karell Emard got the play started when she fired a shot on goal that van der Bliek. Though the goalie made the initial save, the rebound came loose to junior Carson Duggan at the goal mouth, and the Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native lifted the puck over the netminder’s shoulder, putting the Saints on top, 1-0.

The goal was Duggan’s 18th of the season, which leads the team, and the 76th of her career, which is only one behind Caroline Trudeau’s University goal scoring record.

Rensselaer held a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal in the second period, but Guckian was up to the task, denying each Engineer bid. The home team’s best chance to even the score came on a wrap-around opportunity for Whitney Naslund, but Guckian made a diving stick-save to preserve her team’s 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.

Pyers would give St. Lawrence the coveted insurance goal only 3:24 into the third period. Rensselaer controlled the puck in their opponent’s zone, but a blocked shot by sophomore Britni Smith would turn Pyers loose in the offensive zone, moving in all alone on van der Bliek. The New Milford, CT native backhanded a shot under the cross bar for her 2nd goal of the season, while Smith was credited with her 6th helper of 2007-08.

The Saints were celebrating a 3-0 cushion less than three minutes later when sophomore defenseman Brittaney Maschmeyer added her 4 th goal of the season at 6:14 of the third period. The Bruderheim, Alberta native collected a pass from sophomore Karlee Shields and fired a rocket on van der Bliek that slid under the goaltender to seal the Saints’ victory. Pyers was also credited with her first assist of the season on the goal.

Guckian handled the rest for the Scarlet and Brown, as the Victor, NY native stopped each of RPI ’s six shots in the final period to finish off her fourth shutout of the season. With the win, Guckian moved to 14-7-0, while van der Bliek suffered the loss in a 27-save effort, falling to 8-4-2 .

Neither team was able to take advantage of its power play chances, as Rensselaer finished 0-for-7 with the extra skater and St. Lawrence 0-for-4.

The Saints will look to earn a weekend sweep in the Capital District when they visit the Union College Dutchwomen tomorrow, Saturday, January 26. The puck will drop on the two ECAC Hockey foes at 4:00pm.