Pyers, Guckian Sparks Saints to Victory

Boxscore

TROY, N.Y. -- Though the No. 7/6 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team was without three of its leading scorers against Rensselaer on Friday night, three different Saints tallied goals including a goal and an assist from junior Jordan Pyers, and senior goalie Meaghan Guckian turned in a 25-save performance to lift the Scarlet and Brown to a 3-0 win in Troy, NY.

The victory kept St. Lawrence (18-7-0, 11-2-0) undefeated in the all-time series against the Engineers at 5-0-0, and gave the Saints two more crucial points in the conference standings. Rensselaer (1-9-4, 4-5-3) simply could not solve Guckian, who picked up her 17th career shutout.

The Saints and Engineers battled through a scoreless first period that saw the visitors hold an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal. Neither team was able to capitalize on two power play chances in the first, as Guckian and Rensselaer 's Sonja van der Bliek were sharp in the early going.

St. Lawrence, which played without seniors Sabrina Harbec, Chelsea Grills and Annie Guay, who are at a training camp with Team Canada, finally broke open the scoring at 17:20 of the second period. First year student Karell Emard got the play started when she fired a shot on goal that van der Bliek. Though the goalie made the initial save, the rebound came loose to junior Carson Duggan at the goal mouth, and the Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native lifted the puck over the netminder's shoulder, putting the Saints on top, 1-0.

The goal was Duggan's 18th of the season, which leads the team, and the 76th of her career, which is only one behind Caroline Trudeau's University goal scoring record.

Rensselaer held a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal in the second period, but Guckian was up to the task, denying each Engineer bid. The home team's best chance to even the score came on a wrap-around opportunity for Whitney Naslund, but Guckian made a diving stick-save to preserve her team's 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.

Pyers would give St. Lawrence the coveted insurance goal only 3:24 into the third period. Rensselaer controlled the puck in their opponent's zone, but a blocked shot by sophomore Britni Smith would turn Pyers loose in the offensive zone, moving in all alone on van der Bliek. The New Milford, CT native backhanded a shot under the cross bar for her 2nd goal of the season, while Smith was credited with her 6th helper of 2007-08.

The Saints were celebrating a 3-0 cushion less than three minutes later when sophomore defenseman Brittaney Maschmeyer added her 4 th goal of the season at 6:14 of the third period. The Bruderheim, Alberta native collected a pass from sophomore Karlee Shields and fired a rocket on van der Bliek that slid under the goaltender to seal the Saints' victory. Pyers was also credited with her first assist of the season on the goal.

Guckian handled the rest for the Scarlet and Brown, as the Victor, NY native stopped each of RPI 's six shots in the final period to finish off her fourth shutout of the season. With the win, Guckian moved to 14-7-0, while van der Bliek suffered the loss in a 27-save effort, falling to 8-4-2 .

Neither team was able to take advantage of its power play chances, as Rensselaer finished 0-for-7 with the extra skater and St. Lawrence 0-for-4.

The Saints will look to earn a weekend sweep in the Capital District when they visit the Union College Dutchwomen tomorrow, Saturday, January 26. The puck will drop on the two ECAC Hockey foes at 4:00pm.