DOMENICO’S LATE POWER PLAY GOAL

HELPS NO. 6 SAINTS PAST BROWN, 3-2

Feb. 16: Junior forward Alison Domenico re-directed a shot from sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer behind Brown goaltender Nicole Stock at 7:11 of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie and giving the No. 6 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team an important 3-2 victory over the Bears on Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena.

The Saints (23-8-1,16-3-1) dominated the Bears (3-19-5, 2-14-4) in shots on goal by a 42-20 margin, but Stock was fantastic for the visitors, making 39 saves including 22 in the second period alone.

The Bears, who have been a thorn in the Saints’ side over the years, saw much of the play in their end of the ice during the opening period. However, it was Brown that capitalized on a power play chance at 15:37 to grab a 1-0 lead after the first stanza. Brown’s Rylee Olewinski fired a shot from the blue line that St. Lawrence netminder Meaghan Guckian was able to steer away. However, the kick save came right to Andrea Hunter, who quickly punched a shot into the net for her 5th goal of the season.

St. Lawrence would right the ship in the second period, as they out-shot Brown 24-6 in the period. With the consistent pressure on Stock and the Bears’ defense, it was only a matter of time before the Saints’ offense got on the score board. Sophomore Courtney Sawchuk sent a long shot on net, and though Stock made the save, rookie Karell Emard tipped a pass to linemate Lisa Batchelor on the goal mouth. The Red Deer, Alberta native finished the play for her 6th tally of the season to tie the score at 1-1 at 6:02 of the second.

First year student Kirsten Roach, who had two goals against Yale on Friday evening, added her third goal of the weekend at 12:45 while her team skated on the power play. Senior Annie Guay again started the play with a long shot from the blue line that was turned aside by Stock. Emard again corralled the rebound and fed Roach who tucked in her 5th of the season to put her team on top 2-1.

Though Brown was thoroughly outplayed in the period, they were once again able to capitalize on the power play at 18:06 to even the score at 2-2 after two periods. Olewinski picked up the puck after back-to-back shots by Erica Kromm and fired it past Guckian for her 7th of the season. The goal stymied the Saints’ momentum and kept the visitors hopes of a major upset in play.

The third period proved to be highly contested, as the Saints narrowly out-shot Brown, 10-9. With Brown’s Jaclyn Small in the penalty box, the home team won the face off to Stock’s right and senior defenseman Kerri Wallace fed a wide open Maschmeyer at the far point. Maschmeyer’s shot was headed towards Stock, but thanks to Domenico’s deflection, avoided the netminder and put St. Lawrence ahead 3-2 at 7:11 of the third period. The goal was Domenico’s 13th of the season.

Brown, seeking their biggest win of the season, didn’t get discouraged, however, and began to put

St. Lawrence on their heels. Guckian, who made only nine saves in the opening two periods combined, came through in the third with nine more important saves to keep her team’s lead in tact.

With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Brown’s Hayley Moore sent a shot towards Guckian from the left circle. A screen in front prevented the goaltender from seeing the puck, which bounced off the right post and began to trickle towards the goal line. However, Guckian quickly fell back and covered the puck just before it crossed the line, preventing the equalizer and allowing the Saints to hold on for a 3-2 victory.

“That was a great college hockey game. Brown made us work for everything tonight, and those are two huge points in a game that we really had to play hard in the third period,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “I think playing in tight games like that is good for our team as we prepare for the playoffs.”

St. Lawrence, who again wore specially designed pink jerseys in conjunction with ECAC Hockey’s “Pink at the Rink,” finished 2-of-10 on the power play while Brown was 2-of-8.

Guckian improved to 18-8-1 on the season behind an 18-save performance, while Stock suffered the loss despite making 39 stops, falling to 3-19-5.

The Scarlet and Brown, who have already nailed down the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament, will complete the 2007-08 regular season next weekend at Appleton Arena when they welcome Princeton and Quinnipiac to Canton, NY. The puck will drop on the Saints and Tigers on Friday, February 22 at 7:00pm.

NO. 6 SAINTS TORCH YALE FOR FIVE SECOND PERIOD

GOALS EN ROUTE TO 5-3 VICTORY

Feb. 15: The No. 6 St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team, donning specially designed pink jerseys as part of ECAC Hockey’s “Pink at the Rink” promotion, exploded for five goals in the second period, including two from first year student Kirsten Roach en route to a 5-3 victory over Yale University at Appleton Arena on Friday night.

The Saints (22-8-1, 15-3-1) locked up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, as Harvard clinched the 2007-08 regular season title. Meanwhile, Yale fell into a tie for 8 th place in the standings after falling to 9-11-6 (6-9-4).

Though St. Lawrence managed to out-shoot the Bulldogs in the opening frame 9-6, it was the visitors who went to the locker room with a 1-0 cushion. While skating on the power play, Yale’s Bray Ketchum collected a rebound in front off a shot from teammate Sarah Tittman and tucked it under St. Lawrence senior goaltender Meaghan Guckian for a 1-0 lead. The goal was Ketchum’s 8 th of the season, while Tittman picked up her 9th assist.

The home team would respond quickly in the second period, however, as Roach scored her first of the game at 4:25 to even things up. With a delayed penalty coming on Yale, Guckian skated to the bench to for the extra attacker. The puck found first year student Michelle Zimmerman at the blue line, and she tossed a shot on goal that was stopped by Yale’s Shivon Zilis. However, the rebound came to the top of the goal mouth for Roach, who stuffed it in for her 3rd of the season.

Yale wouldn’t miss a beat, though, and tallied their second power play goal of the night only 1:51 later to regain the lead at 2-1. After a great effort by Maggie Westfal to keep the puck in the St. Lawrence zone, the puck came to Ketchum in the left circle, and she snapped a shot past Guckian’s glove for her second of the game.

The goal may have put Yale ahead, but it served as a wake-up call to the Saints, who quickly rattled off four consecutive goals in a span of 3:52 to build a 5-2 lead at the end of two periods. Junior Alison Domenico got the run started on the power play with her 12th of the season at 12:53 thanks to a beautiful pass from senior Kerri Wallace. Wallace corralled the puck along the right boards and sent a crisp pass into the slot where Domenico deflected it over Zilis’ shoulder to tie the game at 2-2.

Roach picked up her second of the game less than a minute later at 13:44, when she again scored on a rebound in front to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 3-2. Junior Marianna Locke would then tack on an insurance goal only 1:12 later to make the score 4-2, thanks to a perfect behind-the-back pass from sophomore Tara Akstull that caught Zilis out of position and gave the Brasher Falls, NY native a wide open net for her 14th of the season.

To compound the problem for Yale, less than two minutes later senior Sabrina Harbec and junior Carson Duggan found themselves on a two-on-one chance in the offensive zone. There was little the Bulldog defenseman could do, as two of the top scorers in St. Lawrence history ran a precise give-and-go, with Duggan setting up Harbec for a tap-in goal, her 13th of the season, at 16:45 to cap the Saints’ four-goal run. The assist was Duggan’s ninth of the season, while senior Chelsea Grills was credited with her 22 nd helper of the year on the goal as well.

Though they were out-played in the second period, Yale continued to battle in the third and would not allow the home team to add to their lead. The Bulldogs would in fact make it a game at 17:44, when they scored their third power play goal of the night to make the score 5-3. Helen Resor banged in a rebound in front of Guckian across the goal line off a shot from Mandi Schwartz for her 6th goal of the season.

Despite pulling Jackee Snikeris, who replaced Zilis between the pipes to start the third period, for the remaining 1:54 of the game, Yale was unable to pull any closer and the Saints improved to 10-5-1 at Appleton Arena this season.

“I thought we played a great second period, and showed a lot of intensity, but we need to play the full sixty minutes,” said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. “I give Yale a ton of credit for playing hard and exposing our weak penalty killing tonight.”

Yale finished 3-of-7 on the power play, while St. Lawrence was 1-of-4 with the extra skater and finished with a 33-28 advantage in shots on goal.

Guckian made 25 saves and improved to 17-8-1 on the season, while Zilis made 18 saves in a losing effort, falling to 3-8-3. Snikeris, who played a very solid third period, made 10 saves in her 18:06 minutes of action.

ECAC Hockey’s “Pink at the Rink” will conclude tomorrow, with the game-used jerseys and coaches’ ties being auctioned off on Monday to raise money for cancer research. For more information or to bid on a jersey, visit www.ecachockeycoachesvscancer.com.

Meanwhile, the Scarlet and Brown will look to earn a weekend sweep while wearing the pink uniforms when they take on Brown University tomorrow, Saturday, February 16 at Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the Saints and Bears and 4:00pm.