St. Lawrence and Princeton Open League Play with Wins
ALBANY, N.Y. -- League games started for the ECAC Hockey League's women over the weekend, and St. Lawrence earned an opening sweep, while Princeton also claimed victory in its first league game of the year. In non-league games, Rensselaer opened the weekend with a win and Union won twice.
St. Lawrence earned its four points with a sweep of local rival Clarkson. The Saints claimed game one 2-1 in Canton, before shutting out the Golden Knights 5-0 in Potsdam. Junior netminder Meaghan Guckian, who was named Goaltender of the Week for the second straight time, played a key role in the two games, stopping 35 of the 36 shots she faced in the series to post a .972 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average. The shutout was the 10th of her career. Six of her teammates had multiple points on the weekend.
Princeton claimed its first league win of the year with a 6-3 victory vs. Quinnipiac. Six Tigers recorded two points in the win. Princeton had started off the weekend with a 2-all tie at Boston College. Junior Marykate Oakley was the team's leader over the weekend with three points.
Jamie-Lynn Stewart earned Player of the Week honors after picking up five points over the weekend for Rensselaer. The sophomore forward had a hand in every goal for the Engineers, as the team beat Wayne State 3-1 and then fell 3-2 in overtime. One of Stewart's assists set up Friday's game winner, while one of her goals was a power-play marker.
Union posted its first weekend sweep in nearly a year, when it took two games from Sacred Heart. Rookie of the Week Brenna Malnar led the Dutchwomen with three points in the two games, including the game winner on Saturday.
In other weekend action, Cornell took Niagara to overtime twice and earned a tie on Saturday, while Brown and Colgate both challenged No. 2 New Hampshire, but came away disappointed. Dartmouth also faced a nationally-ranked opponent and fell twice on the road to Mercyhurst. Yale started the weekend off with a loss to Boston College before facing McGill in an exhibition game. The Harvard Crimson also took on McGill, earning a 2-0 win.
ECACHL Player of the Week
JAMIE-LYNN STEWART -- Rensselaer
So., Forward * Cambridge, Ont.
Stewart had a hand in every Rensselaer goal over the weekend. She
scored two goals and had three assists in the Engineers' two-game
split with Wayne State. One goal was a power-play marker.
ECACHL Goalie of the Week
MEAGHAN GUCKIAN -- St. Lawrence
Jr. * Victor, N.Y.
Guckian picked up her fourth and fifth wins of the season with
back-to-back league victories, including a shutout.
ECACHL Rookie of the Week
BRENNA MALNAR -- Union
Forward * Southgate, Mich.
Malnar recorded three points in two victories, picking up two goals
and an assist. Her goal on Saturday was the game winner.
TEAM NOTES
Brown: Brown fell to No. 2 UNH on Friday. While the Bears were only able to get seven shots on net, they held the Wildcats to their lowest offensive output of the season. UNH had not scored fewer than four goals in its five previous games. ... The Bears open their ECACHL schedule this weekend at Cornell and Colgate.
Clarkson: Clarkson has played four straight games against Top 3 ranked teams, going 0-3-1 ... In Clarkson's three losses this year, the Golden Knights have allowed their opponent to score a goal in the opening minutes - 5-2 loss at Mercyhurst (19 seconds), 3-1 loss at SLU (11 seconds), 5-0 loss vs. SLU (57 seconds) ... The Knights' leading scorer, freshman Britney Selina, saw her five-game point scoring streak come to an end in Saturday's loss to St. Lawrence.
Colgate: Colgate fell 4-1 to No. 2 UNH on Sunday. The three-goal margin was the lowest in series history ... Freshman Katie Stewart collected her first collegiate goal on Sunday ... Colgate continues its five-game homestand hosting Yale and Brown on Oct. 27-28 and are looking to record its first win of the season.
Cornell: Cornell opened its season with two overtime games against Niagara ... On Saturday, senior assistant captain Beth Baronick made 60 saves for the Big Red ... For the weekend, Emma Chipman had three points, and Halina Kristalyn had two goals ... The Big Red starts league play this weekend and will face Brown and Yale.
Dartmouth: The Big Green dropped its first two regular season games to No. 4 Mercyhurst ... Dartmouth's goals came from senior captain Gillian Apps (2) and sophomore Sarah Newnam (1) ... Sophomore goaltender Carli Clemis recorded 44 saves on the weekend ... This is the first time the Big Green has lost their first two regular season games since the 1996-97 season.
Harvard: The Crimson tuned up for the regular season with and exhibition win against McGill. Sophomore goalie Brittany Martin made 24 saves in the shutout, and Harvard received goals from senior forwards Julie Chu and Katie Johnston ... Harvard was ranked No. 8 in last week's national polls, marking the 95th consecutive week that the Crimson was ranked in the top 10 of one of the two major polls.
Princeton: Princeton opened the season with a tie followed by a win for the third-straight season. The Tigers have tied BC in their season opener in each of the last two seasons ... Six Tigers recorded two points in Saturday's win at Quinnipiac. Ten Tigers have tallied a point in 2006-07 ... Five Tigers had points in both games last weekend, including junior Marykate Oakley, who had two goals and an assist.
Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac's nine goals have come from eight different players, and 12 players have at least a point on the year ... Quinnipiac's 29 shots on goal vs. Princeton was more than the two meetings combined last year ... Quinnipiac has played arguably one of the toughest schedules in the country to open up the season, with four of their five games coming against nationally ranked opponents.
Rensselaer: Sophomore Jamie-Lynn Stewart is tied for third in the league in points scoring with 1.00 points per game. She is also second in goal scoring (0.57 goals per game). The forward has four goals and three assists for seven points on the season ... Rensselaer begins its inaugural ECACHL schedule this coming Saturday and Sunday at Harvard and Dartmouth. It will be RPI's first meeting against either team.
St. Lawrence: The Saints swept Clarkson for the first time in their brief history over the weekend ... The Saints sophomores did most of the scoring in the wins, with Marianna Locke, Alison Domenico, Carson Duggan, and Lisa Batchelor combining for nine points (7g, 2a) ... The Scarlet and Brown will play No. 9 Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend, continuing a brutally difficult stretch of games.
Union: Union's weekend sweep of Sacred Heart marks the first time the Dutchwomen have posted back-to-back victories since a sweep of the Pioneers in early November of last season. Union has now won nine straight against Sacred Heart ... The Dutchwomen start conference play this weekend at Dartmouth and Harvard. Union has never defeated either team.
Yale: Yale opened the regular season with a 3-1 loss at No. 10 BC Saturday, then fell to McGill 2-1 in an exhibition Sunday ... Senior forward Jenna Spring scored Yale's goal on Saturday and sophomore defenseman Helen Resor scored on Sunday ... The Bulldogs open conference play this weekend with a trip to Colgate and Cornell.
