St. Lawrence Downs New Hampshire 6-2 to Earn Frozen Four Trip

The No. 5 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team is headed to Lake Placid, NY for the 2007 Frozen Four after a remarkable 6-2 victory over No. 4 New Hampshire on Saturday in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Durham, NH. Senior Chelsea Grills and sophomore Carson Duggan keyed the victory, combining for seven points in the victory.

The Saints win over UNH snapped the Wildcats' 13-game unbeaten streak and handed the home team their first loss in the Whittemore Center since November 25th, 2006. It was also only the second loss for New Hampshire in the Whittemore Center in postseason play.

The dropping of the puck meant immediate offense for two of the top scoring teams in the nation, with both UNH and St. Lawrence earning a few bids in the opening minutes. With the Saints offense pressuring the puck in the Wildcats' zone, sophomore Marianna Locke was pulled down while cutting to the net by Sadie Wright-Ward, giving the visitors the game's first power play chance at 7:28.

Paul Flanagan's team didn't take long with the extra skater to score the opening goal, as Locke scored her 17th of the season only 16 seconds into the power play at 7:46. First year student Britni Smith collected the puck just inside the blue line and sent a long wrist shot on UNH goalie Melissa Bourdon. Though Bourdon seemed to have the shot under control, the rebound popped up in the air and behind her near the goal line where Locke was waiting to tap it in for the 1-0 advantage.

New Hampshire would respond quickly, though, tying the game only 28 seconds later when Sam Faber netted her 16th of the season at 8:14. Micaela Long found her line mate to St. Lawrence goalie Meaghan Guckian's left just outside the crease. Though the junior seemed to have all angles cut off, Faber just snuck a wrist shot over the netminder's glove and under the post to tie the score at 1-1.

The goal seemed to ignite the Wildcats, who had a chance to take the lead less than two minutes later when Jennifer Hitchcock sprung free on a breakaway chance on Guckian. However, the goaltender showed her composure and made a key save on Hitchcock's wrist shot to keep the game tied.

The remainder of the first period belonged to the Scarlet and Brown, as they were able to tack on a pair of goals and carry a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Saints' third line of Tara Akstull, Courtney Sawchuk, and Lisa Batchelor, who had a fantastic weekend at the ECACHL Championship series last Saturday and Sunday, sparked the third goal with some hard work in the offensive zone. After a steal by Sawchuk in the corner behind Bourdon, Batchelor sent a crossing pass in front to Akstull who fanned on the shot. However, the puck sailed right to a waiting Annie Guay, who blasted a slap shot past Bourdon's right pad for her 11th of the season to give St. Lawrence a 2-1 lead.

An outstanding hustle play by senior co-captain Chelsea Grills would put the finishing touches on a fantastic twenty minutes by the visitors, as the Stittsville, Ontario native scored her 16th of the season with a mere 3.6 seconds remaining in the period. The puck came loose to Grills at center ice, and she took off past a New Hampshire defender and moved in on Bourdon, needing to beat the clock and the Wildcat goalkeeper. Grills managed to do both, tucking the puck under the goalie's pads for an unassisted tally, capping off the Saints thirteenth period of scoring three or more goals this season, and sending the Scarlet and Brown to the locker room with a two goal lead.

"I knew I had time because my teammates were yelling from the bench, and it really settled me down as I knew I had to score," said Grills, who finished with one goal and three assists in her first NCAA game since 2005.

Guckian was solid between the pipes for St. Lawrence in the first, stopping 7-of-8 UNH chances, while Bourdon was able to stop six of the Saints nine first period bids.

After junior Kerri Wallace was sent off for interference only 36 seconds into the second period, the Saints would have to lean on their penalty killing unit to keep New Hampshire's 7th ranked power play from scoring. Though their defense bent, it didn't break, and St. Lawrence managed to kill off the two minute minor to Wallace, giving them their momentum back from the first period.

The kill seemed to energize the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they responded with their fourth goal of the game at 8:55 of the second period as sophomore Carson Duggan scored her 29th goal of the season. With the Saints top line putting constant pressure on the UNH defense, junior Sabrina Harbec landed a pass from Grills at the near boards and she centered a heads-up pass to Duggan in the slot. The Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native did the rest, sending a shot on Bourdon that hit the goalie, but managed to creep into the goal to put St. Lawrence up 4-1.

Akstull would then earn a great chance to extend the Saints lead yet again, but her shot from the slot clanked off the left post and sailed wide of the net. New Hampshire took advantage of the break, cutting into the

St. Lawrence lead at 13:41 when Faber scored her second goal of the game. Faber took a pass from Kelly Paton in the left circle, and skated into the slot with the puck. She sent a wrist shot across her body that fooled Guckian and sailed over the goalie's glove for the sophomore forward's 17th of the year to make the score 4-2.

However, the Saints would again assert themselves late in the period, re-establishing their three goal cushion to end the second stanza. Skating with a player advantage, the Scarlet and Brown made one last push as the final seconds ticked off of a minor penalty to New Hampshire's Angela Taylor. Harbec fired a shot from close range on Bourdon, who continued to struggle giving up rebounds. The puck came to Grills at the goal mouth, who was again stopped, but the next rebounds came right back to Duggan, who hammered it into the net for her second of the game at 16:48 of the second to complete the period's scoring.

Through two periods, the Saints held a 19-18 advantage in shots and were 2-of-3 on the power play. Guckian continued to shine with nine saves in the period for a total of 16, while Bourdon made eight saves for a total of 14 through two periods.

Third period started with UNH looking to create as many offensive chances as possible, and they had a critical chance only 2:45 into the period. The home team snuck senior Nicole Hekle behind the Saint defense in the neutral zone, and a long outlet pass found her for a one-on-one opportunity with Guckian. Though she tried to fool the Victor, NY by sliding the puck through the crease, Guckian stayed right with the play and made a big pad save to protect her team's three goal lead.

With the Wildcats pressing offensively, the Saints capitalized on a turnover in the neutral zone, which created a three-on-one. Duggan found Grills to Bourdon's right, and just as the defender committed to the shot, Grills slid a pass into the slot for Harbec who one-timed it into the goal for her 26th of the season with 11:00 remaining in regulation, putting St. Lawrence ahead 6-2, and ensuring the Saints their fifth trip to the NCAA Frozen Four since 2001.

"It certainly helped getting a lead against a team like this, and then it was about gutting it out" said Coach Flanagan, who coached his team to their fourth consecutive Frozen Four. "I thought we did a great job frustrating UNH in the neutral zone, and to go 2-of-3 on the power play was huge. Meaghan Guckian was also there when we needed her today with some timely saves."

"I think the practice that we had at Middlebury on Thursday really made a huge difference," said Duggan, who finished with three points (2g, 1a) in the game. "We really felt comfortable on the big sheet today."

Guckian finished with 26 saves for the Saints and improved to 24-7-3, collecting her first collegiate NCAA victory. Bourdon closed with 15 saves and finished 2007 with a 22-4-4 record.

St. Lawrence advances to the National Semifinals where they will meet the winner of No. 1 seed Wisconsin and No. 8 Harvard on Friday, March 16th and 5:00pm. The Badgers and Crimson will play tonight at 7:00pm CT with the final spot in the Frozen Four at stake.