Duggan Writes History as Saints Beat Dutchwomen

Boxscore

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- The career accolades continued for St. Lawrence University junior forward Carson Duggan on Saturday, as the Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta native, who reached the 100-point mark earlier this season, became the all-time goal scoring leader in the program's history with the 78th of her tenure on Saturday in the team's 7-1 win over Union College. Duggan had two scores in the contest, breaking Caroline Trudeau's record of goals in only 102 games with the Scarlet and Brown.

No. 7/6 St. Lawrence (19-7-0, 12-2-0) continued to put the vice grip on the No. 2 seed in the conference standings by taking four points in the Capital District with the sweep of Rensselaer and Union. Meanwhile, the Dutchwomen remained winless in ECAC Hockey play this season, falling to 3-18-2 (0-12-2).

A three-goal first period would put head coach Paul Flanagan's visiting squad on top by that margin after twenty minutes of play. Sophomore Courtney Sawchuk opened the game's scoring at 8:12 on the power play, as she fired her 2nd of the season past Union's Lundy Day to put St. Lawrence ahead 1-0.

Duggan would tie Trudeau's goal record at 17:22 of the first period, with assists going to rookie Karell Emard and junior Lisa Batchelor. Only 1:19 later, the Saints were celebrating again as sophomore Tara Akstull scored her 12 th goal of the season on the power play at 18:41. Assists on the Clifton Park, NY native's goal went to sophomore Brittaney Maschmeyer and junior Marianna Locke.

The Saints, who skated without seniors Chelsea Grills, Sabrina Harbec and Annie Guay for the second consecutive game due to Team Canada commitments, built their lead to 7-0 by the end of the second period at Messa Rink in Schenectady, NY.

Senior co-captain Kerri Wallace picked up her 4 th goal of the season at 5:27 of the second stanza, adding her team's third power play goal of the night to build the cushion to 4-0. Akstull and junior Alison Domenico picked up assists on the goal.

The record-breaking moment followed at 13:08 of the period while St. Lawrence skated with the extra attacker yet again. Batchelor and Emard connected with Duggan again, who notched her 78th goal in only her third season with the team. Though it is likely to be a horse-race to the end of the season between she and Harbec, who currently has 76 goals, Duggan has another season of collegiate hockey to add to her total.

First year student Kyrsten Venasse scored an unassisted goal, her 2nd of the season, only 38 seconds after Duggan snapped the record to bring the score to 6-0. The goal also chased Day from the contest as she was relieved by Danielle Kimble. Fellow rookie Kirsten Roach would complete St. Lawrence's scoring at 14:49 of the period, tallying her 2nd of her career, with assists going to Venasse and Domenico. The 7-0 lead was more than enough for the Saints' defensive unit, who allowed Union only nine shots through two periods of play on sophomore goaltender Maxie Weisz.

The Dutchwomen would snap Weisz's shutout bid at 14:13 of the third period, however, as Kelly Fleming found Stephanie Gilbert, who scored her 2nd goal of the season to bring the score to the final tally of 7-1.

St. Lawrence finished with a dominant 44-14 advantage in shots on goal, including an impressive 17-3 mark in the opening period. The visitors did the majority of their damage on the power play, finishing 4-of-6 with the extra attacker, while Union finished 0-for-5.

Weisz picked up the victory with a 13-save showing and remains unbeaten in her collegiate career at 9-0-0. Day suffered the loss, falling to 2-18-2.

"I congratulate Carson on setting the record, and I think it is a testament to her ability to take advantage of the opportunities she is given," said Coach Flanagan. "We were without three of our top skaters this weekend, but I'm proud of the way our team played and stepped up to win in their absence. We needed both of these wins heading into a tough series with Clarkson next weekend."

The Saints and Golden Knights will meet in a home-and-home series next weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 1st and 2nd. The two teams, both of which are likely to be ranked in the top-10 heading into the weekend, first square off at Cheel Arena in Potsdam on Friday night at 7:00pm.