St. Lawrence Cruises Past Maine

Boxscore

CANTON, N.Y. -- The No. 4 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team turned to their talented group of juniors to lead the way against Maine on Saturday, as the five members of the Class of 2009 each scored at least one goal as the Saints routed the University of Maine on Saturday afternoon by the score of 9-1.

Juniors Marianna Locke and Alison Domenico chipped in two goals and two assists each, while fellow classmates Carson Duggan, Lisa Batchelor and Jordan Pyers each added a goal against the Black Bears. Maine fell to 1-16-2 (0-6-2) on the season, while the win moved St. Lawrence to 13-3-0 (7-1-0) and sets up a nationally-prominent series with current-No. 3 Minnesota Duluth in Appleton Arena next weekend.

Locke and senior Sabrina Harbec kick-started the Saints' top-ranked offense, as the duo connected on back-to-back goals only 3:29 apart in the first period. Harbec slid a pretty pass through the crease to an uncovered Locke, who quickly pushed the puck behind Maine goaltender Genevieve Turgeon at 4:17 of the first period to put St. Lawrence ahead 1-0.

That goal would only open the floodgates for the home team, however, as they rattled off three more goals in the opening frame to take a commanding 4-0 advantage into the first intermission. Locke added her second of the game from Harbec and Duggan at 7:46 of the first, while Domenico got into the scoring at 14:25 with a power play goal assisted by sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer.

Batchelor would complete the first period scoring by notching her second of the season with only 50 seconds remaining in the first period. First year student Kirsten Roach found fellow rookie Karell Emard in the offensive zone, and Emard set up the goal by sending a pass to the far post where Turgeon was unable to recover to stop Batchelor's one-timer.

Though she didn't see much work in the first period, St. Lawrence goaltender Meaghan Guckian robbed Jenna Ouellette in the final seconds of the frame with a fantastic glove save as the Maine forward skated in one-on-one from Guckian's right side.

St. Lawrence continued to use one of the nation's best special teams units in the second period when Duggan scored her 12th goal of the season at 3:16 while the Saints skated short-handed. After taking a pass from Locke, Duggan skated in from Turgeon's left and though the goalie appeared to make the save, the puck crossed the line while under her leg-pad, putting the home team ahead 5-0.

Domenico would add the final goal of the period at 10:32 on the power play, with assists going to Harbec and Grills, giving the Scarlet and Brown a 6-0 cushion after two periods.

Grills would make it 7-0 at 8:46 of the third period, with assists going to sophomore Tara Akstull and Domenico, before Maine would finally solve Guckian at 10:03 to bring the score to 7-1. Robyn Law recovered a rebound out in front of the Saints goal-mouth and beat the senior goalie glove-side for the Black Bear's first goal of the weekend. The assist on the goal went to Jenna Gallo.

However, the Saints would respond with two more goals to finish the contest and bring the game to the final score of 9-1. Pyers scored her first of the season on a quick snap-shot off of a nice pass by Domenico at 13:56 of the third period, while Harbec capped the scoring with a dazzling move around Turgeon and tucked the puck into the back of the net for her eighth goal of 2007-08.

"I thought our offense continued to work hard up front and capitalized on a few more chances than we did yesterday," said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. "We will need a good week of practice and to keep our focus to prepare for a talented Minnesota Duluth squad next weekend."

Turgeon made 25 saves in a losing effort for Maine and fell to 1-11-2 on the season. Guckian made 11 stops in 51:14 of play before being relieved by rookie goaltender Megan Gallagher. Gallagher, seeing the ice for the first time this season, stopped each of the two shots she faced in the final 8:40 of regulation.

The Saints, who held a 34-14 advantage in shots on goal, proved to bee too much on special teams for Maine, and the Black Bears did not help themselves by taking seven minor penalties. The Scarlet and Brown finished 3-of-8 on the power play and added one short-handed goal while Maine was 0-for-3 with the extra skater.

St. Lawrence will welcome the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to Appleton Arena for a pair of non-conference games beginning next Friday, December 14th at 7:00pm. The games will be rematches of the 2006 NCAA Quarterfinals in Canton, NY which St. Lawrence won by the score of 1-0 to advance to the Frozen Four.