Roach's First Goal Lifts Saints

Box Score

NEW HAVEN, CT -- First year student Kirsten Roach scored her first collegiate goal which proved to be the game-winner as the No. 5 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team earned a weekend sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Yale Bulldogs in New Haven, CT on Saturday afternoon. The Saints' victory kept the team's perfect record in tact in the all-time series against Yale at 22-0-1.

The Saints picked up two more crucial points in the ECAC Hockey standings, improving to 11-3-0 (7-1-0) on the season while Yale dropped to 3-5-2 (3-5-1) in 2007-08.

Though the two teams skated to a scoreless first period, the Saints and Bulldogs combined for 26 shots on goal. The period was stolen by the goaltenders, as St. Lawrence senior goaltender Meaghan Guckian (12 saves) and Yale's Shivon Zilis (14 saves) were perfect in the opening twenty minutes.

Junior forward Carson Duggan, coming off of a hat trick against Brown on Friday night, continued her hot play with her 11th goal of the season at the 3:00 minute mark of the second period. Seniors Sabrina Harbec and Annie Guay assisted on the team's opening goal.

However, Yale would use a 5-on-3 advantage late in the second period to even the score at 1-1 heading to the second intermission. With Guay and Alison Domenico taking back-to-back minor penalties only 19 seconds apart, the Bulldogs capitalized on their chance at 18:01 of the second period when Sarah Tittman scored her fifth goal of the season. Assists on the goal went to Bray Ketchum and Crysti Howser.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Roach would break the tie and put the visitors ahead for the second time in the game when she took a pass from senior defenseman Kerri Wallace and beat Zilis at 1:34 of the third period. Though she began the year along the blue line for St. Lawrence, Roach exchanged positions with sophomore Courtney Sawchuk two weeks ago. The move paid off on Saturday, as her goal proved to be the difference.

Yale worked to tie the score, and had the only power play of the final period when rookie Michelle Zimmerman took a two minute penalty for checking at 13:43. However, St. Lawrence's penalty killing unit, ranked fifth in the nation entering the game, protected Guckian and their 2-1 lead.

Trailing by one goal, the Bulldogs opted to pull Zilis for the extra attacker with less than one minute remaining in regulation. Harbec picked up a loose puck and found Wallace, who fired the puck into the unprotected goal to add the all-important insurance goal at 19:21 of the third period, making the score 3-1.

St. Lawrence finished with a 37-25 advantage in shots on goal, though they were held 0-for-2 on the power play one night after tallying five goals with a player advantage. Meanwhile, Yale was 1-for-4 with the extra skater. Guckian finished with 24 saves on the evening including seven in the third period with the game on the line, while Zilis made 34 saves in the losing effort.

The Saints will return to action next Friday evening, December 7th against the University of Maine at Appleton Arena. The puck will drop on the two non-conference foes at 7:00pm.