SAINTS TURN BACK WAYNE STATE 5-2

Nov. 3: Chelsea Grills scored one goal and assisted on three others as St. Lawrence University’s women’s hockey team completed a weekend sweep at Wayne State with a 5-2 win Saturday afternoon.

The Saints, now 7-2 on the season were without All America defender Annie Guay who was injured in Friday’s game.

Wayne State, 4-4, jumped out to an early lead in quest of an upset of the fourth-ranked Saints as Katrina Prtotpapas scored the game’s first goal on a power play just 1:13 into the game. It was the only goal of the first period as Warrior goalie Valery Turcotte made a dozen of her game total of 35 saves in the first 20 minutes.

Grills tied it on a shorthanded break with Sabrina Harbec at 4:04 of the second and the Saints went ahead at 17:15. First year defender Michelle Zimmerman then put the Saints in front with her first collegiate goal from Grills and Karell Emard at 17:15.

Tara Akstull scored her fifth goal of the season on a power play from Grills and Emard at 1:04 of the third for the eventual game winner, but the Warriors made it interesting when Melissa Boal scored her 11 th of the season at 7:24 to cut the Saint lead to 3-2.

` Harbec, who set the Saint career point record in Friday’s game, opened the gap to 4-2 at 10:02 with her fourth of the season from Zimmerman and Brittaney Maschmeyer and Akstull completed the scoring with her second of the day from Grills and Emard on a power play at 14:09.

Meaghan Guckian made ten of her 21 saves in the third period as the Saints finished with a 40-23 shot advantage over the Warriors. The Saints were two of five on the power play and killed six of seven Wayne State power plays.

SLU will return to action with Union and RPI at home next weekend.

HARBEC BREAKS UNIVERSITY POINT RECORD AS

NO. 4 SAINTS SURVIVE WAYNE STATE

Nov. 2: Senior forward Sabrina Harbec scored the game-winning goal and added two assists against Wayne State on Friday evening, lifting the No. 4 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team to a 5-3 victory over the Warriors in Detroit, MI. Harbec’s three-point performance brought her career point total to 179, breaking the University’s career point record previously held by Rebecca Russell ’05 (178).

The Saints (5-2-0, 2-0-0) let a three-goal second period lead slip away when the Warriors (4-3-0, 0-0-0) tied the game less than three minutes into the third period at 3-3. However, Harbec gave her team the lead back only 49 seconds later, and then assisted on junior Carson Duggan’s second goal of the night to put the finishing touches on the win.

Sophomore Britni Smith opened the scoring for St. Lawrence, as she tallied her first goal of the season at 9:58 of the first period, with assists going to rookie Karell Emard and senior Chelsea Grills. However, it was the only goal that Wayne State netminder Tiffany Thompson would allow in the first twenty minutes while making seven stops. Meanwhile, her counterpart, Meaghan Guckian, stopped all five shots she faced to keep Wayne State off the board in the early going.

St. Lawrence built a 2-0 lead behind a power play goal from Duggan, her fifth goal of the season, at 8:13 of the second period after Wayne State took a penalty for Too Many Players on the Ice. Harbec picked up her first helper of the evening on the goal, while senior co-captain Kerri Wallace was also credited with an assist.

Sophomore forward Courtney Sawchuk would get into the scoring at 13:04 of the second period, when she netted her first goal of the 2007-08 season. Wallace again assisted on the goal, along with junior forward Alison Domenico.

Though the game seemed well in hand at that point, Wayne State’s Lindsay DiPietro had other ideas. The Warriors’ star forward scored a pair of goals only 1:12 apart to bring her team back to within striking distance at 3-2 after two periods. DiPietro beat Guckian to get Wayne State on the board at 15:30 of the period with her team skating on the power play. She then added her fourth goal of the campaign at 16:42 with an assist going to Sam Poyton to end the period and instantly add drama to the contest.

The Warriors continued their pursuit of the upset to start the third period, as they pulled even with the Scarlet and Brown at 3-3 on Melissa Boal’s 10 th goal of the young season on the power play at the 2:16 mark.

Though Wayne State finished 2-of-7 against the nation’s top penalty killing unit and managed to outshoot their opponents 26-20, their upset bid was foiled by Harbec. The St. Hubert, Quebec native responded to Boal’s goal with her third goal of the season at 3:03 of the period, with assists going to junior Lisa Batchelor and Duggan. After tying the University career point record with the goal, Harbec set the new standard with an assist on Duggan’s insurance goal at 8:39 of the third period. Batchelor also picked up her second helper of the period on the final goal of the game.

The two-goal advantage would be enough for Guckian this time, as the Victor, NY native made 9 of her 26 saves in the third period to pick up her fourth win of the season (4-2-0). Thompson finished with 15 saves on 20 shots, losing her first decision of the season (0-1-0).

The Saints’ win kept their unblemished record against Wayne State in tact, as they improved to 9-0-0 all time against the Warriors. The Scarlet and Brown will put that record on the line again on Saturday afternoon, as the two teams meet in a rematch at 2:00pm in Detroit, MI.