St. Lawrence Upended by UConn

CANTON, N.Y. -- Sophomore defenseman Samantha Reid picked up a loose puck in the slot and rifled a wrist shot past St. Lawrence University goaltender Meaghan Guckian with a mere 2:34 remaining in regulation to snap a 2-2 tie and lift the University of Connecticut to a 3-2 upset victory of the No. 3/4 Saints in Appleton Arena on Friday afternoon.

The Huskies earned their second win all-time against the Saints despite being out-shot 28-21. The win improved UConn to 4-1-0 (0-0-0) on the young season, while the Saints dropped to 1-2-0 (0-0-0).

The home team struck first in the non-conference battle only 4:33 into the game, when junior Carson Duggan scored her third goal of the season. Senior Sabrina Harbec fed junior Lisa Batchelor who sent the puck in front of UConn netminder Brittany Wilson. Though Wilson managed to keep Batchelor's bid out, Duggan was there to scoop up the rebound and put her team on top, 1-0.

Each goaltender was able to shut down their opponents for the remainder of the second period, as Guckian made nine saves to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard through one, while Wilson countered with seven stops.

The second frame belonged to the visitors from Hockey East, as the Huskies scored two goals only 5:44 minutes apart to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Dominique Thibault leveled the score at 1-1 with her third of the season 2:18 into the second period, as she slipped the puck behind Guckian after a nice touch pass in front by Nicole Tritter. Then, at 8:02, UConn took their first lead of the afternoon when Michelle Binning won the puck along the boards, cut to the front of the net and hoisted a backhand over Guckian for her third of 2007-08.

Meanwhile, the Saints were unable to get anything behind Wilson, who held her ground nicely in the second and turned away all eight of St. Lawrence's chances.

With the Huskies continuing to protect a 2-1 cushion, the visitors began to protect Wilson, stacking the front of the net with defensemen to prevent any rebound chances. However, their prevent-style defense allowed St. Lawrence to rifle 32 attempts towards the cage, though only 12 hit their mark.

With time winding down, senior Chelsea Grills worked hard along the far boards in the UConn zone, eventually winning the puck and sending it into the slot. Junior Alison Domenico made a heads-up decision, tipping the pass further to her left to a wide open Tara Akstull. The sophomore made a big-time play, scoring her first of the season, ripping a wrist shot past Wilson to even the score at 2-2 with 4:08 remaining in regulation.

The goal seemed to lift the Saints, as they continued to put pressure on Wilson and the UConn defense. However, the Huskies countered up the ice and it was again Thibault who made the key play for the visitors. The sophomore took the puck away from a Saint defender and slid a pass to Jennifer Chaisson, who found an uncovered Reid in the slot. She somehow managed to squeeze her wrist shot between Guckian's glove and the near post for the game-winning goal, giving Connecticut a 3-2 upset victory.

"I thought we worked very hard for 40 minutes, and really dominated territorially in the third period," said Saints head coach Paul Flanagan. "The packed in their defense in front of the net, and I give them a lot of credit for taking advantage of our mistakes and coming right back after we tied it up to get the game-winner."

Wilson finished with 26 saves and improved to 2-1-0 on the season, while Guckian fell to 1-2-0 and made 18 saves in the loss. Neither team was able to get anything going on the power play, as UConn finished 0-for-8 and St. Lawrence 0-for-5.

The Saints will look to salvage a split in the weekend series as they take on Providence College tomorrow, Saturday, October 20th at 7:00pm at Appleton Arena.